# Company Research

> Use when the user needs to understand a target company or interviewer before writing a cover letter, prepping for an interview, or deciding whether to pursue a role. Trigger phrases: "research this company", "who is my interviewer", "what should I know about X before I apply/interview", "build me a dossier". Produces a company + interviewer dossier that powers cover-letter and interview-prep.

- Skill: `guerrilla2799/company-research` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add guerrilla2799/company-research`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/guerrilla2799/company-research/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Research & Search
- Author: guerrilla2799 (https://skillmd.com/u/guerrilla2799)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/guerrilla2799/company-research

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# Company Research

Build a company + interviewer dossier that makes every downstream artifact sharper. A cover letter is generic until it names the company's real problem. Interview prep is guesswork until you know what the interviewer actually cares about. This skill supplies both.

## When to use
- Before `cover-letter` or `interview-prep` on any A/B-priority role
- "Research [company]", "what do they do", "are they any good", "should I even apply here"
- "Who's [interviewer name], what do they care about" once interview panels are known
- Deciding whether to pursue, because the dossier surfaces red flags (layoffs, churn, glassdoor rot) early

## Inputs
- Reads: the application record `workspace/pipeline/applications/<id>-*.md` (role, req URL), `workspace/profile/profile.md` and `target-companies.md` (so research is framed against the user's fit and ICP), `workspace/pipeline/tracker.csv`
- Needs from user: the company name + role, the req URL, and interviewer name(s)/titles if the interview is scheduled. If interviewers aren't known yet, do the company half now and add the interviewer half when the panel is set.
- Tools: web search (primary). Optional `defuddle` (documented in `docs/integrations.md`) for clean, low-token extraction of the company's careers/about/product pages and blog. Optional `agent-reach` for deeper people research on interviewers. Both are optional. Without them, degrade to plain web search.

## Workflow
1. **Company, what they actually do.** In plain language: the product, who buys it, the problem it solves, and how they make money (business model, pricing motion, PLG or sales-led or enterprise). Skip the marketing gloss and describe it like you'd explain it to a smart friend.
2. **Stage, size, momentum.** Funding stage + last round (amount, date, investors), headcount and growth trend, hiring surge or freeze, recent layoffs. These set the context for *why this role exists now*.
3. **Recent news & signals (last ~12 months).** Funding, product launches, exec hires/departures, big customers, pivots, controversies. Recency matters. A launch three weeks ago is a better cover-letter and interview hook than a two-year-old milestone. Date every item.
4. **Market & competition.** The category, the 2–4 main competitors and alternatives (including "do nothing" or status quo, a real alternative for many buyers), and where this company is differentiated or vulnerable. This is what makes interview answers sound like an insider.
5. **Culture & reputation signals.** Glassdoor/Blind themes (recurring praise AND recurring complaints, so pay attention to patterns rather than one angry review), leadership visibility, employee tenure, values-in-practice vs values-on-the-wall. Note the source and how strong the signal is.
6. **Leadership & the team the role sits on.** Who runs the function this role reports into, plus their background and public statements about priorities. If findable, who's on the team and what they've shipped.
7. **Interviewer research (when names are known).** For each interviewer: current role and tenure, career background, what they likely care about given their function (an eng leader screens for different things than a CMO), and recent public signal: posts, talks, podcasts, writing, GitHub. Turn each into a concrete hook: a smart question to ask them, or a proof point to lead with.
8. **Synthesize. The dossier answers five questions.** Don't just dump facts. Answer these:
   - What problem is this company solving, and for whom?
   - Why does *this role* exist right now? (the trigger: new funding, new market, a gap, growth)
   - What will the team most likely prioritize in the first 6–12 months?
   - What are 4–6 smart, specific questions to ask them (that prove you did the work)?
   - What are the **red flags** (walk-away signals) and **green flags** (reasons to want it)?
9. **Save and cross-link.** Write `workspace/output/<id>-company-research.md`. Add a one-line pointer in the application record's `## Why this role` / prep section so `cover-letter` and `interview-prep` pick it up.

## Output
- Writes to: `workspace/output/<id>-company-research.md`
- Format:
  - `## Snapshot` – one-paragraph what-they-do + stage/size/funding/model in a scannable block
  - `## Why this role exists now` – the trigger and what it implies about priorities
  - `## Recent signals` – dated bullets (news, launches, hires, funding)
  - `## Market & competitors` – category, rivals + "do nothing", differentiation/vulnerability
  - `## Culture & reputation` – themes with source + signal strength
  - `## Leadership & team`
  - `## Interviewers` – one sub-block per person: role/tenure · background · what they care about · your hook (question or proof point)
  - `## Smart questions to ask them` – 4–6, specific to this company
  - `## Red flags / Green flags` – two short lists, decision-ready
  - `## Sources` – links, so claims are checkable

## Rules & quality bar
- **Cite sources and mark uncertainty.** Every non-obvious claim gets a link. If something's a guess or a stale data point, label it. Do not launder speculation into fact. Funding and headcount numbers drift, so note the date.
- **Recency is the value.** A signal from this month beats a fact from two years ago. Lead with what's current.
- **Distinguish signal from noise on Glassdoor/Blind.** Report recurring themes, not a single review. One furious ex-employee is not a red flag. The same complaint from ten is.
- **Red flags are honest, not buried.** If the research surfaces layoffs, leadership churn, or a collapsing market, say so plainly. The point is to help the user decide, not to sell them the job.
- **No fabrication.** Don't invent funding rounds, customer logos, or an interviewer's background. Unknown is a valid finding. Say "couldn't confirm".
- **Framed against the user's fit.** Tie findings back to the user's proof points and ICP so the dossier is usable, not encyclopedic. This dossier arms the application. It is not a neutral company summary.

## Related skills
- Reads from: `job-search-setup` (profile, target ICP), the application record built by `job-sourcing` / `application-tracker`
- Feeds: `cover-letter` (the company's real problem + a current hook), `interview-prep` (interviewer priorities, smart questions, likely focus areas), `networking-and-referrals` (sharper hooks for the HM note), `offer-negotiation` (leverage read on stage/funding health)
- Optional power-ups: `defuddle` (clean page extraction), `agent-reach` (interviewer/people research). See `docs/integrations.md`