market-research

Market Research Produce research that supports decisions, not research theater. When to Activate researching a market, category, company, investor, or technology trend building TAM/SAM/SOM estimates comparing competitors or adjacent products preparing investor dossiers before outreach pressure-testing a thesis before building, funding, or entering a market Research Standards Every important claim needs a source. Prefer recent data and call out stale data. Include contrarian evidence and downside cases. Translate findings into a decision, not just a summary. Separate fact, inference, and recommendation clearly. Common Research Modes Investor / Fund Diligence Collect: fund size, stage, and typical check size relevant portfolio companies public thesis and recent activity reasons the fund is or is not a fit any obvious red flags or mismatches Competitive Analysis Collect: product reality, not marketing copy funding and investor history if public traction metrics if public distribution and pricing clues strengths, weaknesses, and positioning gaps Market Sizing Use: top-down estimates from reports or public datasets bottom-up sanity checks from realistic customer acquisition assumptions explicit assumptions for every leap in logic Technology / Vendor Research Collect: how it works trade-offs and adoption signals integration complexity lock-in, security, compliance, and operational risk Output Format Default structure: executive summary key findings implications risks and caveats recommendation sources Quality Gate Before delivering: all numbers are sourced or labeled as estimates old data is flagged the recommendation follows from the evidence risks and counterarguments are included the output makes a decision easier