Competitive Analysis

Identify competitors, analyze positioning, and deliver actionable recommendations. Skip textbook frameworks (Porter's, PESTLE) unless specifically requested — they're MBA artifacts, not operator tools.

When to Use

• "Who are my competitors?" / "How do we compare to X?"
• Feature comparison matrix or positioning map needed
• Fundraising deck competition slide
• Finding market gaps

When NOT to Use

• General market sizing (use deep-research)
• SEO-specific competitor keyword analysis (use seo-auditor)

What Practitioners Actually Use

Skip Porter's Five Forces. Operators use these four:

1. April Dunford's Positioning (from "Obviously Awesome") — the most-used positioning method in B2B SaaS. Five inputs in strict order:

1. Competitive alternatives (what customers would do if you didn't exist — including "spreadsheets" and "nothing")
2. Unique attributes you have that alternatives lack
3. Value those attributes deliver (with proof)
4. Best-fit customer characteristics
5. Market category you win in Key insight: positioning starts from alternatives, not features. Your "competitor" might be Excel.

2. Wardley Mapping (Simon Wardley, free book at medium.com/wardleymaps) — plot components on two axes: visibility-to-user (y) vs evolution Genesis → Custom → Product → Commodity (x). Reveals: where competitors overinvest in commoditizing components, where to build vs buy, what's about to become table stakes. Tool: onlinewardleymaps.com (free). Best for platform/infra competition.

3. Feature comparison matrix — the unglamorous workhorse. Rows = capabilities, columns = competitors, cells = ✓/✗/partial. Battlecards for sales teams are this + "trap-setting questions." Key: weight features by how often they appear in lost-deal notes, not by what engineering thinks matters.

4. Kano mapping applied to competitors — categorize each competitor feature as Basic (expected, table stakes), Performance (more = better), or Delighter (unexpected). Kano's insight: today's delighters become tomorrow's basics. Competitors' delighters tell you where the bar is moving.

Research Toolchain

webSearch("[product] alternatives site:g2.com")

webSearch("[competitor] site:g2.com")

webFetch

webSearch("[competitor] pricing reddit")

webFetch("https://builtwith.com/[domain]")

webSearch("[competitor] raises TechCrunch")

webSearch("[competitor] site:linkedin.com/jobs")

webFetch("https://web.archive.org/web/2024*/[competitor].com")

webSearch("site:[competitor].com")

Methodology

Step 1: Frame — Get from user: their product, target customer, and who THEY think competes. Their list is always incomplete.

Step 2: Expand the competitor set — Run

webSearch("[known competitor] alternatives")

webSearch("[category] vs")

Step 3: Per-competitor dossier — For each (limit to 5-7 for depth):

• Positioning one-liner (their homepage H1)
• Pricing model + tiers (webFetch pricing page; screenshot if complex)
• Top 3 strengths (from 5-star G2 reviews)
• Top 3 weaknesses (from 1-2 star G2 reviews — use exact customer language)
• Funding stage + headcount (Crunchbase/LinkedIn)
• Recent product launches (changelog, blog, Product Hunt)

Step 4: Synthesize — Build the feature matrix. Plot on a 2×2 (pick the two axes the buyer cares about, not the ones that make user look good). Identify white space.

Step 5: Recommend — Not "monitor the threat." Specific: "Competitor X's reviews mention slow support 23 times — lead with your SLA in sales calls."

Output — Professional PDF Report

Do not output a markdown summary. Build a polished competitive analysis report as a React web artifact and export to PDF via Puppeteer. The report should look like a strategy consulting deliverable.

Report Structure

1. Page 1 — Executive Summary: Product name, category, date. Positioning statement (Dunford format): For [target customer] who [need], [product] is a [category] that [key benefit]. Unlike [primary alternative], we [key differentiator]. Top 3 strategic recommendations (the "so what").
2. Page 2 — Competitive Landscape: Table with Company, Stage, Pricing, Strength (from reviews), Weakness (from reviews). Funding/headcount context for each competitor.
3. Page 3 — Feature Matrix: Rows = capabilities, columns = competitors, cells = checkmark/x/partial. Weight column (1-5) based on buyer conversation frequency. Color-code: green where the user's product wins, red where it loses.
4. Page 4 — Positioning Map: 2x2 chart with axes based on buyer decision criteria (not vanity metrics). Each competitor plotted with logo or labeled dot. Generated via matplotlib or plotly, embedded as image.
5. Page 5 — White Space & Opportunities: Gaps no one serves well, with evidence from reviews and market data. Kano analysis: which competitor features are Basics vs Performance vs Delighters.
6. Page 6 — Action Plan: Top 3 specific actions with source citations. Battlecard-style "trap-setting questions" for sales calls.
7. Final Page — Sources: Numbered URLs for every claim.

PDF Generation

Use React + Vite + Puppeteer:

• @page { size: letter; margin: 0; }

  CSS for print layout
• Each page as a

  div

  with

  8.5in x 11in

  dimensions and

  page-break-after: always

• Clean, professional design: navy headers, white background, data tables with alternating row shading
• Embed charts as

  <img>

  tags from matplotlib/plotly PNGs
• Export via Puppeteer

  page.pdf()

  with

  printBackground: true

Honesty Rules

• If the user's product loses on most dimensions, say so — then find the niche where they win
• "No competitors" is never true. The competitor is always at least "build it yourself" or "do nothing"
• Flag when data is thin (e.g., "SimilarWeb shows <50k visits — estimate is low-confidence")
• Cite every claim to a URL the user can verify

Limitations

• G2/Capterra reviews skew toward mid-market SaaS; thin for enterprise and consumer
• SimilarWeb is inaccurate for sites under ~50k monthly visits
• Cannot access paid CI tools (Klue, Crayon, Kompyte) or PitchBook
• Pricing pages lie — enterprise pricing is almost never public