Company Intelligence

Company Intelligence

When to activate

• User provides a company name and LinkedIn URL and asks to "research this account," "build a dossier," "find decision-makers," or "extract pain signals"
• User needs to understand who owns budget, who influences, and who blocks at a specific company
• User wants to identify outreach hooks before cold outreach or account mapping
• User is preparing for a discovery call and needs pre-call intelligence
• User has a list of target accounts and needs tier-based research depth prioritization

When NOT to use

• User is asking general B2B research questions not tied to a specific account (use a web research tool instead)
• User wants to generate cold email copy (Company Intelligence feeds outreach, but doesn't write it)
• User is researching a company to evaluate as a vendor or job candidate (different research model)
• User has already completed their own deep research and just wants validation (use code-review or verify instead)
• User wants real-time pricing data or financial metrics (this skill focuses on decision-making and pain signals, not financials)

Instructions

The 5-Layer Account Intelligence Model

Every company dossier is built by stacking these layers. Higher tiers require all five; lower tiers require three.

Layer 1: Org Structure (Decision-Maker Map)

Goal: Identify three role types at the company:

• Economic Buyer — holds budget, has P&L accountability, final veto. (CFO, VP Finance, CRO, VPE, VP Ops)
• Champion — uses your solution daily, has personal incentive to buy. (Team lead, IC, manager of the function you solve for)
• Influencer — shapes perception and can block or accelerate. (CTO, Chief Product Officer, peer leader, audit function)

Sources to check:

• Company LinkedIn page: Executive leadership section, recent hires in C-suite/VP roles
• LinkedIn: Search "[Company] [Title]" for each role, check last activity (within 30 days is active)
• G2/Capterra: Review authors often list their title and seniority
• Job postings: New hires/roles reveal who's expanding which function (signals priority)

Decision logic:

• If company <100 headcount: Economic buyer is often founder/CEO; Champion is the team lead directly impacted
• If company 100–1000: Economic buyer is VP/CFO of function; Champion is manager or lead IC; Influencer is CTO or Chief of that function
• If company >1000: Add one more layer — find sponsor (director-level who can introduce you to Economic Buyer)

Layer 2: Recent Events (Momentum Signals)

Goal: Find the last 90 days of company activity that creates urgency or context.

Sources to check (in order):

1. Company LinkedIn: Posts, hires announced, milestones (funding, IPO, acquisition, office opening)
2. CEO/VP LinkedIn activity: Retweets, shares, article comments — reveals what's on their mind
3. Press releases: Crunchbase, company website, Medium, news feeds
4. Funding announcements: Crunchbase, TechCrunch, VentureBeat (reveals capital, growth targets, new problems to solve)
5. Product launches: G2 new features, feature announcements in company newsletter or blog
6. Leadership changes: CEO, CRO, CTO, VP of function you sell into (reveals priorities, appetite for change)

Scoring:

• Recent funding (within last 90 days) = highest urgency (money to spend, pressure to deploy it)
• Product launch or market expansion = medium urgency (building new revenue stream, may need tooling)
• Leadership change in your function = medium urgency (new leader wants to make impact)
• News/press = low urgency (context, not a trigger)

Layer 3: Tech Stack & Gaps (Capability Assessment)

Goal: Identify what they use, what they don't use, and what's broken.

Sources to check (in order):

1. BuiltWith: Reveals marketing tech, analytics, CRM, infrastructure, security tools
2. LinkedIn job postings: "Seeking [tool] expert" or "required: experience with [tool]" = current stack; "nice to have: [tool]" = aspirational/gap
3. G2 reviews: Filter by company size and industry, read reviewer comments for pain (slowness, integration gaps, cost)
4. Crunchbase: Company tech integrations if listed
5. Company blog/podcast: Tech posts, case studies, architecture decisions reveal infrastructure choices
6. SEC filings (if public): Software expense breakdowns sometimes revealed

Decision logic:

• If they use [Tool A] + [Tool B] but not [Tool C] = likely gap or conscious decision
• If multiple reviews say "[Tool] is slow to integrate" = pain proxy
• If job posting says "must know [Tool]" but you see no usage elsewhere = new initiative they're building
• If they use [Competitor Tool] = reference objection to prepare for

Layer 4: Pain Proxies (Job Posting + Review Mining)

Goal: Extract implicit problems from job postings and user reviews.

Methodology:

Job Posting Pattern Matching:

• "Seeking [role] to own/build/improve [function]" → They're investing in that area
• "5+ years of experience with [specific hard skill]" → It's a bottleneck today
• "Must have experience with scale/growth/automation" → They're hitting friction
• "We're looking for someone to streamline [X]" → Current process is slow or manual
• "Help us migrate from [Old System] to [New System]" → Legacy debt, vendor evaluation underway
• "Build dashboards/reporting for [department]" → No visibility today

G2 Review Pattern Matching (filter for your company size/industry):

• "Slow to implement" → Sales cycle length + deployment friction
• "Missing [feature]" → Feature gap you could fill
• "Expensive" → Cost objection, budget sensitivity
• "Poor integration with [tool]" → Integration nightmare = sales hook
• "Love it but can't scale beyond X" → Growth pain, acquisition opportunity

Scoring: Count pain signals. 3+ distinct signals across reviews + job postings = strong qualification.

Layer 5: Social Footprint (Engagement & Thought Leadership)

Goal: Understand how visible and active the decision-makers are; what they care about.

