competitive-analysis

Purpose

Competitive analysis answers three questions:

1. Who is already solving this problem? (competitive map)
2. How do they compare to us? (feature/positioning matrix)
3. Where is the whitespace we can own? (differentiation opportunity)

This skill produces two artifacts: Competitor Profiles and a Positioning Gap Summary.

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When to Use This

• Before writing a PRD — feeds Phase 4 (Strategic Context) in ../prd-development/SKILL.md
• When ../product-discovery/SKILL.md surfaces competitive gaps as an opportunity
• Before building a GTM plan in ../go-to-market-planning/SKILL.md
• When pricing strategy requires market benchmarking — see ../pricing-monetization-strategy/SKILL.md
• When a stakeholder asks "why would a customer choose us over X?"

When NOT to Use This

• For internal-tool or back-office products with no external competitors
• As a substitute for actual user research (competitive analysis tells you what others built, not what users want)
• If you need a full market sizing exercise — use a TAM/SAM/SOM model instead

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Step 1 — Define the Competitive Universe (15 min)

Before analyzing anything, define scope.

Competitor Types

Type	Definition	Example
Direct	Same target user, same problem, similar solution	Figma vs Sketch
Indirect	Same problem, different solution or delivery model	Notion vs. Confluence
Substitute	Different framing, but competes for the same job-to-be-done	Excel vs. Airtable
Emerging	Early-stage or category-adjacent players to watch	New AI-native entrants

Action: List 3-8 competitors across these types. Avoid the trap of only analyzing the most obvious direct competitor.

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Step 2 — Gather Competitive Data (30-60 min)

Primary Sources (Do This First)

• Product itself: Sign up for free trials; walk through the core workflow
• Pricing pages: Capture tiers, value metrics, and packaging
• G2 / Capterra / Trustpilot reviews: Read 1-star and 5-star reviews — they reveal real pain and real value
• Job listings: Engineering and PM job posts reveal where a competitor is investing
• Changelog / release notes: Shows velocity and recent strategic bets

Secondary Sources

• Crunchbase / PitchBook: Funding stage, investor narrative
• Investor decks (if public): How the company positions itself to capital markets
• Press releases and blog posts: Messaging and positioning language
• LinkedIn: Team size by function — signals priorities

What to Capture Per Competitor

For each competitor, collect:

• Target user (stated and actual)
• Core value proposition (in their own words)
• Key features (top 5-7 that define the product)
• Pricing model and entry price
• Stated differentiators / positioning
• Known weaknesses (from reviews, forums, community complaints)
• Recent strategic moves (funding, M&A, product announcements)

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Step 3 — Build the Feature Matrix (20 min)

Create a table with competitors as columns and key capabilities as rows.

Feature Matrix Template

Capability	Us	Competitor A	Competitor B	Competitor C
[Core capability 1]	✓	✓	✗	✓
[Core capability 2]	✓	✗	✓	✗
[Core capability 3]	Partial	✓	✓	✗
[Differentiating capability]	✓	✗	✗	✗
[Table stakes capability]	✓	✓	✓	✓
Pricing model	—	—	—	—
Entry price	—	—	—	—
Target segment	—	—	—	—

Reading the matrix:

• Rows where everyone has ✓ = table stakes (you must have these; they won't differentiate you)
• Rows where only you have ✓ = your moat (protect and invest)
• Rows where competitors have ✓ and you have ✗ = gap to evaluate (build, partner, or consciously ignore)

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Step 4 — Build the Positioning Map (15 min)

A 2x2 positioning map shows where each player sits on two axes that matter to your target customer.

How to Choose Axes

Pick axes that:

1. Represent genuine trade-offs (not "quality vs. low quality")
2. Are meaningful to your target buyer
3. Create visible whitespace you can occupy

Common axis pairs:

• Complexity vs. Power (for tools)
• Self-serve vs. Enterprise (for SaaS go-to-market)
• Breadth vs. Depth (all-in-one vs. best-of-breed)
• Price vs. Integration depth

Positioning Map Output

HIGH [Axis Y]
        |
  [B]   |        [A]
        |
--------+--------
        |
  [C]   |   [D = Us]
        |
LOW     |        HIGH [Axis X]

Label each competitor's position and annotate why they sit there.

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Step 5 — SWOT-Lite (15 min)

A focused SWOT — skip generic platitudes, focus on actionable insights.

	Internal	External
Positive	Strengths: What we do better than anyone in this space	Opportunities: Gaps competitors aren't serving; emerging needs
Negative	Weaknesses: Gaps in our current offering vs. market expectation	Threats: Competitor moves, commoditization risk, category shifts

Rule: Each cell should have 2-4 specific, evidence-backed points. No vague statements like "strong team."

