coalesce-labs/competitor-analysis

/competitor-analysis - Strategic Competitive Intelligence

Two modes: Deep Analysis (comprehensive one-time research) + Ongoing Monitoring (weekly/monthly tracking)

Quick Start

1. Name the competitor(s) you want to analyze
2. Choose mode: Deep Analysis (full research) or Ongoing Monitoring (monthly check-in)
3. I check your workspace first -- user research, meeting notes, churn data, past analysis
4. I show what we already know, identify gaps, then fill gaps with web research
5. I deliver a strategic report with defensive, offensive, and innovative plays

Example: "Analyze Competitor X -- we're losing enterprise deals to them"

Output: thoughts/shared/pm/analyses/competitor-analysis-[name]-[date].md

Time: Deep Analysis: 2-4 hours | Monitoring: 30 min/month

Context Routing Logic (Internal - for Claude)

Automatic Context Checks: When this skill is invoked, immediately check:

| Source | Files/Folders | Search Terms | What to Extract | | ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------- | | User Research | thoughts/shared/pm/*.md | competitor name, "switched to", "chose", "vs [competitor]", "competitor" | Customer quotes, pain points, feature comparisons | | Existing Analysis | thoughts/shared/pm/analyses/competitive-*.md | competitor name | Past findings, dates, trends, avoid duplication | | Meeting Notes | thoughts/shared/product/meeting-notes/*.md | competitor name, "lost deal", "churn", sales, CS | Sales losses, CS feedback, win/loss patterns | | PRDs | thoughts/shared/pm/prds/*.md | competitor name, "competitive", "positioning" | Feature decisions, positioning rationale | | Strategy | thoughts/shared/pm/frameworks/*.md | competitor name, "positioning", "differentiation" | Strategic context, counter-positioning | | Metrics | thoughts/shared/pm/metrics/*.md | "churn", "retention", competitor name | Churn to competitors, competitive benchmarks |

Context Priority:

1. Internal context FIRST (user research, meetings, PRDs)
2. Analytics MCP SECOND (if connected - query churn cohorts)
3. Web search LAST (only for gaps not covered by internal intel)

Cross-Skill Links:

• If churn mentioned → Link to retention-analysis
• If user feedback → Link to user-research-synthesis
• If positioning mentioned → Link to write-prod-strategy

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Step 0: Understanding What We Already Know

Before diving into research, let me check what competitive intelligence already exists in your workspace...

Checking:

• thoughts/shared/pm/ for user interviews mentioning competitors
• thoughts/shared/pm/analyses/competitive-*.md for past competitive analysis
• thoughts/shared/product/meeting-notes/ for sales/CS notes with competitive intel
• thoughts/shared/pm/prds/ for competitive positioning decisions
• thoughts/shared/pm/frameworks/ for strategic context
• thoughts/shared/pm/metrics/ for churn data

[If analytics MCP connected]: "Let me also query [PostHog/PostHog] for churn patterns and competitor-related data."

Based on what I find, I'll show you:

Internal Intelligence Summary

From User Research:

• [List interviews mentioning competitors with quotes]
• Example: "Found 4 interviews mentioning Competitor X: 'We switched because...'"

From Sales/CS Meetings:

• [List competitive losses and patterns]
• Example: "3 sales calls lost to Competitor Y in Enterprise segment"

From Existing Analysis:

• [Reference past competitive analysis]
• Example: "Last analyzed Competitor X on 2024-08-15 (6 months ago). Key finding: [summary]"

From PRDs:

• [Features built in response to competitors]
• Example: "PRD-2024-03 added Feature Z to match Competitor positioning"

From Strategy Docs:

• [Strategic positioning context]
• Example: "Your strategy positions you as [X] vs competitors who are [Y]"

From Metrics/Analytics:

• [Churn data, if available]
• Example: "20% of churned customers mentioned Competitor X as reason"

Gaps in Knowledge

Based on internal context, we don't yet know:

• [Gap 1]: Recent product updates from Competitor X
• [Gap 2]: Current pricing model for Competitor Y
• [Gap 3]: Distribution channels for Competitor Z

Should I fill these gaps with web research, or do you want to provide additional context first?