Sources to check:

1. CEO/VP LinkedIn activity: Posts (not just re-shares), engagement, article reads, comments on industry trends
2. Company LinkedIn: Organic engagement rate (comments, shares, reactions); industry topics they champion
3. CEO Twitter/X: If active, reveals real-time priorities, philosophy, decision-making
4. Company newsletter: If they publish one, shows what they're investing in
5. Podcast/webinar appearances: Speaking engagements reveal positioning and audience

Scoring:

• Active (posts 2–4x per week, engages with comments) = visible leader, responsive to inbound, may read cold outreach
• Dormant (<1 post per month, no engagement) = less likely to see cold outreach, may need warm intro
• Thought leadership (speaking, writing, cited as expert) = credible leader, easier to flattery-based hook

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Research Depth by Tier

All tiers use the 5-layer model, but research intensity and output detail differ.

Tier 1 — Full Dossier (20 minutes)

When to use: High-value account (named deal, enterprise ACV >$100k, C-list target, strategic partnership) Research depth:

• Layer 1: Find 3 decision-makers by name, title, current LinkedIn activity, last post date
• Layer 2: Extract 3–5 recent events with dates, link to each (funding, hires, launches, leadership changes)
• Layer 3: List 10+ tools in their stack, identify 2–3 gaps, cite source for each tool
• Layer 4: Mine 5+ job postings + 8–10 G2 reviews, extract 5+ pain signals with examples
• Layer 5: Profile CEO + 2 VPs — activity frequency, last post date, engagement style

Output: Full Account Dossier (template below) Time estimate: 18–22 minutes (4–5 min per layer + 2 min synthesis)

Tier 2 — Medium Brief (10 minutes)

When to use: Mid-market account (ACV $20k–$100k), account list, early prospecting Research depth:

• Layer 1: Find 2 decision-makers (economic buyer + champion), names + titles only
• Layer 2: Extract 2–3 recent events (most recent only)
• Layer 3: List 5–7 key tools, 1–2 gaps
• Layer 4: Mine 3–4 job postings + 4–5 reviews, extract 3–4 pain signals with light examples
• Layer 5: CEO activity level only (active/dormant/thought leader)

Output: Abbreviated dossier (1 page) Time estimate: 8–11 minutes

Tier 3 — Minimum Profile (3 minutes)

When to use: High-volume list research, quick qualification, social selling Research depth:

• Layer 1: Find CEO name + title only
• Layer 2: One recent signal (funding, news, or recent hire)
• Layer 3: One notable tool or gap
• Layer 4: One pain signal (from job or review)
• Layer 5: Skipped

Output: One-paragraph company snapshot Time estimate: 2–4 minutes

---

Account Dossier Output Template

Use this exact format for Tier 1 research. Adapt for Tier 2/3 by dropping sections marked [T1 only].

## [COMPANY NAME] — Account Intelligence Dossier

### Company Overview (2 sentences)
[1 sentence on what they do + market]
[1 sentence on recent traction or context that matters to your pitch]

### Decision-Maker Map
[Format: Name (Title, Last LinkedIn Activity) — Role & Influence]

**Economic Buyer:** [Name], [Title]
- P&L owner: [specific function: Sales, Engineering, Finance, Ops]
- Last active on LinkedIn: [date]
- Signal: [brief context, e.g., "Posted about hiring for team expansion" or "No activity in 60 days"]

**Champion:** [Name], [Title]
- Uses your solution category daily
- Last active on LinkedIn: [date]
- Signal: [job posting evidence or review where this role described the pain]

**Influencer:** [Name], [Title]
- Can block/accelerate: [why: CTO, Chief Product Officer, peer leader in their function]
- Last active on LinkedIn: [date]
- Signal: [recent activity that proves relevance: post about tech choices, hiring, M&A]

[T1 only] **Sponsor (optional):** [Name], [Title]
- Bridge to economic buyer (if company >1000 headcount)

### Layer 2: Recent Events (Momentum Signals)
[3–5 events, most recent first, with dates and links]

- **[Date, Event Type]:** [What happened] → Implication for your pitch
  - Source: [Link]

### Layer 3: Tech Stack & Gaps
[List current tools; identify gaps and aspirations]

**Current Stack (verified):**
- [Category]: [Tool 1], [Tool 2]
- [Category]: [Tool]

**Identified Gaps:**
- [Gap 1]: Using [Old Tool], job postings show interest in [New Category] → Migration opportunity
- [Gap 2]: [Problem], not solved by current stack → Direct pain

**Integration Friction:**
- [Tool A] + [Tool B] noted as "difficult to sync" in 3 reviews → Integration selling point

### Layer 4: Pain Signals (Top 3)
[Rank by evidence strength: job postings > multiple reviews > single review > inference]

**Signal #1: [Problem statement]**
- Evidence: [2–3 job postings or review quotes]
- Frequency: Mentioned in [X] postings / [X] reviews
- Urgency: [High/Medium/Low — inferred from recency and job posting level]
- Your hook: [How your product solves this in one sentence]

**Signal #2: [Problem statement]**
- Evidence: [2–3 job postings or review quotes]
- Frequency: Mentioned in [X] postings / [X] reviews
- Urgency: [High/Medium/Low]
- Your hook: [One sentence]

**Signal #3: [Problem statement]**
- Evidence: [Job posting or review quote]
- Frequency: Mentioned in [X] postings / [X] reviews
- Urgency: [High/Medium/Low]
- Your hook: [One sentence]

### Best Personalization Hook
[One specific, credible angle to lead with. Format: "Use [Signal/Event/Person] as the hook. Example opener: '...'" ]

Example formats:
- News hook: "[CEO Name]'s post about [topic] on [date] suggests they're prioritizing X. We help companies like [similar company] solve that by..."
- Pain hook: "I noticed 5 of your recent job postings mention [skill]. That usually means..."
- Tech hook: "You're using [Tool A] but job posts show you're hiring for [new area]. We specialize in..."
- Leadership hook: "[New Hire Name] just joined as [role]. Based on her background in [area], she likely owns..."

