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startup-competitive-analysis

Deep competitive intelligence, market mapping, and strategic positioning analysis

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SKILL.md

Startup Competitive Analysis

Systematic framework for understanding competitive landscapes, identifying positioning opportunities, and building sustainable competitive advantages.

Decision Tree: What Analysis Do You Need?

COMPETITIVE QUESTION
    │
    ├─► "Who are my competitors?" ───────► Competitor Identification
    │                                       └─► Market mapping, categorization
    │
    ├─► "How do I differentiate?" ──────► Positioning Analysis
    │                                       └─► April Dunford framework
    │
    ├─► "What are their weaknesses?" ───► Weakness Mining
    │                                       └─► Review mining, gap analysis
    │
    ├─► "How do they make money?" ──────► Business Model Analysis
    │                                       └─► Revenue, pricing, unit economics
    │
    ├─► "What's their strategy?" ───────► Strategic Analysis
    │                                       └─► Moves, investments, trajectory
    │
    └─► "Full competitive audit" ───────► COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS
                                            └─► All dimensions

Competitor Identification

Market Map Framework

                    ENTERPRISE
                        │
    ┌───────────────────┼───────────────────┐
    │                   │                   │
SPECIALIZED ────────────┼──────────── HORIZONTAL
    │                   │                   │
    │    [Competitor    │   [Competitor     │
    │       A]          │      B]           │
    │                   │                   │
    ├───────────────────┼───────────────────┤
    │                   │                   │
    │    [Competitor    │   [Competitor     │
    │       C]          │      D]           │
    │                   │                   │
    └───────────────────┼───────────────────┘
                        │
                       SMB

Competitor Categories

Category Definition Examples
Direct Same solution, same customer Head-to-head competitors
Indirect Different solution, same problem Alternative approaches
Potential Could enter market Adjacent players, big tech
Substitute Manual/DIY alternatives Spreadsheets, agencies

Identification Sources

Source What to Find Signal Strength
G2/Capterra categories Direct competitors High
Crunchbase funding Well-funded threats High
ProductHunt launches New entrants Medium
LinkedIn job postings Growing competitors Medium
Patent filings Technical movers Low
Conference sponsors Market leaders Medium

Competitive Intelligence Dimensions

1. Product Analysis

Dimension Questions Data Sources
Features What do they offer? Website, demos, reviews
Pricing How do they charge? Pricing pages, sales calls
Technology What's their stack? BuiltWith, job postings
UX/Design How good is experience? Product trials, reviews
Integration What do they connect to? Integration pages, APIs

2. Business Analysis

Dimension Questions Data Sources
Revenue model How do they monetize? Pricing, investor decks
Customer segments Who do they serve? Case studies, reviews
GTM motion How do they sell? Marketing, sales process
Funding How much runway? Crunchbase, PitchBook
Team Who's building it? LinkedIn, about pages

3. Strategic Analysis

Dimension Questions Data Sources
Vision Where are they going? Blog, press, interviews
Positioning How do they differentiate? Messaging, website
Partnerships Who are they allied with? Press releases, integrations
Expansion What's their roadmap? Product updates, hiring
Vulnerabilities Where are they weak? Reviews, support forums

Positioning Framework (April Dunford)

5 Components of Positioning

1. COMPETITIVE ALTERNATIVES
   └─► What would customers do if you didn't exist?

2. UNIQUE ATTRIBUTES
   └─► What do you have that alternatives lack?

3. VALUE (and proof)
   └─► What value do those attributes enable?

4. TARGET CUSTOMER
   └─► Who cares a lot about that value?

5. MARKET CATEGORY
   └─► What context makes your value obvious?

Positioning Canvas

Component Current State Ideal State Gap
Competitive Alternatives
Unique Attributes
Value Delivered
Target Customer
Market Category

Positioning Statement Template

For [TARGET CUSTOMER]
who [SITUATION/NEED],
[PRODUCT] is a [MARKET CATEGORY]
that [KEY BENEFIT].
Unlike [COMPETITIVE ALTERNATIVE],
[PRODUCT] [KEY DIFFERENTIATOR].

Weakness Mining (from Reviews)

Pain Dimension Analysis

Connect to startup-review-mining for systematic extraction:

Pain Dimension What to Find Opportunity
UI/UX "confusing", "hard to use" Better experience
Pricing "expensive", "hidden fees" Better value/transparency
Support "slow response", "unhelpful" Better service
Integration "can't connect", "API broken" Better ecosystem
Performance "slow", "crashes" Better reliability
Onboarding "steep learning curve" Better activation
Features "wish it had", "missing" Feature gaps

Competitor Weakness Matrix

Competitor Top Weakness Evidence Our Opportunity
{{COMP_A}} {{WEAKNESS}} {{QUOTE}} {{OPPORTUNITY}}
{{COMP_B}} {{WEAKNESS}} {{QUOTE}} {{OPPORTUNITY}}
{{COMP_C}} {{WEAKNESS}} {{QUOTE}} {{OPPORTUNITY}}

Universal Weaknesses (All Competitors)

If all competitors share a weakness = major opportunity:

Universal Weakness Competitors Affected Differentiation Play
{{WEAKNESS}} All {{HOW_TO_WIN}}

Competitive Moat Analysis

Moat Types (Hamilton Helmer's 7 Powers)

Power Definition Durability Build Time
Scale Economies Cost per unit decreases with volume High Long
Network Effects Product improves as users increase Very High Medium
Counter-Positioning New model incumbents can't copy Medium Fast
Switching Costs Customers locked in High Medium
Branding Objective value from identity High Long
Cornered Resource Exclusive access to asset Very High Varies
Process Power Embedded company abilities High Long

Competitor Moat Assessment

Competitor Primary Moat Strength (1-10) Vulnerability
{{COMP_A}} {{MOAT_TYPE}} {{SCORE}} {{WEAKNESS}}
{{COMP_B}} {{MOAT_TYPE}} {{SCORE}} {{WEAKNESS}}

Our Moat Strategy

Moat Type Current (1-10) Target (1-10) Build Strategy
Network Effects
Switching Costs
Data Advantage
Brand/Trust
Process Power

Battlecard Framework

Quick Reference Battlecard

markdown
## vs {{COMPETITOR}}

### When We Win
- [Scenario 1]
- [Scenario 2]

### When We Lose
- [Scenario 1]
- [Scenario 2]

### Their Strengths
- [Strength 1]
- [Strength 2]

### Their Weaknesses
- [Weakness 1]
- [Weakness 2]

### Key Differentiators
| Area | Us | Them |
|------|-----|------|
| | | |

### Objection Handling
| Objection | Response |
|-----------|----------|
| "They're bigger" | |
| "They're cheaper" | |

### Landmines to Plant
- [Question to ask prospect that favors us]

Win/Loss Analysis

Win Analysis

Win Factor Frequency Pattern
{{FACTOR}} {{%}} {{INSIGHT}}

Loss Analysis

Loss Factor Frequency Competitor Remediation
{{FACTOR}} {{%}} {{WHO}} {{ACTION}}

Competitive Win Rate

Competitor Wins Losses Win Rate Trend
{{COMP_A}} {{%}} ↑↓→
{{COMP_B}} {{%}} ↑↓→

Resources

Resource Purpose
competitor-deep-dive.md Full competitor analysis framework
market-mapping-guide.md Market map creation
positioning-playbook.md April Dunford methodology

Templates

Template Purpose
competitive-landscape.md Full competitive overview
battlecard.md Sales enablement
win-loss-analysis.md Deal analysis

Data

File Purpose
sources.json Competitive intelligence sources

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