Competitive Research

Conduct systematic competitive research using the competitor-researcher agent. Analyzes each competitor thoroughly and synthesizes findings into actionable insights.

Inspired by Teresa Torres' workflow for systematic competitive intelligence.

Entry Point

When this skill is invoked, start with:

code

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 COMPETITIVE RESEARCH
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Systematic competitive intelligence that compounds over time.

What competitors do you want to analyze?
(Names or URLs)

What's your focus?
  • Pricing
  • AI features
  • UX/product experience
  • Go-to-market
  • All of the above

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Usage

code

/competitive-research

Then provide:

•Competitors to analyze (names or URLs)
•Focus areas (pricing, AI features, UX, etc.)

What Happens

•Gathers input - Which competitors? What focus?
•Researches sequentially - Each competitor analyzed thoroughly (10-15 min each)
•Saves individual files - One markdown file per competitor
•Synthesizes findings - Comparison tables and strategic recommendations
•Creates Linear issue (optional) - Track insights in your workflow

First-Time Setup

On first run, you'll be asked where to save research:

code

Where should I save competitive research files?

Recommendation: Create a directory OUTSIDE your company codebase, like:
- ~/Documents/pm-work/competitive-research
- ~/pm-research
- ~/competitive-intel

This keeps sensitive competitive analysis separate from your company's git repos.

The Compound Effect

This is your FIRST analysis - thorough and time-consuming. Next time you update this research? Minutes, not hours. That's how systems compound.

Analysis Round	Time	What Happens
First	1 hour	Thorough, structured research
Second	15 min	Update existing files
Third	15 min	Compare to previous versions

Output Structure

code

[research-dir]/
└── YYYY-MM-DD-[topic]/
    ├── competitor-1.md      # Individual analysis
    ├── competitor-2.md      # Individual analysis
    ├── competitor-3.md      # Individual analysis
    └── synthesis.md         # Comparison & recommendations

Synthesis Contents

The synthesis file includes:

•Executive Summary - What did you learn?
•Strategic Positioning Comparison - How competitors position
•Feature/Capability Comparison - Side-by-side table
•Pricing Comparison - Models and tiers
•Strategic Gaps & Opportunities - Where can we win?
•Recommended Actions - Now, next, later

Linear Integration (Optional)

If Linear MCP is configured:

•Creates issue with executive summary
•Links to research files
•Highlights top 3 recommended actions
•Labels with "competitive-intel"

Related Commands

•/strategy-session "competitive positioning" - Discuss findings strategically

Philosophy (Teresa Torres):

•Sequential reliability - Process one competitor at a time
•Compounding system - First analysis is thorough, updates are fast
•Data ownership - Everything stored locally
•Synthesis matters - Raw research isn't useful without insights