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

win-loss-analysis-guide.md Win/loss interview methodology, loss reason taxonomy, reporting

competitive-monitoring-setup.md CI monitoring sources, cadence, tools, zero-budget setup

category-creation-strategy.md Category creation vs competition, Play Bigger framework, case studies

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