From vc-skills
Define the market context for a VC market map. Two entry modes: start from a specific company (reverse-engineer its market) or from a market category description (top-down). Outputs a market definition document with positioning axes, capability areas, and buyer personas. Triggers on: "market map", "map a market", "competitive landscape", "market mapping", "vc market map", "analyze market", "define market", "market definition".
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/vc-skills:vc-market-definitionThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
Define the market context that drives all downstream skills. Two entry modes: start from a company or from a market category. Outputs a structured market definition with positioning axes, capability areas, and buyer personas.
Define the market context that drives all downstream skills. Two entry modes: start from a company or from a market category. Outputs a structured market definition with positioning axes, capability areas, and buyer personas.
| Variable | Service |
|---|---|
EXTRUCT_API_TOKEN | Extruct API |
Ask the user:
| Mode | When to use | What's needed |
|---|---|---|
| A: Company | Start from a specific company, map its competitive landscape | Company domain |
| B: Category | Start from a market category, map all players | Market description (2-3 sentences) |
Mode A — Company entry:
extruct-api skill: run a semantic search with the company domain to get its profile (name, description, employee count, founding year).extruct-api) to discover similar companies and understand the market landscape.Mode B — Category entry:
In both modes:
Read references/positioning-axes.md for the standard 5 axes.
Present ALL of the following together in a single message — axes, capabilities, and personas. Do NOT split them into separate steps with separate confirmations. The user should review and approve the full definition at once.
Positioning axes (3-5):
Based on the market description and company profiles found, propose 3-5 axes. For each:
Axis: [Name]
Left pole: [Label] — [description]
Right pole: [Label] — [description]
Why it matters: [1 sentence]
Include SMB vs Enterprise by default. Add custom axes specific to the market (e.g., "AI-native vs Traditional", "Open source vs Proprietary").
Capability areas (5-8):
Propose the functional categories buyers evaluate. For each:
Area: [Name]
Capabilities:
- [Specific capability 1]
- [Specific capability 2]
- [Specific capability 3]
Why buyers care: [1 sentence]
Use buyer language, not vendor architecture.
Buyer personas (2-4):
Persona: [Title/Role]
Cares about: [Key priorities]
Evaluates on: [What matters when choosing a product]
Preferred axes: [Which positioning axes matter most to this buyer]
Present everything together, then ask once: "Does this market definition look right? Anything to add, remove, or change?"
Save to:
claude-code-gtm/vc-maps/{map-slug}/market_context.md
Create the directory if it doesn't exist. The {map-slug} is derived from the market name (lowercase, hyphenated).
Format:
# Market Context: {Market Name}
## Market Description
{2-3 sentence description}
## Scope
- Geographic: {scope}
- Company stage: {stage focus}
- Focal company: {company name or "N/A"}
## Seed Companies
{List of known companies from user input, one per line with domain}
## Positioning Axes
### {Axis 1 Name}
- Left: {label} — {description}
- Right: {label} — {description}
- Why: {1 sentence}
### {Axis 2 Name}
...
## Capability Areas
### {Area 1 Name}
- {Capability 1}
- {Capability 2}
- {Capability 3}
Why: {1 sentence}
### {Area 2 Name}
...
## Buyer Personas
### {Persona 1 Title}
Cares about: {priorities}
Evaluates on: {criteria}
Preferred axes: {which axes}
### {Persona 2 Title}
...
If you need deeper market data that you don't have:
extruct-api skill) to discover companies in the space and learn from their descriptions.The market context is consumed by:
competitive-landscape — reads axes (for enrichment columns), capability areas (for feature comparison), seed companies (for lookalike search)market-map-assembly — reads everything (for report structure)market_context.md for this market — update it, don't recreatecompetitive-landscape directlynpx claudepluginhub extruct-ai/vc-skills --plugin vc-skillsActivate for: market, market size, TAM SAM SOM, competitive analysis, competitive landscape, competitors, competition, who else does this, market research, industry research, market sizing, bottom-up model, addressable market, serviceable market, competitive intelligence, how big is the market, who are my competitors, market positioning, differentiation, moat, unfair advantage, why us not them, SWOT. NOT for: go-to-market strategy (use gtm), pitch deck (use pitch), unit economics (use financials).
Researches markets via interactive questioning on scope, then deploys parallel agents for trend analysis, consumer insights, competitive landscape, size estimates (TAM/SAM/SOM), and go/no-go recommendations.
Runs initial market research, updates findings, and answers questions about market size, customer segments, buying behavior, pricing benchmarks, and industry trends for startup founders.