### Recommended First Channel
[Choose one; explain why]

- **LinkedIn InMail to [Economic Buyer]?** — If active, <5 contacts in role, high trust signal
- **LinkedIn message to [Champion]?** — If they're visible, less threatening than direct to buyer, easier to warm
- **Email (warm intro)?** — If you have a mutual connection (check LinkedIn "People you know")
- **Email (cold)?** — If pain is acute enough, company is hiring (visible on LinkedIn)
- **LinkedIn outreach to [Influencer]?** — If they're highly active and thought leader (easier to get meeting)

**Why:** [Justify based on their activity level, org size, pain urgency]

### Recommended Framework
[Pick one; explain why]

- **"By the way" framework** — Best if: Pain is obvious, champion is receptive, goal is warm intro
- **MEDDIC / BANT qualification** — Best if: Enterprise deal, complex buying process, multiple decision-makers
- **ROI/efficiency hook** — Best if: Finance buyer is target, pain is cost or manual work, you have benchmarks
- **Event-triggered** — Best if: Recent funding or hire suggests receptivity; use news as proof of change appetite
- **Peer social proof** — Best if: [Competitor or similar company] is customer; drop name contextually

**Why:** [Explain fit]

### Data Quality & Confidence Scoring
[T1 only]

- **Data freshness:** Last research update [date]
- **Confidence in decision-maker accuracy:** [High/Medium/Low — based on confirmation from 2+ sources]
- **Pain signal strength:** [High/Medium/Low — based on frequency of mentions + recency]
- **Recommended next step:** [Direct outreach / Warm intro needed / Too noisy, research more / Ready to pitch]

---

Prompt Template

Prompt to use when starting research:

Act as a B2B account intelligence specialist. I'm researching [COMPANY NAME] to prepare for outreach.

Depth: [Tier 1 / Tier 2 / Tier 3]

Company Info:
- Company: [COMPANY NAME]
- LinkedIn URL: [LINKEDIN_URL]
- Industry: [If known — optional]
- Company Size: [If known — optional]
- Your product: [Brief 1-sentence description of what you sell]

For Tier 1: Use all 5 layers (org structure, recent events, tech stack, pain signals, social footprint). Find 3 named decision-makers with current LinkedIn activity. Extract 3–5 pain signals from job postings and G2 reviews. Provide a complete Account Dossier using the template.

For Tier 2: Focus on layers 1–4. Find 2 key decision-makers. Extract 3–4 pain signals. Provide a 1-page abbreviated dossier.

For Tier 3: Quick snapshot only. CEO name, one recent signal, one pain signal, one tool/gap.

Research checklist:
- [ ] Company LinkedIn page reviewed (leadership, recent activity, headcount)
- [ ] CEO/VP LinkedIn activity checked (last 30 days)
- [ ] 3+ job postings analyzed (if available)
- [ ] G2/Capterra reviews mined (industry/size filter applied)
- [ ] BuiltWith tech stack verified
- [ ] Recent press/news checked (funding, hires, product launches)

Output format: Use the Account Dossier template provided. Be specific — cite sources, dates, and names. No vague claims.

---

Decision Trees & Logic

Should I research this account?

Do you have a company name + LinkedIn URL?
├─ Yes
│  ├─ Is it a Tier 1 account (high-value, strategic, named deal)?
│  │  └─ Yes → Invest 20 min in full dossier (Tier 1)
│  └─ Is it Tier 2 (mid-market, account list)?
│     └─ Yes → 10-min medium brief (Tier 2)
│  └─ Is it volume prospecting or quick-qualify?
│     └─ Yes → 3-min snapshot (Tier 3)
└─ No → Ask for company name + LinkedIn URL before starting

How do I find the decision-makers?

Start with company LinkedIn page:
├─ Does it list C-suite/VP?
│  ├─ Yes → Note names, check their individual LinkedIn profiles for recent activity
│  └─ No → Company may be <50 headcount; assume CEO is economic buyer
├─ Check "People" tab on company page
│  └─ Filter by title (VP Finance, VP Sales, CTO, Chief Product Officer)
├─ Cross-check on job postings
│  └─ "Reporting to [Name]" in job posting = confirms role + name
└─ Search Google + LinkedIn for "[Company] [Role]"
   └─ Use last activity date to gauge engagement

How do I extract pain signals?

Job Postings (highest fidelity):
├─ Read 3–5 postings for your function
├─ Extract patterns: "seeking X to fix Y"
├─ Note urgency (hiring at manager/director level = high priority)
├─ Note context (hiring for new function = expansion; reqs = problems)

G2 Reviews (validation):
├─ Filter by company size + industry
├─ Read 4–6 reviews, search for keywords: "slow," "integration," "lack," "need," "expensive"
├─ Count frequency (3+ reviews mention same pain = strong signal)
└─ Prioritize recent reviews (< 6 months old)

LinkedIn Job Postings:
├─ Search "[Company Name] hiring"
├─ Sort by most recent
├─ Extract 3–5 open roles + their descriptions
└─ Note: Stack of titles reveals org priorities (e.g., 5 sales roles open = growth mode)

How do I choose the research tier?

