# Startup Strategic Diagnosis

> Diagnose a startup idea through market timing, alternatives, SWOT, strategic pressure points, and must-be-true assumptions.

- Skill: `contextgo/startup-strategic-diagnosis` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add contextgo/startup-strategic-diagnosis`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/contextgo/startup-strategic-diagnosis/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: contextgo (https://skillmd.com/u/contextgo)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/contextgo/startup-strategic-diagnosis

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# 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-framing`
- `startup-startup-canvas`
- `startup-founder-brief`