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Step 1: Choose Your Analysis Mode

Based on your objective and existing context:

Deep Analysis Mode

Use when:

• Entering a new market or launching major feature
• Significant shift in competitive landscape
• Need to inform strategic decision (roadmap, pricing, positioning)
• Preparing for funding/board presentation
• Haven't done competitive research in 6+ months

What I'll do:

1. Internal Intelligence First - Synthesize what we already know
2. Gap Analysis - Identify missing information
3. Web Research - Fill gaps with public data (websites, pricing, reviews)
4. SWOT Analysis - Per competitor
5. Positioning Map - Visual 2x2 showing market space
6. Strategic Recommendations - Roadmap, pricing, GTM implications

Time: 2-4 hours (depending on number of competitors)

Output: Comprehensive report saved to thoughts/shared/pm/analyses/competitor-analysis-[date].md

Ongoing Monitoring Mode

Use when:

• You already have baseline competitive analysis
• Want to track competitor moves over time
• Need regular intel updates (monthly check-ins)

What I'll do:

1. Monthly Check-in - Search competitor mentions in user feedback
2. Feature Tracking - Monitor features appearing in customer requests
3. Win/Loss Trends - Track patterns via sales team
4. Update Matrix - Keep feature comparison current
5. Alert on Major Moves - Flag significant changes

Time: 30 minutes/month

Output: Updates saved to thoughts/shared/pm/analyses/competitive-intel-[month].md

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Deep Analysis Mode: PM-Specific Questions

Instead of generic "Who are your competitors?", I'll ask:

Question 1: Competitive Context

"Which competitors appear most frequently in your user research or churn interviews?"

This tells me who actually threatens your business (not just who you think competes with you).

Question 2: Customer Segment

"Where do competitors win with your target customer segment?"

Focus on specific segments, not broad "they have more features."

Examples:

• "Competitor X dominates with enterprise IT buyers because..."
• "SMB customers choose Competitor Y because..."

Question 3: Churn Reasons

"What do churned customers say about why they picked competitors?"

Pull from actual customer interviews, not assumptions.

Question 4: Distribution Advantage

"Where does Competitor X have stronger distribution/presence?"

Examples:

• Geographic presence
• Channel partnerships
• Integration ecosystem
• Community/network effects

Question 5: Lost Segments

"What customer segments are you losing to specific competitors?"

Be specific: "Enterprise healthcare" not "big companies"

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Deep Analysis Framework

Once I understand the competitive landscape from internal intel + your answers:

Phase 1: Synthesize Internal Intelligence (15 min)

I'll create a report showing:

What We Already Know:

• User quotes about competitors
• Sales losses and why
• Features we built to compete
• Strategic positioning decisions
• Churn patterns

What We Don't Know:

• [Gaps requiring web research]

Phase 2: Gather Missing Intelligence (60-90 min)

For each gap, I'll guide you through:

Public Data Collection

• Website positioning analysis
• Pricing page breakdown
• Product trial/demo walkthrough
• Marketing messaging audit

Customer Intelligence

• G2/Capterra review synthesis
• Reddit/Twitter sentiment analysis
• App store feedback patterns

Strategic Signals

• LinkedIn hiring patterns (what they're building)
• Funding announcements
• Partnership deals
• Executive changes

Phase 3: Synthesize with Frameworks (30 min)

SWOT Analysis (Per Competitor)

## Competitor: [Name]

### Strengths

- [What they do exceptionally well]
- [Their sustainable advantages]
- **Example from your data:** "User Interview 2024-08-15: 'Their onboarding is 10x faster'"

### Weaknesses

- [Where they consistently fall short]
- [Common customer complaints]
- **Example from your data:** "G2 reviews: 70% mention poor customer support"

### Opportunities (for us)

- [Gaps we can exploit]
- **Example:** "30% of their users want Feature X but they don't offer it"

### Threats (from them)

- [What they could do to hurt us]
- **Example:** "Partnership with Salesforce could lock us out of enterprise"

Positioning Map

I'll create a 2x2 visualization:

Complexity (Simple → Enterprise)
        │
  You  │         Competitor A
        │
────────┼────────────  Price (Low → High)
        │
  Comp B│    Competitor C
        │

Your opportunity: [Identify white space]

Feature Comparison Matrix

| Feature          | Your Product | Comp A     | Comp B | Analysis          |
| ---------------- | ------------ | ---------- | ------ | ----------------- |
| [Core Feature 1] | ✅           | ✅         | ✅     | Table stakes      |
| [Your Advantage] | ✅           | ⚠️ Limited | ❌     | Differentiator    |
| [Gap]            | ❌           | ✅         | ✅     | Consider building |

**Legend:**

- ✅ Full support
- ⚠️ Limited/beta
- ❌ Not available

Phase 4: Strategic Recommendations (30 min)

