Competitors

Competitor Analysis — Landscape, Matrix & Battlecards

Map who competes for the same customer money/attention, find the exploitable gaps, and arm the user (or their client) with battlecards. The deliverable is differentiation strategy, not a competitor encyclopedia.

Shared conventions (venture suite)

• Workspace: locate ventures/ in the current working directory (ask once and create if missing). All outputs go to ventures/<slug>/<NN-module>/.
• Templates are read-only. Files under a skill's references/ live inside the installed plugin and are shared by every venture. Never write to them. "Fill template X" always means: copy it into ventures/<slug>/<NN-module>/ under a dated name and fill the copy.
• Read VENTURE.md first. When done: update its Status table and append key findings to "Key facts & numbers" (format: - [module, YYYY-MM-DD] finding (source, confidence)).
• Language: converse in the user's language. Write formal deliverables (reports, canvases, battlecards) in the report_language set in VENTURE.md. Persian reports keep standard English business terms as-is (TAM, SAM, SOM, CAC, LTV, GTM, churn, retention...).
• Research integrity: cite every external claim (source + date). Mark every estimate with confidence (high/med/low). Never fabricate numbers — write "no data found" instead.
• Chain: end by updating VENTURE.md and suggesting the logical next module.

Workflow

1. Discover the landscape

• Ask the user which competitors they already know (they always know some).
• Search for more — including local-language queries for local markets («نرم‌افزار نوبت‌دهی مطب» finds Iranian competitors that English queries never will).
• Crucially include non-obvious competition: indirect tools solving the same job differently, and the status quo (Excel, paper, a secretary, doing nothing). The status quo is usually the #1 competitor.
• Categorize: direct / indirect / substitute (status quo).

2. Select targets with the user

Propose the full list, agree on 3–6 for deep profiling (direct leaders + the most dangerous indirect). More than 6 dilutes quality.

3. Deep-dive — fan out scouts in parallel

Launch one venture:competitor-scout agent per selected competitor — all in a single message (parallel Agent calls). Each prompt must include:

• competitor name + homepage (if known),
• the venture one-liner + target segment (so the scout assesses relative threat),
• the profile template path: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/competitors/references/profile-template.md (tell the scout to read and fill it),
• output destination: return the filled profile as the final message.

Save each returned profile to ventures/<slug>/03-competitors/profiles/<competitor-slug>.md. For substitutes/status quo, write a short profile yourself inline (no scout needed).

4. Synthesize

Write ventures/<slug>/03-competitors/competitive-analysis-YYYY-MM-DD.md in report_language:

1. Landscape overview — categorized list, one line each.
2. Comparison matrix — rows: competitors + this venture; columns: target segment, pricing, key features (3–5 that matter to the ICP), traction signal, primary channel, weakness.
3. Positioning map — pick the 2 axes that matter most to the buyer (e.g. price ↔ premium, generalist ↔ specialist); place everyone; name the empty quadrant and whether it's empty because it's gold or because it's a graveyard.
4. SWOT for this venture vs the field — grounded in matrix facts, not vibes.
5. Where to win — 2–3 differentiation opportunities with the evidence (gaps in matrix + complaints found in reviews), and what NOT to compete on.
6. Battlecards — for the top 2–3 threats, copy references/battlecard-template.md to 03-competitors/battlecard-<competitor>-YYYY-MM-DD.md and fill each copy (essential for client/sales use).

5. Close the loop

• Update VENTURE.md: Status row → done YYYY-MM-DD; key facts (main threats, chosen differentiation angle, pricing range in market); add risky assumptions (e.g. "users will switch from X for feature Y" → test via /venture:customers).
• Suggest next: /venture:gtm (positioning builds directly on this) or /venture:model (market pricing now known).

Quality bar

• Review mining beats feature lists: competitors' 1–2★ reviews are a map of unmet needs — quote them.
• Treat competitor marketing claims as claims, not facts; mark traction estimates with confidence.
• "This market has a strong default incumbent and no exploitable gap" is a valid, valuable conclusion — say it if true.