Tier 1 Criteria (Full Dossier — 20 min):
├─ ACV or deal size >$100k
├─ Named deal or strategic account
├─ C-suite target or enterprise buying process
└─ Can invest time for high-precision research

Tier 2 Criteria (Medium Brief — 10 min):
├─ ACV $20k–$100k
├─ Account on list of 10–50 targets
├─ Sales development (SDR) lead generation
└─ Need signal before first touchpoint

Tier 3 Criteria (Minimum Profile — 3 min):
├─ ACV <$20k or volume prospecting
├─ Account list of 100+
├─ Social selling or rapid qualification
└─ Quick decision: fit or skip

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Research Benchmarks & Time Allocation

Tier 1 Breakdown (20 min):

• Layer 1 (Org Structure): 5 min
• Layer 2 (Recent Events): 3 min
• Layer 3 (Tech Stack): 4 min
• Layer 4 (Pain Signals): 6 min
• Layer 5 (Social): 1 min
• Synthesis + Dossier writing: 1 min

Tier 2 Breakdown (10 min):

• Layers 1–4: 9 min (skipping depth on Layer 5)
• Dossier writing: 1 min

Tier 3 Breakdown (3 min):

• Quick scan of company page: 1 min
• One pain signal: 1 min
• Paragraph write: 1 min

Effort reduction tips:

• BuiltWith before LinkedIn (10 sec to reveal 80% of stack)
• G2 review search: filter by company size first (saves 3 min of irrelevant reviews)
• Job postings: read only the first 5 (diminishing returns after 5)
• LinkedIn: only check last 30 days of activity (older posts irrelevant to current priorities)

---

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

1. Researching without a hypothesis — Don't start Layer 4 (pain) without Layer 3 (tech stack); you'll miss signals.
2. Over-researching Tier 3 — If you're only doing 3 minutes, don't spend 5 reading reviews. Pick one signal and move on.
3. Confusing founder/CEO activity with company activity — A CEO who's quiet on LinkedIn ≠ company is dormant. Check company page + press independently.
4. Taking G2 reviews at face value — Always check: (a) reviewer title (IC vs. decision-maker), (b) review date (60+ days old = less relevant), (c) company size match.
5. Missing the "why" in tech stack — Don't just list tools. Ask: Why this tool? What problem does it solve? Is it a gap or a strength?
6. Prioritizing newness over relevance — A 3-month-old funding round is not a hook if their pain signal is 2 years old and unsolved (suggests different priorities).
7. One-source claims — Job posting says "growth" ≠ automatic high-urgency signal. Cross-check with recent news or review consensus.

---

Example

Scenario: Tier 1 Research on [REAL EXAMPLE COMPANY]

Brief: You're an account executive for a data pipeline platform (like Fivetran, Airbyte, or dbt Cloud). Your company specializes in automating data ingestion and transformation. You've identified a mid-market e-commerce company, [TechRetail Inc.], as a target. You need a full Account Dossier before your first call with their VP of Data.

Company: TechRetail Inc. (fictitious example) LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/techretail-inc Your product: Automated data pipeline orchestration + data quality monitoring Tier: Tier 1 (named deal, enterprise ACV)

---

Research Process (following 5 layers)

Layer 1: Org Structure

Company LinkedIn page review:

• Headcount: ~450 (from "About" section)
• Leadership: CEO [Sarah Chen], CTO [Marcus Williams], VP Finance [David Park], VP Sales [Jessica Liu]

Search results: "[TechRetail VP Data]" → Found [Alex Rodriguez], VP of Data & Analytics, LinkedIn URL [link], last post June 1, 2026 (active, 3-4 posts per week)

Search results: "[TechRetail Director Engineering]" → Found [Jamie Kim], Director of Data Engineering, LinkedIn URL [link], last post May 28, 2026 (active, replies to comments)

Cross-check on LinkedIn "People" tab:

• [Alex Rodriguez]: VP of Data & Analytics — direct report to VP Sales (Jessica Liu) per profile
• [Jamie Kim]: Director of Data Engineering — direct report to CTO (Marcus Williams)
• [Sarah Chen]: CEO — occasionally posts about company culture + growth

Decision-maker map:

• Economic Buyer: [David Park], VP Finance (owns data infrastructure budget, P&L for tech spend)
• Champion: [Alex Rodriguez], VP of Data (daily user of pipeline tools, has KPIs tied to data quality + velocity)
• Influencer: [Marcus Williams], CTO (can block if architecture doesn't fit engineering practices; can accelerate if he champions it)

---

Layer 2: Recent Events

Company LinkedIn page:

• May 15, 2026: Posted announcement: "We've raised $25M in Series B funding to fuel our expansion into EU markets and strengthen our data infrastructure." [Link]
• May 22, 2026: "Excited to announce [Jamie Kim] as our new Director of Data Engineering! Jamie brings 10 years of building data platforms at [Previous Company]."
• May 8, 2026: Posted case study: "How we reduced data processing time by 40% through [internal initiative]."

CEO (Sarah Chen) LinkedIn:

• June 1, 2026: Reposted a TechCrunch article on "The Future of Customer Data Platforms" with comment: "This resonates—our roadmap is heavily data-first."
• May 25, 2026: Posted about attending a data engineering conference, mentioned "impressed by new tools in the orchestration space."

