Competitive Mapper

Competitive Mapper

When to activate

Before finalizing a major feature PRD, or quarterly when refreshing competitive intelligence. Use this to validate that your positioning is distinct and that your feature set is competitive.

When NOT to use

Do not use for minor features or bug fixes. Do use for any feature where you're claiming to be "different" or "better."

Instructions

1. Identify top 3–5 direct competitors (tools solving the same problem). For each:
2. Gather firmographics: founding year, funding stage, employee count, website, pricing model.
3. Research their product: what are their top 5–8 features? How do they position themselves?
4. Build a feature comparison matrix: your product vs. each competitor, 5–8 features per row.
5. Score each product on each feature: ✓ (native), ◐ (partial), ✗ (absent).
6. Identify gaps: features competitors have that you don't, and vice versa.
7. Summarize your differentiation in 2–3 sentences: what are you doing that competitors can't or don't?
8. Rank competitors by threat level: who is the strongest? Who is you most similar to?

Output Format

# Competitive Analysis — [Feature/Product]

## Competitor Snapshot

| Company | Founded | Funding | Size | Positioning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Comp 1] | [year] | [stage] | [employees] | [tagline] |
| [Comp 2] | [year] | [stage] | [employees] | [tagline] |

## Feature Comparison Matrix

| Feature | Your Product | Comp 1 | Comp 2 | Comp 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Feature 1] | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | ✗ |
| [Feature 2] | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| [Feature 3] | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |

## Your Differentiation
[2–3 sentences on what you're doing uniquely well and why it matters.]

## Threat Assessment
**Highest threat:** [Competitor] — most feature-complete, strongest sales/brand
**Most similar:** [Competitor] — closest positioning; key differentiator is [X]
**Weakest threat:** [Competitor] — reason

## Feature Gaps (Your Opportunities)
[List 1–2 features competitors have that you could add for 2x competitive advantage.]

## Feature Gaps (Competitor Opportunities)
[List 1–2 features you have that competitors could copy; mitigations noted in PRD risks.]