Startup Competitive Analysis

Use this skill to produce decision-oriented competitive intelligence: define the competitive set, collect evidence, synthesize match / ignore / bet decisions, and ship practical artifacts teams can use (briefs, landscapes, battlecards, win/loss).

Operating Principles (2026)

Prefer decisions over inventories: make explicit match / ignore / bet calls with rationale and owner.
Treat competitor claims as hypotheses: validate with buyer reality and current evidence.
Date-stamp key claims and keep an evidence trail (link + capture month).
Triangulate important facts across sources (at least two).
Stay ethical: respect ToS; don’t scrape behind auth/paywalls; don’t misrepresent identity.

Intake Checklist (Ask First)

Objective: sales enablement, positioning, strategy, fundraising, churn reduction
Market: category, geography, segment (ICP), and time horizon (now vs 6–12 months)
Known competitors and “do nothing” alternative (status quo / DIY / services)
Constraints: available sources, web access, internal docs, legal/compliance requirements

Choose the Right Output

| If the user asks… | Produce… | Use… | |---|---|---| | “Who are the competitors?” / “Map the landscape” | Market map + competitor set | references/market-mapping-guide.md, assets/competitive-landscape.md | | “How do we differentiate?” / “What category are we in?” | Category structure + differentiation thesis | references/industry-structure-and-differentiation.md, assets/competitive-analysis-brief.md | | “How should we position?” | Positioning canvas + statement + tests | references/positioning-playbook.md, assets/competitive-analysis-brief.md | | “Deep dive Competitor X” | Deep dive + (optional) battlecard | references/competitor-deep-dive.md, assets/battlecard.md | | “Why are we losing to X?” / “What’s driving churn?” | Win/loss + churn patterns + remediation | assets/win-loss-analysis.md |

Workflow

Define the competitive set: direct/indirect/substitutes/status quo, segmented by ICP and job-to-be-done.
Collect evidence: product/docs/pricing, changelogs, job postings, reviews/VoC, partnerships, distribution signals.
Analyze on buyer criteria: switching costs, time-to-value, risk/procurement, integration ecosystem, ROI proof.
Synthesize into decisions: match/ignore/bet, wedge, proof points, landmines, and “walk-away” criteria.
Produce artifacts: narrative brief, landscape, battlecards, win/loss summary (use bundled templates).
Operationalize: set an update cadence and monitoring sources; refresh battlecards and decisions as signals change.

Evidence & Freshness Rules

Prefer primary sources first (docs, pricing pages, release notes, filings), then triangulate.
Use dated evidence labels like [YYYY-MM] and include the source URL.
If web search is available, verify “current state” (pricing, positioning, major launches, funding, M&A). If not, state the limitation and proceed with provided context.

Lightweight CI Monitoring (No Tool Assumptions)

Seed sources from data/sources.json; add category-specific sources for the market.
Track changes to: pricing pages, docs/changelogs, security/compliance pages, partner directories, job postings, ad libraries, review sites.
Keep a simple change log and review it on a fixed cadence (weekly/monthly/quarterly based on sales cycle).

Resources

| Resource | Purpose | |----------|---------| | competitor-deep-dive.md | Full competitor analysis framework | | market-mapping-guide.md | Market map creation | | positioning-playbook.md | Positioning methodology | | industry-structure-and-differentiation.md | Porter 5 Forces + JTBD alternatives + strategy canvas |

Templates

| Template | Purpose | |----------|---------| | competitive-analysis-brief.md | Decision-oriented narrative brief | | competitive-landscape.md | Full competitive overview | | battlecard.md | Sales enablement | | win-loss-analysis.md | Deal analysis |

Data

| File | Purpose | |------|---------| | sources.json | Competitive intelligence sources |