Press/News:

• Crunchbase: Series B funding, $25M, led by [VC Name], May 15, 2026
• VentureBeat: "TechRetail Lands $25M to Expand Data-Driven Personalization" (article confirms focus on customer data + personalization)

Translation: Company has capital, is investing in data team (new director hire suggests urgency), CEO is actively looking at new data tools, and VP Finance (budget owner) is actively posting about finance/ops topics (responsive signal).

Recency scoring:

• Series B funding (May) = highest urgency (capital to deploy, 90-day spending window)
• New Data Engineering hire (May) = medium-high (scaling the team, likely will evaluate tooling)
• CEO tool research (June) = medium (signals openness to new solutions)

---

Layer 3: Tech Stack & Gaps

BuiltWith check:

• Analytics: Mixpanel, Segment, Google Analytics
• CRM: Salesforce
• Data Warehouse: Snowflake (confirmed in job posting + press materials)
• BI: Looker (mentioned in [Jamie Kim]'s LinkedIn as "worked with Looker at previous company")
• ETL/Data Pipeline: [Not clearly listed]

LinkedIn Job Postings (last 5):

1. "Senior Data Engineer" (posted May 20): "Required: SQL, Python, Airflow or similar orchestration tool. Nice to have: dbt experience."
   • Translation: Currently using Airflow, interested in dbt; likely evaluating orchestration improvements
2. "Analytics Engineer" (posted May 28): "Build transformations and data models. Experience with SQL, dbt, Snowflake required."
   • Translation: Actively hiring for dbt/analytics engineering; earlier-stage capability they're adding
3. "Data Quality Engineer" (posted June 1): "Own data quality and testing. We're building new monitoring processes."
   • Translation: Data quality is a new problem they're solving; infrastructure investment confirmed
4. "Data Infrastructure Lead" (posted May 10): "Owner of our data platform roadmap. Must have experience scaling Snowflake clusters + reducing costs."
   • Translation: Cost + scale pain; infrastructure efficiency matters

G2 Reviews (filtered by 100–1000 headcount, e-commerce):

• Review 1 (May 2026, Sr. Data Analyst): "Snowflake is solid, but our transformation layer is fragmented. We have scripts in Python, dbt models, and Airflow DAGs—hard to track dependencies. Integration between these tools needs improvement."
  • Pain: Multi-tool orchestration is fragmented; dependency tracking broken
• Review 2 (June 2026, Analytics Manager): "We're hitting scaling issues with Airflow. Deployments take 2+ hours, and debugging failed jobs is painful."
  • Pain: Airflow scalability + operational overhead
• Review 3 (April 2026, Data Engineering Lead): "Transitioning from custom scripts to Airflow, but the learning curve is steep and we lack good monitoring. Looking for solutions that simplify this."
  • Pain: Airflow adoption + monitoring
• Review 4 (May 2026, VP Analytics, another company, but same size): "Our data pipeline is a bottleneck. We want to move to a managed solution to reduce ops overhead, but we're locked into Airflow."
  • Inference: Tech Retail likely has same problem (Airflow lock-in)

Tech Stack Summary:

Current tools:

• Warehouse: Snowflake
• Orchestration: Airflow (primary), custom Python scripts
• Transformation: dbt (being adopted)
• Analytics: Looker, Mixpanel, Segment
• No evidence of managed data pipeline solution (Fivetran, Airbyte, etc.)

Gaps identified:

1. Orchestration scalability: Airflow deployment times slow (2+ hours per hiring manager review), no monitoring strategy, multi-tool integration fragmented
2. Data transformation governance: Multiple transformation layers (dbt + Python scripts) not integrated; dependency tracking missing
3. Data quality/observability: New hire (Data Quality Engineer) suggests this is newly prioritized; no established solution yet

Integration friction:

• Airflow + Snowflake + dbt = manual integration work (reviewed in G2 as "fragmented")
• Cost optimization (hiring for "reducing Snowflake costs") suggests they're hitting bill shock from scaling

---

Layer 4: Pain Signals (Top 3)

Signal #1: Airflow Operational Overhead + Scalability Bottleneck

Evidence:

• Job posting: "Data Infrastructure Lead" explicitly mentions "reducing operational overhead," "scaling Snowflake clusters," posted May 10
• G2 reviews: "Deployments take 2+ hours," "debugging failed jobs is painful" (June 2026), "steep learning curve + lack of monitoring" (April 2026)
• New hire: Jamie Kim (Director of Data Engineering, ex-[Previous Company], May 22) likely brought in to solve ops/scaling issues

Frequency: 3 job postings mention orchestration/airflow, 3 G2 reviews mention operational pain Urgency: High — New director hire (signal company prioritizes this now), Series B capital to invest, recent job postings (hiring to fix) Your hook (Fivetran/Airbyte angle): "Your job postings show you're scaling Airflow, but the real unlock is reducing ops overhead. A managed pipeline platform lets your team focus on analytics, not infrastructure."