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Step 6 — Identify Differentiation Strategy (20 min)

Based on the feature matrix, positioning map, and SWOT-lite, answer:

The Three Differentiation Questions

1. What is the one thing we can be best at? (your spike)
2. What will we intentionally NOT do well? (your trade-off — this is required for a position to be credible)
3. What is our "only we" statement? ("Only [Company] can [capability] for [user] because [reason]")

Common Differentiation Strategies

Strategy	When It Works	Risk
Feature superiority	Competitors are weak in a critical area you can own	Easy to copy
Segment focus	Broad competitors ignore a specific segment's real needs	Small TAM
UX/simplicity	Incumbents are complex; your user wants ease over power	Hard to justify to enterprise
Ecosystem / integrations	Your user lives in a specific stack; you integrate better	Dependency risk
Price disruption	Premium market with underserved price-sensitive segment	Margin pressure
Vertical depth	Horizontal tools ignore domain-specific workflows	Niche ceiling

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Output Format

Competitor Profile (one per competitor)

## [Competitor Name]

**Type:** Direct / Indirect / Substitute / Emerging
**Target User:** [Who they build for]
**Core Value Prop:** [Their own words or closest paraphrase]
**Entry Price:** [Tier name + price]
**Pricing Model:** [Freemium / seat-based / usage-based / etc.]

### Key Capabilities
1. [Capability]
2. [Capability]
3. [Capability]

### Known Weaknesses
- [Source: G2/Capterra/community]
- [Source: G2/Capterra/community]

### Recent Moves
- [Date]: [What they announced/shipped/raised]

### Positioning in One Sentence
[Company] is the [category] for [user] who needs [value], unlike [comparison] which [contrast].

Positioning Gap Summary

## Positioning Gap Summary

### Table Stakes (must-have, not differentiating)
- [List features every player has]

### Our Differentiators (we have, competitors don't)
- [Feature/capability]: [Why it matters to the target user]

### Gaps to Evaluate (competitors have, we don't)
- [Feature/capability]: [Build / Partner / Ignore + rationale]

### Whitespace Opportunity
[Description of the positioning we can credibly own and why]

### Our "Only We" Statement
Only [Company] can [capability] for [user] because [reason].

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Connecting to Other Skills

• Feed findings into PRD: Paste the Positioning Gap Summary into Phase 4 of ../prd-development/SKILL.md
• Inform GTM messaging: The "Only We" statement and differentiators become the core messaging in ../go-to-market-planning/SKILL.md
• Benchmark pricing: Competitor pricing tiers feed the pricing model analysis in ../pricing-monetization-strategy/SKILL.md
• Validate with users: If you found gaps competitors are missing, validate those are real user needs via ../product-discovery/SKILL.md

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What Claude Does / What You Do

Claude	You
Builds competitor profile templates and feature matrix	Performs actual product trials and gathers pricing data
Drafts positioning map axes and whitespace analysis	Validates positioning with real customer interviews
Generates "Only We" statement drafts	Makes the final differentiation call based on business context
Identifies anti-patterns and strategic blind spots	Decides which competitive gaps are worth pursuing
Connects findings to PRD, GTM, and pricing frameworks	Synthesizes with internal knowledge not available to Claude

Standalone Inputs

If no prior competitive research exists, provide:

• List 3 direct competitors by name (Claude will structure the analysis from there)
• Your target user segment (one sentence)
• Your product's core job-to-be-done

Common Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern	Symptom	Fix
Only analyzing the most famous competitor	Analysis ignores the actual alternatives your users consider	Ask users "what did you use before / what else did you evaluate?"
Copying competitor features	Feature matrix becomes a copy list	Use matrix to identify gaps worth owning, not a checklist to replicate
Positioning on hygiene factors	"We're the most secure / most reliable"	Security and reliability are expected, not differentiating — find the real trade-off
Stale analysis	Competitive landscape from 18 months ago	Set a calendar reminder to refresh quarterly; check changelogs monthly
Ignoring negative reviews	Only reading what competitors say about themselves	G2 1-star reviews are your best market research

Related Skills

• ../prd-development/SKILL.md — Paste the Positioning Gap Summary into Phase 4 (Strategic Context)
• ../go-to-market-planning/SKILL.md — "Only We" statement and differentiators become GTM core messaging
• ../pricing-monetization-strategy/SKILL.md — Competitor pricing tiers feed the pricing model analysis
• ../product-discovery/SKILL.md — Validate competitive gaps as real user needs