contextgo Startup Strategic Diagnosis
Use this skill when the startup needs a hard strategic read, not just descriptive market commentary.
Use when
- The user wants to pressure-test a startup concept.
- Market timing or competitive context is still unclear.
- A SWOT-style diagnosis is needed before choosing a strategy.
Do not use when
- The task is a narrow execution plan.
- The user only wants a polished narrative without strategic judgment.
Diagnosis failures to avoid
- confusing market size with startup viability
- treating every competitor as equally relevant
- listing strengths and weaknesses with no strategic implication
- ignoring why now
- skipping the assumptions that must be true for the plan to work
Core lenses
1. Market timing
Ask:
- why this problem matters now
- what trend, shift, or trigger makes the opportunity more real today than before
2. Alternative landscape
Map:
- direct competitors
- indirect alternatives
- "do nothing" behavior
3. SWOT
Be explicit about:
- strengths
- weaknesses
- opportunities
- threats
Tie the matrix back to the startup, not to generic market facts.
4. Strategic pressure points
Look for:
- distribution difficulty
- switching friction
- trust gaps
- platform dependence
- resource constraints
- defensibility weakness
5. Must-be-true assumptions
Name the few assumptions that would materially break the thesis if false.
Output format
Return:
1. Strategic diagnosis
- what is really going on
- why now may or may not be credible
2. Alternative landscape
- current alternatives
- what they do well
- where they leave gaps
3. SWOT matrix
- strengths
- weaknesses
- opportunities
- threats
4. Strategic implications
- what this means for focus
- what this means for sequencing
- what this means for defensibility
5. Must-be-true assumptions and next tests
Use together with
startup-founder-problem-framingstartup-startup-canvasstartup-founder-brief