---

Signal #2: Multi-Tool Data Stack + Integration Fragmentation

Evidence:

• Job posting: "Analytics Engineer" (May 28) requires dbt; simultaneously, job for "Senior Data Engineer" (May 20) requires Airflow + "nice to have: dbt"
  • Translation: They're adopting dbt but haven't fully integrated it with orchestration
• G2 review: "We have scripts in Python, dbt models, and Airflow DAGs—hard to track dependencies"
• Tech stack: Snowflake + Looker + Mixpanel + Segment + custom Python + Airflow + dbt = 7 tools, loosely connected

Frequency: Mentioned in 2 job postings, 1 review, inferred from tech stack Urgency: Medium-High — They're actively hiring to solve this (Analytics Engineer role), but not yet critical Your hook (dbt Cloud / orchestration platform): "You're building a modern data stack (Snowflake + dbt), but your orchestration layer isn't built to handle it. A platform that syncs Airflow + dbt + Snowflake reduces your integration debt by 60%."

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Signal #3: Data Quality + Observability (New Priority)

Evidence:

• Job posting: "Data Quality Engineer" (posted June 1) — new role, explicitly says "We're building new monitoring processes"
  • Translation: Data quality is now a business priority (likely triggered by Series B, customer-facing data accuracy)
• G2 review: "We lack good monitoring" (April 2026)
• Implication: Series B expansion = EU markets + personalization strategy = data accuracy becomes critical

Frequency: 1 new job posting + 1 review mention Urgency: Medium — Newly prioritized, but not yet mature (hiring for it now) Your hook (dbt + data quality tools): "You just hired for data quality. The hardest part isn't monitoring—it's having a system that prevents bad data from entering your pipeline. [Your tool] catches issues before they hit Snowflake."

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Layer 5: Social Footprint

CEO (Sarah Chen) LinkedIn activity:

• Activity level: 2–3 posts per week (high engagement)
• Content: Company milestones (funding, hires), industry trends (data platforms, personalization), culture
• Engagement: ~100–200 likes per post, comments from industry figures
• Last activity: June 1, 2026 (active today)
• Verdict: Thought leader, highly visible, responsive to industry trends

VP Data (Alex Rodriguez) LinkedIn:

• Activity level: 3–4 posts per week (very active)
• Content: Data engineering, career advice, Snowflake/dbt tips, personal takes on data tooling
• Engagement: ~50–150 likes, replies to comments
• Last activity: June 1, 2026 (active)
• Connections: ~2,500 (industry network strong)
• Verdict: Highly engaged in data engineering community, likely receptive to inbound from thought leaders

CTO (Marcus Williams) LinkedIn:

• Activity level: 1 post per month (less visible)
• Content: Engineering wins, hiring announcements
• Last activity: May 28, 2026
• Verdict: Less visible, but replies to comments (not dormant)

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Account Dossier Output

## TechRetail Inc. — Account Intelligence Dossier

### Company Overview
TechRetail Inc. is a ~450-person e-commerce platform specializing in customer data and personalization, with customers across retail and CPG sectors. They just closed a $25M Series B (May 2026) to expand into EU markets and strengthen their data infrastructure—creating an active 90-day capital deployment window.

### Decision-Maker Map

**Economic Buyer:** David Park, VP Finance
- P&L owner: Data infrastructure budget + tech spend
- Last active on LinkedIn: May 30, 2026 (posts 1–2x per month on finance/ops)
- Signal: Active enough to see cold outreach; Finance controls data/infrastructure budget

**Champion:** Alex Rodriguez, VP of Data & Analytics
- Uses orchestration + data transformation tools daily; OKRs tied to data pipeline velocity + quality
- Last active on LinkedIn: June 1, 2026 (posts 3–4x per week, very engaged)
- Signal: Highly engaged in data engineering community; will likely read inbound from peers or vendors; can influence buying decision upward to Finance

**Influencer:** Marcus Williams, CTO
- Can block/accelerate: Architecture decisions, engineering practices; final say on platform integration
- Last active on LinkedIn: May 28, 2026 (lower activity, but engaged when active)
- Signal: Recent data engineering director hire (Jamie Kim) reports to him; his buy-in is required for implementation

---

### Layer 2: Recent Events (Momentum Signals)

- **May 15, 2026 (Series B Funding):** $25M Series B funding to expand EU + strengthen data infrastructure
  - Implication: Capital allocated for infrastructure investment; 90-day spending window likely active; budget cycle reset
  - Source: [company-linkedin-post]

- **May 22, 2026 (Director Hire):** Jamie Kim hired as Director of Data Engineering (ex-[Previous Company], 10-year data platform background)
  - Implication: Company is accelerating data platform development; ops/scaling issues being directly addressed; new director will evaluate tooling
  - Source: [alex-rodriguez-linkedin-post]

- **June 1, 2026 (New Data Quality Role):** Data Quality Engineer role posted; job description says "We're building new monitoring processes"
  - Implication: Data quality is now a business-critical priority (likely EU expansion + data accuracy for personalization); monitoring stack being built now
  - Source: [techretail-careers-page]

- **May 8, 2026 (Internal Success):** Posted case study on reducing data processing time by 40%
  - Implication: Company is data-first; publicly celebrating efficiency wins; open to process improvements
  - Source: [company-blog]

- **June 1, 2026 (CEO Tool Research):** Sarah Chen (CEO) reposted TechCrunch article on "Future of Customer Data Platforms" with comment: "This resonates—our roadmap is heavily data-first"
  - Implication: CEO is actively researching data platform trends; data infrastructure is strategic priority
  - Source: [sarah-chen-linkedin]

---

### Layer 3: Tech Stack & Gaps

**Current Stack (verified by BuiltWith + job postings + LinkedIn):**
- **Data Warehouse:** Snowflake (primary)
- **Orchestration:** Apache Airflow (primary), custom Python scripts
- **Transformation:** dbt (recently adopted; hiring for "Analytics Engineer" role)
- **Analytics/BI:** Looker
- **Customer Data:** Segment, Mixpanel
- **CRM:** Salesforce

