Lead Research Assistant

This skill helps you identify and qualify potential leads for your business by analyzing your product/service, understanding your ideal customer profile, and providing actionable outreach strategies.

When to Use This Skill

• Finding potential customers or clients for your product/service

• Building a list of companies to reach out to for partnerships

• Identifying target accounts for sales outreach

• Researching companies that match your ideal customer profile

• Preparing for business development activities

What This Skill Does

• Understands Your Business: Analyzes your product/service, value proposition, and target market

• Identifies Target Companies: Finds companies that match your ideal customer profile based on:

• Industry and sector

• Company size and location

• Technology stack and tools they use

• Growth stage and funding

• Pain points your product solves

• Prioritizes Leads: Ranks companies based on fit score and relevance

• Provides Contact Strategies: Suggests how to approach each lead with personalized messaging

• Enriches Data: Gathers relevant information about decision-makers and company context

How to Use

Basic Usage

Simply describe your product/service and what you're looking for:

I'm building [product description]. Find me 10 companies in [location/industry] that would be good leads for this.

With Your Codebase

For even better results, run this from your product's source code directory:

Look at what I'm building in this repository and identify the top 10 companies in [location/industry] that would benefit from this product.

Advanced Usage

For more targeted research:

My product: [description] Ideal customer profile:

• Industry: [industry]
• Company size: [size range]
• Location: [location]
• Current pain points: [pain points]
• Technologies they use: [tech stack]

Find me 20 qualified leads with contact strategies for each.

Instructions

When a user requests lead research:

Understand the Product/Service

• If in a code directory, analyze the codebase to understand the product

• Ask clarifying questions about the value proposition

• Identify key features and benefits

• Understand what problems it solves

Define Ideal Customer Profile

• Determine target industries and sectors

• Identify company size ranges

• Consider geographic preferences

• Understand relevant pain points

• Note any technology requirements

Research and Identify Leads

• Search for companies matching the criteria

• Look for signals of need (job postings, tech stack, recent news)

• Consider growth indicators (funding, expansion, hiring)

• Identify companies with complementary products/services

• Check for budget indicators

Prioritize and Score

• Create a fit score (1-10) for each lead

• Consider factors like:

• Alignment with ICP

• Signals of immediate need

• Budget availability

• Competitive landscape

• Timing indicators

Provide Actionable Output

For each lead, provide:

• Company Name and website

• Why They're a Good Fit: Specific reasons based on their business

• Priority Score: 1-10 with explanation

• Decision Maker: Role/title to target (e.g., "VP of Engineering")

• Contact Strategy: Personalized approach suggestions

• Value Proposition: How your product solves their specific problem

• Conversation Starters: Specific points to mention in outreach

• LinkedIn URL: If available, for easy connection

Format the Output

Present results in a clear, scannable format:

Lead Research Results

Summary

• Total leads found: [X]
• High priority (8-10): [X]
• Medium priority (5-7): [X]
• Average fit score: [X]

Lead 1: [Company Name]

Website: [URL] Priority Score: [X/10] Industry: [Industry] Size: [Employee count/revenue range]

Why They're a Good Fit: [2-3 specific reasons based on their business]

Target Decision Maker: [Role/Title] LinkedIn: [URL if available]

Value Proposition for Them: [Specific benefit for this company]

Outreach Strategy: [Personalized approach - mention specific pain points, recent company news, or relevant context]

Conversation Starters:

• [Specific point 1]
• [Specific point 2]

[Repeat for each lead]

Offer Next Steps

• Suggest saving results to a CSV for CRM import

• Offer to draft personalized outreach messages

• Recommend prioritization based on timing

• Suggest follow-up research for top leads

Examples

Example 1: From Lenny's Newsletter

User: "I'm building a tool that masks sensitive data in AI coding assistant queries. Find potential leads."

Output: Creates a prioritized list of companies that:

• Use AI coding assistants (Copilot, Cursor, etc.)

• Handle sensitive data (fintech, healthcare, legal)

• Have evidence in their GitHub repos of using coding agents

• May have accidentally exposed sensitive data in code

• Includes LinkedIn URLs of relevant decision-makers

Example 2: Local Business

User: "I run a consulting practice for remote team productivity. Find me 10 companies in the Bay Area that recently went remote."

Output: Identifies companies that:

• Recently posted remote job listings

• Announced remote-first policies

• Are hiring distributed teams

• Show signs of remote work challenges

• Provides personalized outreach strategies for each

Reference Files

• references/RESEARCH_REPORT.template.md

• Research report template with key findings, evidence, and recommendations

• references/COMPETITIVE_ANALYSIS.template.md

• Competitive analysis template with market overview, competitor profiles, and SWOT

Tips for Best Results

• Be specific about your product and its unique value

• Run from your codebase if applicable for automatic context

• Provide context about your ideal customer profile

• Specify constraints like industry, location, or company size

• Request follow-up research on promising leads for deeper insights

Related Use Cases

• Drafting personalized outreach emails after identifying leads

• Building a CRM-ready CSV of qualified prospects

• Researching specific companies in detail

• Analyzing competitor customer bases

• Identifying partnership opportunities