I'll categorize insights into 3 buckets:

🛡️ Defensive Plays (Close Critical Gaps)

**Feature:** [What to build]
**Why:** Competitor has it, customers expect it, blocking deals
**User Story:** "As a [user], I want [feature] so that [outcome]"
**Priority:** High
**Effort:** [Estimate]
**Link to PRD:** [If exists]

⚔️ Offensive Plays (Attack Weaknesses)

**Opportunity:** [Competitor weakness from customer complaints]
**Our Advantage:** [How we can do it better]
**Impact:** [Market share we can capture]
**Evidence:** [Quote from user research or reviews]

🚀 Innovative Plays (Create New Market Space)

**Gap:** [What no competitor is doing]
**Hypothesis:** [Why customers would care]
**Risk:** [Why no one else has done this]
**Validation Plan:** [How to test before building]

Phase 5: Positioning & Pricing Guidance (15 min)

Value Proposition Framework

**For:** [Target customer]
**Who:** [Their pain or need]
**Our product is a:** [Category]
**That:** [Key benefit]
**Unlike:** [Main competitor]
**We:** [Key differentiator]

Pricing Recommendations

Based on competitive benchmarks:

• Market pricing range
• Where you're positioned
• Opportunity for price increase or new tier

---

Ongoing Monitoring Mode: Setup

Instead of complex Make.com automation, I'll help you set up:

Monthly Competitive Check-in (30 min/month)

Week 1 of Month:

1. Search User Feedback

   • Review latest interviews for competitor mentions
   • Check support tickets for "switching to" mentions
   • Scan feature requests citing competitors

2. Sales Team Intel

   • Ask: "Which competitors came up this month?"
   • Review win/loss log
   • Track deal-loss reasons

3. Web Monitoring

   • Check competitor blogs for product updates
   • Scan LinkedIn for major hires
   • Google Alerts for funding/partnership news

4. Update Tracking

   • Update feature comparison matrix
   • Note pricing changes
   • Log significant moves

Output Format:

# Competitive Intel: [Month YYYY]

## Summary

- [1-2 sentence summary of significant changes]

## Competitor Updates

### Competitor A

- **Product:** [New features or changes]
- **Pricing:** [Any changes]
- **Strategic Moves:** [Partnerships, funding, hires]
- **Customer Mentions:** [Quotes from your research]

### Competitor B

[Same structure]

## Implications for Our Roadmap

- **Defensive:** [Gaps we need to close]
- **Offensive:** [Weaknesses we can exploit]
- **Monitoring:** [Things to watch]

## Action Items

- [ ] [Action 1 with owner]
- [ ] [Action 2 with owner]

Save to: thoughts/shared/pm/analyses/competitive-intel-[month].md

Optional: Google Alerts Setup

I can help you set up:

• Competitor name + "funding"
• Competitor name + "acquires"
• Competitor name + "announces"
• Competitor name + "launches"

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Output Integration

Where Files Go

Deep Analysis:

• Save to: thoughts/shared/pm/analyses/competitor-analysis-[name]-[date].md

Ongoing Monitoring:

• Save to: thoughts/shared/pm/analyses/competitive-intel-[month].md

Link to Other Work

After completing analysis:

• Reference in PRDs - "Based on competitive analysis [link], we're positioning as..."
• Update strategy docs - "Competitive landscape has shifted: [insight]"
• Create battlecards - Use findings for sales team (via /slack-message)
• Inform roadmap - Link specific competitor threats to roadmap priorities

Cross-Skill Integration

Feeds into:

• /prd-draft - Auto-populate "Market Context" and "Alternatives Considered"
• /write-prod-strategy - Inform competitive positioning and differentiation
• /retention-analysis - Understand churn to competitors
• /user-research-synthesis - Reference competitive mentions in interviews

Pulls from:

• /user-research-synthesis - Uses existing research themes
• /retention-analysis - Churn patterns and reasons
• /feature-results - Which features helped us compete

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Web Research Methodology

When performing competitive research to fill gaps not covered by internal intel, follow this systematic approach:

Research Steps (in order)

1. Check company website for recent announcements, pricing changes, and feature updates. Look at their homepage messaging, pricing page, changelog/release notes, and blog.

2. Search for recent product updates. Query: "[competitor] product updates [current quarter]" and "[competitor] new features [current year]". Focus on the last 90 days for freshness.

3. Check G2/Capterra for recent reviews mentioning new features. Sort by "most recent" and look for patterns in what users praise or complain about. Extract specific quotes.