**Identified Gaps:**

1. **Orchestration scalability + operations:** Using open-source Airflow with heavy operational overhead. Job posting for "Data Infrastructure Lead" explicitly mentions "reducing operational overhead" and "scaling Snowflake clusters." G2 reviews from similar companies note "2+ hour deployments" and "monitoring gaps." No managed orchestration solution in place (no Fivetran, Airbyte, Prefect, Dagster, or dbt Cloud observed).
   - Gap implication: They're building it in-house today; Series B capital makes them a buyer now

2. **dbt integration + governance:** Recently hired for "Analytics Engineer" role, but dbt is not yet integrated with Airflow at scale. G2 review notes "fragments of Python scripts + dbt models + Airflow DAGs—hard to track dependencies."
   - Gap implication: Multi-tool data stack requires integration layer; dependency tracking broken

3. **Data quality observability:** New "Data Quality Engineer" role; job posting explicitly says "building new monitoring processes." G2 review notes "lack of good monitoring."
   - Gap implication: Data quality is newly prioritized; monitoring stack being built; buyer for observability tools now

**Integration friction:**
- Snowflake + Airflow: Manual integration, monitoring via Airflow logs (limited)
- Airflow + dbt: No native integration; requires custom orchestration
- dbt + Snowflake: Works, but scaling requires governance (model tracking, lineage)

---

### Layer 4: Pain Signals (Top 3)

**Pain Signal #1: Airflow Operational Overhead + Scalability**

Evidence:
- Job posting (May 20): "Senior Data Engineer required: Airflow or similar orchestration. Nice to have: dbt experience" → signals current Airflow use, interest in alternatives
- Job posting (May 10): "Data Infrastructure Lead — Owner of data platform roadmap. Must have experience scaling Snowflake clusters + reducing costs" → explicit cost + scaling pain
- G2 reviews (filtered by company size + e-commerce):
  - May 2026: "Deployments take 2+ hours, debugging failed jobs is painful"
  - April 2026: "Steep learning curve, lack of monitoring"
- New hire context: Jamie Kim (Director of Data Engineering, hired May 22) background in "scaling data platforms" at previous company → signals this pain was a hiring requirement

Frequency: Mentioned across 3 job postings + 2 G2 reviews = high consensus
Urgency: **High** — Newly hired director to fix; Series B capital allocated; recent job posts
Your hook: "Your Series B math doesn't work if 2 hours of each deployment day is spent on Airflow ops. Your new Director of Data Engineering (Jamie Kim, based on her background) will likely evaluate orchestration solutions that cut operational overhead by 50%+ within Q3. A managed platform lets your team focus on data strategy, not infra."

---

**Pain Signal #2: Multi-Tool Data Stack Fragmentation + Dependency Tracking**

Evidence:
- Job posting (May 28): "Analytics Engineer — Transform data using SQL, dbt, Snowflake" → signals dbt adoption but not yet mature
- Job posting (May 20): "Senior Data Engineer — Airflow or similar + nice to have dbt" → signals co-existence of two transformation approaches
- G2 review (May 2026): "We have Python scripts, dbt models, and Airflow DAGs—hard to track dependencies. Integration between tools needs improvement"
- Job posting (June 1, Data Quality Engineer): "Own data quality and testing" → signals they want to centralize quality, but current stack is fragmented

Frequency: Multiple job postings + 1 detailed review = clear pattern
Urgency: **Medium-High** — They're actively hiring to solve (Analytics Engineer role), but not yet critical path
Your hook: "You're building a modern stack (dbt + Snowflake), but your orchestration layer wasn't built for it. You have transformation logic scattered across Python scripts, dbt, and Airflow. Consolidating onto a platform that syncs all three cuts your dependency tracking burden by 70% and makes your data governance scalable."

---

**Pain Signal #3: Data Quality + Observability (New Business-Critical Priority)**

Evidence:
- Job posting (June 1): "Data Quality Engineer — We're building new monitoring processes" (new role, recent post)
- G2 review (April 2026): "We lack good monitoring. Transitioning to Airflow, but monitoring strategy not established"
- Context: Series B expansion into EU + personalization focus = data accuracy directly impacts customer experience + revenue
- CEO signal (June 1): "Our roadmap is heavily data-first" → investment in data quality is strategic

Frequency: 1 recent job posting + 1 review + strategic context = emerging priority
Urgency: **Medium** — Newly prioritized (hiring today), but not yet mature; however, will become critical within 60 days
Your hook: "You just added a Data Quality Engineer role. That means data accuracy is now on the executive agenda (probably triggered by your EU expansion + personalization roadmap). The hardest part of data quality isn't monitoring—it's preventing bad data from entering your pipeline in the first place. Most platforms add monitoring after the fact. [Your tool] prevents issues upstream."

---

### Best Personalization Hook

**Use the Series B capital + new director hire as the entry vector. Lead with Jamie Kim's background as social proof.**

**Recommended opener:**
"Alex, I noticed TechRetail just brought Jamie Kim on as Director of Data Engineering (congratulations to the team). Her background at [Previous Company] was building data platforms that scaled from Airflow to 10B+ events/day. I'm guessing that was part of why she's here—to tackle the same scaling challenges you're hitting post-Series B. We help engineering teams like yours cut Airflow operational overhead by 50%+ while keeping your dbt + Snowflake investments intact. I'd love to share how [similar company of his size] solved this in Q2. Do you have 20 minutes next week?"

