competitive-analysis

Produce a competitive analysis for $ARGUMENTS.

Step 1: Define the market

Before identifying competitors, define what you're actually comparing:

• What problem is being solved?
• Who is the buyer? (individual, SMB, enterprise, government)
• What is the purchase unit? (subscription, licence, one-time, services)
• What geography? (global, US, AU/NZ, other)

If these aren't clear from $ARGUMENTS, make your assumptions explicit in the output.

Step 2: Identify competitors

Three categories:

• Direct — same solution, same customer, competing for the same purchase decision
• Indirect — different solution, same underlying problem
• Substitutes — alternative approaches the buyer might choose instead (including doing nothing or building in-house)

Sources: G2 category pages, Capterra category pages, "alternatives to [product]" searches, industry analyst quadrant reports, LinkedIn "companies also viewed."

For AU/NZ markets: IBISWorld AU reports, Seek job postings pattern, local industry press.

List each competitor with a one-line positioning statement before building the matrix.

Step 3: Build comparison matrix

For each identified competitor, research:

Attribute	What to look for
Positioning	Their own words — tagline, homepage hero, ICP
Pricing tier	Free/freemium/SMB/mid-market/enterprise — exact pricing if public
Strengths	G2/Capterra review themes, analyst commentary, customer win stories
Weaknesses	Negative review themes, gaps in feature set, company risk factors
Reported market share	Analyst estimates where available — label clearly as estimates

Step 4: Job postings as roadmap signal

Search each competitor's careers page and LinkedIn Jobs. Engineering hires in a new area signal product direction before any announcement.

Patterns to look for:

• New language or platform skills appearing in bulk (ML, mobile, specific cloud)
• Senior leadership hires in a new function (first Head of Enterprise Sales = moving upmarket)
• Spikes in hiring volume (growth mode) or absence of hiring (freeze or pivot)

For AU/NZ companies: check Seek (seek.com.au / seek.co.nz) alongside LinkedIn for a fuller picture of hiring activity.

Cross-reference with their public announcements — divergence between what they say and what they're hiring for is the more useful signal.

Step 5: Recent strategic moves

For each competitor, note the last 12 months:

• Acquisitions and partnerships
• Pricing changes or packaging shifts
• Major product launches or deprecations
• Fundraising rounds or M&A activity
• Leadership changes

Step 6: Differentiation analysis

Synthesise: who is winning on what dimension, and why? One paragraph per meaningful differentiation axis. Take a position — don't just describe, conclude.

Rules

• Define the market before mapping competitors. A comparison without scope is noise.
• Label market share estimates as estimates with source and date.
• Flag sources older than 18 months on competitive analysis — a competitor can ship a lot in that time.
• Don't produce a matrix so wide it can't be read. Cap at 6 attributes if there are more than 4 competitors.
• Job posting data is a leading indicator, not a fact. Label it as signal, not confirmation.

Output format

## Competitive analysis: [Space]

**As of:** [date]
**Market definition:** [buyer, purchase unit, geography]
**Competitors identified:** [count] direct, [count] indirect

### Competitor comparison

| Company | Positioning | Pricing tier | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|---|

### Hiring signals

| Company | Signal | Source |
|---|---|---|

### Recent strategic moves

[Bulleted list by company, dated]

### Differentiation analysis

[Who is winning on what dimension, with evidence — one paragraph per axis]

### Sources

1. [Title](URL) — [what it contributed]