Account Researcher

When to activate

Before writing any sequence or preparing for any call. Requires ICP qualifier to have returned GO or CAUTION first. This skill transforms a qualified account into actionable intelligence — use it to uncover recent signals that create urgency and identify the exact person to reach first.

When NOT to use

Not for general market research — use market-research skill instead. Not for competitor analysis — use battlecard skill. Not without ICP pre-qualification; if the account hasn't been vetted by icp-qualifier yet, run that first. Not as a marketing research tool; this is purpose-built for 1:1 outreach preparation.

Research Checklist

Execute these seven steps in order. Mark each complete before moving to the next.

1. Company website — Scrape homepage and about page via Firecrawl to extract: founding year, HQ location, headcount (stated), mission/product one-liner
2. Pricing page — Firecrawl scrape to infer: ARR range, ICP (company size), feature set, go-to-market (self-serve vs. sales-led)
3. LinkedIn Company page — Scrape to find: recent hires (last 90 days, especially C-suite and VP-level), follower growth, recent posts
4. Crunchbase — Search for: last funding round (amount, lead, date), investor list, job posting history, executive team current state
5. Exa signal scan — Run all five query templates below; compile strongest signals (funding, hires, launches) with dates
6. Recent job postings — Search LinkedIn/company careers for: 10+ open roles in any function (hiring surge signal), role titles that indicate scaling priorities
7. G2/Capterra (if applicable) — Quick scan for: reviews mentioning pain points, recent feature requests, competitive alternatives users mention

Trigger Signal Categories

Look for these six categories of signals. Each has different sales velocity and budget implications.

Funding round — Series A/B/C, seed, bridge, or secondary market activity. Signal: fresh capital = budget allocated, hiring planned, product roadmap shifting. Search for: "closed Series X funding," "raises $X million," "announces funding round."

Executive hire — New VP, C-level hire, or functional leader (Head of Sales, CMO, CFO). Signal: pain in that function + money to solve it + advocate inside. Search for: "promotes [name] to VP," "[name] joins as Chief," "appoints [name] as."

Product launch — New major feature, new product line, new AI/platform integration. Signal: company shifting strategy, needing new tech stack, messaging change incoming. Search for: "[company] launches," "[company] announces [product]," "[company] releases."

Market expansion — Entry into new geography, new customer segment, vertical expansion. Signal: go-to-market reset, need for localized tooling, hiring in new markets. Search for: "[company] enters [region]," "[company] expands to," "[company] launches in."

Partnership announced — Integration, channel partnership, or strategic alliance. Signal: tech stack direction, buying patterns shifting, co-selling opportunity. Search for: "[company] partners with," "[company] integrates with," "[company] announces partnership."

Hiring surge — 10+ open roles in one function, or rapid headcount growth visible. Signal: scaling pain, operational overload, immediate buying impulse. Search for: "[company] hiring," "[company] open roles," LinkedIn company page job postings spike.

Exa Queries to Run

Copy-paste these five query templates and run them in sequence. Replace [company] with target account name.

1. [company] funding 2025 — Captures recent capital events, investor news, growth signals
2. [company] [exec name] joins as — Targeted search for specific executive hires (fill in name from LinkedIn if known)
3. [company] launches — Product announcements, feature releases, new offerings
4. [company] expands to — Geographic or segment expansion moves
5. [company] hiring [VP/Head of Sales/Marketing] — Function-specific hiring signals (rotate the function based on your ICP)

Run searches in this order. Each result should have a URL and publication date — record the date as this signals recency of trigger.

Account Brief Output

Save your findings as accounts/{company-slug}-brief.md. Use this template:

# {Company Name} — Account Brief

**Prepared:** {date}
**ICP Qualification:** {GO/CAUTION from icp-qualifier}
**Research Priority:** {High/Medium/Low}

---

## Company Snapshot

{3 sentences: what they do, company size (employees), stage/funding status}

---

## Triggers Found (90-day window)

- {Trigger 1} — {Date} — Signal strength: **Strong/Medium/Weak**
- {Trigger 2} — {Date} — Signal strength: **Strong/Medium/Weak**
- {Trigger 3} — {Date} — Signal strength: **Strong/Medium/Weak**

{If no triggers found in 90-day window, note: "No active triggers in past 90 days. Account stable. Lower priority for outreach window."}

---

## Stakeholder Map

| Role | Name | Title | LinkedIn | Notes |
|------|------|-------|----------|-------|
| Champion | {Name} | {Title} | {URL or "TBD"} | {Reason they'd champion: problem area, recent hire signal, etc.} |
| Economic Buyer | {Name} | {VP Finance / CFO / COO} | {URL or "TBD"} | {Budget owner in this function} |
| Blocker | {Name} | {Title} | {URL or "TBD"} | {Who might resist or delay: legacy system owner, process owner, etc.} |

---

## ICP Score

{Copy-paste the score and summary from icp-qualifier output}

---

## Best Outreach Hook

{1 sentence — specific, references strongest trigger, implies urgency}

Example: "Since Meridian Analytics closed their Series B in March, they've been aggressively building out their revenue operations team — perfect time to pitch Outreach for sales automation."

---

## Research Notes

{Any additional context: company culture signals, competitive landscape, missing data flagged for follow-up}

Example

Meridian Analytics — Account Brief

Prepared: June 12, 2026 ICP Qualification: GO Research Priority: High

Company Snapshot

Meridian Analytics is a Series B SaaS company providing AI-driven customer analytics for mid-market e-commerce and CPG brands. They have ~240 employees across San Francisco HQ and Dublin engineering center. Founded in 2018, they focus on predictive churn modeling and cohort analysis.

Triggers Found (90-day window)

• Series B funding closed, $22M raised, led by Sequoia — March 15, 2026 — Signal strength: Strong
• New CRO hired: former Salesforce VP of Enterprise Sales, Sarah Chen — April 8, 2026 — Signal strength: Strong
• New VP of Marketing hired: from Amplitude, Jason Rodriguez — April 22, 2026 — Signal strength: Strong
• Expansion announcement: entering EMEA market, Dublin office expansion to 50 engineers — May 2, 2026 — Signal strength: Medium
• Product launch: released AI-powered revenue operations suite, targeting series B SaaS companies — May 18, 2026 — Signal strength: Medium

Stakeholder Map

ICP Score

Meridian Analytics scores 8.5/10 on ICP fit:

• Company Size: 240 employees ✓ (target 150-500)
• Stage: Series B with fresh capital ✓ (target Series A-C)
• Use Case: Revenue operations / sales efficiency ✓ (core buyer segment)
• Geography: US + EMEA expansion ✓ (expanding market)
• Growth rate: Hiring 40+ new roles this year ✓ (high growth signal)
• Estimated ARR: $8-12M range ✓ (target $5M+)

Minor concerns: CTO historically resists third-party tools; integration with custom analytics stack may require scope expansion.

Best Outreach Hook

"Sarah, congrats on the CRO role at Meridian — with your Series B momentum and the new AI analytics suite launch, now's the perfect time to implement a unified revenue operations platform to scale your go-to-market motion."

Research Notes

• Sarah Chen (new CRO) is the warmest buyer — hire date and mandate align perfectly with sales ops tooling
• Dublin expansion suggests international complexity; pitch should include multi-region deployment experience
• Product launch timing suggests they're building the tech roadmap now — ideal window for integration partnerships
• Michael Torres (CTO) has published blog posts favoring in-house solutions; early briefing with business case needed to position outsourcing
• No obvious competitors in Meridian's tech stack per LinkedIn headcount analysis; opportunity to be category-first in their workflow