Take a competitor apart in a way that changes a decision: what they promise, who they are built for, where they are weak, and what we should do about it.
Instructions your experts follow when using this skill.
Use this when someone asks about a competitor. A teardown that ends in observations has failed; it ends in a decision.
Four sources, in this order, because each one contradicts the last in a useful way:
Answer these and nothing else:
The fourth question is the one people skip. A teardown with no honest praise in it is not research, it is reassurance.
A page. Their promise, their customer, three strengths, three structural weaknesses, and one recommendation with a reason. Mark every claim as observed or inferred — a reader needs to know which parts would survive a phone call.
Never state a competitor's revenue, headcount, churn or customer count as fact unless it is published — say "inferred from" and name what you inferred it from. Never repeat a rumour. Never write a comparison that a competitor could sue over, and never recommend copying a feature without saying what it would cost us.
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