**Alternative hooks (in priority order):**
1. **News hook:** "Series B expansion into EU requires data accuracy at scale. Your new Data Quality Engineer role confirms that's on your agenda. Here's how [company] handles data quality checks upstream..."
2. **Tech hook:** "Your job postings show you're hiring for dbt + Airflow. The tricky part—and the reason most teams hit scaling walls—is integrating the two without hiring a platform team. [Your tool] solves that..."
3. **Cost hook:** "Your 'Data Infrastructure Lead' role mentions reducing Snowflake costs. Most teams hit a wall: Airflow deployments get slower, dbt queries run longer, costs climb. [Your tool] is built to run both efficiently..."

---

### Recommended First Channel

**LinkedIn InMail to Alex Rodriguez, VP of Data**

**Why:** 
- He's highly active (3–4 posts per week, last activity today), so likely to open + read InMail
- As VP of Data, he owns the day-to-day pain (orchestration ops, transformation governance)
- He's *not* the economic buyer (David Park, VP Finance is), but he's the Champion who can get a meeting scheduled and influence upward
- Direct to Economic Buyer (David Park) skips the champion; less warm, requires CEO-level social proof
- Email (cold) is possible, but his LinkedIn engagement suggests InMail will outperform

**Why not alternatives:**
- Email (warm intro): Faster if you have a mutual connection, but no evidence of one; LinkedIn InMail is warmer
- LinkedIn message: InMail is higher-intent from vendor perspective; shows you respect their time
- Influencer outreach (Marcus Williams, CTO): He's less active; Alex is the more receptive audience

---

### Recommended Framework

**"Event-triggered" framework with peer social proof**

**Why this framework:**
1. **Event trigger:** Series B + new director hire = proof of change appetite and budget allocation
2. **Peer social proof:** You have a customer of similar size/stage in e-commerce or data infrastructure who solved this post-Series B; that company becomes your reference
3. **Credibility:** New director (Jamie Kim) will want to evaluate solutions quickly; having case studies from her peer network accelerates deal cycle

**Execution:**
- **First touch (InMail to Alex):** News hook (Series B) + new director hire as proof they care about this problem + reference customer case study (if you have one in e-commerce/data infrastructure at similar scale)
  - Message length: 40 words max + one link to case study
  - Goal: Get 20-minute discovery call
- **Discovery call with Alex + Jamie Kim:** MEDDIC framework (understand budget, stakeholders, timeline tied to Series B capital window)
  - Key: Jamie Kim will likely own evaluation; align on technical proof (demo dbt + Snowflake scenario)
- **Close:** ROI framework (reduce ops overhead + Snowflake costs)
  - Benchmark: "Most customers see 50%+ ops overhead reduction in first 90 days + 20–30% Snowflake cost savings"

---

### Data Quality & Confidence Scoring

- **Data freshness:** Research completed June 2, 2026 (current as of today)
- **Confidence in decision-maker map:** **High**
  - Alex Rodriguez confirmed via LinkedIn as VP of Data (multiple sources: company page, personal LinkedIn, job posting context)
  - David Park confirmed via LinkedIn as VP Finance (company page + financial posting patterns)
  - Marcus Williams confirmed as CTO (company page, Jamie Kim reports to him)
  - All three confirmed active within last 3 days
- **Confidence in pain signal strength:** **High**
  - Airflow pain: 3 job postings + 2 recent G2 reviews + recent director hire = very high confidence
  - dbt integration pain: 2 job postings + 1 review + hiring signal = high confidence
  - Data quality pain: 1 recent job posting + 1 review + strategic context (EU expansion) = medium-high confidence
- **Recommended next step:** **Ready for warm outreach**
  - Series B timing + recent hires + active decision-makers = high-intent window (30–60 days before capital is deployed elsewhere)
  - Priority: InMail to Alex Rodriguez within 48 hours
  - Secondary: Get warm intro to Jamie Kim via mutual connection if available (de-risks the technical conversation)

---

Notes for Practitioners

1. Tier 1 research at enterprise scale: If company is >2,000 headcount, you may need to add a "Sponsor" layer (Director-level introducer to the Economic Buyer). At that scale, cold reaching the CFO directly is less effective than going through a trusted sponsor.

2. Adapt the dossier template to your product: The template above is generic. For your use case (whatever product you sell), replace the "Your hook" bullets with your specific value prop. Examples:

   • If you sell a data platform (Fivetran): Emphasize "managed orchestration + cost reduction"
   • If you sell dbt Cloud: Emphasize "dbt governance + dependency tracking"
   • If you sell data quality tools (dbt tests + Great Expectations): Emphasize "preventing bad data upstream"

3. When to re-research: Update this dossier if (a) company raises new funding, (b) key decision-maker leaves/joins, (c) new product launch or pivot, (d) major news (acquisition, public filing). Otherwise, dossier is valid for 60 days.

4. Single-company vs. account list: Use Tier 1 for named deals; use Tier 2/3 for account lists. If you're working through a list of 100 accounts, run all 100 at Tier 3 first (identifies low-hanging fruit), then tier up the top 10–15 to Tier 1 for deeper research.

5. Research as qualification: Pain signals should inform qualification logic. If you see <3 pain signals after Layer 4 mining, the company may be poor fit (not hitting the problems your product solves). Consider deprioritizing until signals become clearer.