Competitor research

Prerequisites

• A defined customer problem and initial market boundary.
• Identifiable sources such as product documentation, public filings, interviews, or observed workflows.

Permissions

• Editing research requires atlas-strategy.access and membership in the selected workspace.
• Use only information the team is permitted to collect and store.

Step-by-step

1. 1List direct competitors, adjacent products, manual processes, agencies, spreadsheets, and the choice to do nothing.
2. 2For each alternative capture its target customer, promise, important capabilities, evidence, strengths, gaps, switching trigger, and source date.
3. 3Label every conclusion as observed, inferred, or unknown.
4. 4Identify the underserved customer, credible differentiation, and claims that should not be made.
5. 5Carry the strongest evidence into the ICP, positioning, goals, and play hypothesis.

Expected result

A concise matrix explains what the buyer can choose instead, where each alternative is credible, and which differentiation the proposed play should test.

Troubleshooting

• Too many competitors: reduce the set to the alternatives a real buyer would compare.
• Unknown pricing or outcomes: mark them unknown instead of estimating them as facts.
• Weak differentiation: return to product proof and ICP urgency before writing positioning.
• Stale evidence: record the observation date and refresh the source before approval.