4. Search LinkedIn for competitor PM/engineering job postings. Job postings reveal strategic direction -- if they are hiring ML engineers, they are building AI features. If they are hiring enterprise sales reps, they are moving upmarket. Query: "[competitor] site:linkedin.com/jobs"

5. Check their changelog/blog for release notes. Most SaaS companies publish release notes. This gives you a timeline of what they shipped and how fast they are moving.

6. Search for funding, partnerships, and acquisitions. Query: "[competitor] funding [current year]" or "[competitor] partnership". These signals indicate where they are investing.

Source Documentation

For every competitive claim, document the source with a date:

**Claim:** Competitor X launched AI-powered search in Q4 2025
**Source:** Competitor X blog post (https://example.com/blog/ai-search)
**Date verified:** 2026-02-05
**Confidence:** High (primary source)

Confidence levels:

• High -- Primary source (company website, official announcement, direct product trial)
• Medium -- Secondary source (G2 review, news article, LinkedIn post)
• Low -- Third-party speculation (analyst report, Reddit thread, rumor)

Always prefer high-confidence sources. Flag low-confidence claims explicitly so the PM can decide how much weight to give them.

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake 1: Jumping to Web Research First

Bad: Immediately Googling competitors without checking internal intel Good: Starting with "What do our churned customers say?" from actual interviews

❌ Mistake 2: Feature List Without Strategy

Bad: "Competitor A has 47 features, we have 35" Good: "Competitor A's complexity is their weakness—30% of reviews complain about onboarding. Our opportunity is simplicity."

❌ Mistake 3: Ignoring Indirect Competitors

Bad: Only tracking direct competitors Good: Watching for adjacent players who could pivot (like design tool launching FigJam to compete with Miro)

❌ Mistake 4: Static Document

Bad: Beautiful analysis that lives in a deck, never updated Good: Living document feeding into monthly roadmap discussions

❌ Mistake 5: Missing Internal Intel

Bad: Only using public data Good: Creating feedback loops with sales/CS teams who hear competitor intel daily

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Pro Tips

1. Focus on "Why" Not Just "What"

Don't just list features. Understand:

• Why customers choose each competitor (pull from interviews)
• Why they churn from each competitor (pull from churn analysis)
• Why certain features matter more than others (pull from user research)

2. Track Signals, Not Just Facts

Facts: "Competitor raised $50M Series C" Signals: "With $50M, they'll likely expand to enterprise (based on hiring pattern) and build mobile app (top feature request in their reviews)"

3. Use Jobs-to-be-Done Lens

Bad: "We need video calling because Competitor has it" Good: "Users hire products to collaborate async across timezones. Video calling is one solution, but async video or threaded conversations might be better for our segment."

4. Make It Visual

Create positioning maps, feature matrices, and timelines. Visuals make patterns obvious and are easier to share with stakeholders.

5. Balance Your Competitive Response

• 60% Defensive (close critical gaps)
• 30% Offensive (attack their weaknesses)
• 10% Innovative (create new market space)

Don't spend all your time playing catch-up.

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Remember: The best competitive analysis isn't the most comprehensive—it's the one that shows what you already know internally, identifies the real gaps, and drives clear decisions about what to build next.

Output Quality Self-Check

Before delivering a competitive analysis, verify:

• [ ] Internal intel checked first -- User research, meetings, PRDs, strategy, and metrics were searched before web research
• [ ] Gaps identified explicitly -- Report clearly separates "what we know" from "what we researched externally"
• [ ] Sources documented with dates -- Every competitive claim has a source, URL (if applicable), and date verified
• [ ] Confidence levels assigned -- Claims marked as High, Medium, or Low confidence
• [ ] SWOT is specific, not generic -- Strengths/weaknesses reference actual data (user quotes, review excerpts, feature comparisons), not vague statements
• [ ] Positioning map included -- Visual 2x2 showing where competitors sit relative to your product
• [ ] Feature comparison is strategic -- Not just a checklist; includes analysis of what matters to your customers
• [ ] Recommendations are actionable -- Defensive, offensive, and innovative plays are specific enough to inform roadmap decisions
• [ ] Cross-skill links included -- References to relevant retention-analysis, user-research-synthesis, or strategy docs where appropriate

If any check fails, fix it before delivering. The best competitive analysis drives clear decisions, not just awareness.

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This skill automatically checks your workspace first, references related skills, and only suggests web research for actual gaps. It works like a real PM connecting dots across research, meetings, and metrics.