Competitive Teardown¶
Domain: Product | Skill: competitive-teardown | Source: product-team/competitive-teardown/SKILL.md
Competitive Teardown¶
Tier: POWERFUL
Category: Product Team
Domain: Competitive Intelligence, Product Strategy, Market Analysis
When to Use¶
- Before a product strategy or roadmap session
- When a competitor launches a major feature or pricing change
- Quarterly competitive review
- Before a sales pitch where you need battle card data
- When entering a new market segment
Teardown Workflow¶
Follow these steps in sequence to produce a complete teardown:
- Define competitors — List 2–4 competitors to analyze. Confirm which is the primary focus.
- Collect data — Use
DATA_COLLECTION.mdto gather raw signals from at least 3 sources per competitor (website, reviews, job postings, SEO, social).
Validation checkpoint: Before proceeding, confirm you have pricing data, at least 20 reviews, and job posting counts for each competitor. - Score using rubric — Apply the 12-dimension rubric below to produce a numeric scorecard for each competitor and your own product.
Validation checkpoint: Every dimension should have a score and at least one supporting evidence note. - Generate outputs — Populate the templates in
TEMPLATES.md(Feature Matrix, Pricing Analysis, SWOT, Positioning Map, UX Audit). - Build action plan — Translate findings into the Action Items template (quick wins / medium-term / strategic).
- Package for stakeholders — Assemble the Stakeholder Presentation using outputs from steps 3–5.
Data Collection Guide¶
Full executable scripts for each source are in
DATA_COLLECTION.md. Summaries of what to capture are below.
1. Website Analysis¶
Key things to capture: - Pricing tiers and price points - Feature lists per tier - Primary CTA and messaging - Case studies / customer logos (signals ICP) - Integration logos - Trust signals (certifications, compliance badges)
2. App Store Reviews¶
Review sentiment categories: - Praise → what users love (defend / strengthen these) - Feature requests → unmet needs (opportunity gaps) - Bugs → quality signals - UX complaints → friction points you can beat them on
Sample App Store query (iTunes Search API):
GET https://itunes.apple.com/search?term=<competitor_name>&entity=software&limit=1
# Extract trackId, then:
GET https://itunes.apple.com/rss/customerreviews/id=<trackId>/sortBy=mostRecent/json?l=en&limit=50
entry[].content.label for review text and entry[].im:rating.label for star rating.
3. Job Postings (Team Size & Tech Stack Signals)¶
Signals from job postings: - Engineering volume → scaling vs. consolidating - Specific tech mentions → stack (React/Vue, Postgres/Mongo, AWS/GCP) - Sales/CS ratio → product-led vs. sales-led motion - Data/ML roles → upcoming AI features - Compliance roles → regulatory expansion
4. SEO Analysis¶
SEO signals to capture: - Top 20 organic keywords (intent: informational / navigational / commercial) - Domain Authority / backlink count - Blog publishing cadence and topics - Which pages rank (product pages vs. blog vs. docs)
5. Social Media Sentiment¶
Capture recent mentions via Twitter/X API v2, Reddit, or LinkedIn. Look for recurring praise, complaints, and feature requests. See DATA_COLLECTION.md for API query examples.
Scoring Rubric (12 Dimensions, 1-5)¶
| # | Dimension | 1 (Weak) | 3 (Average) | 5 (Best-in-class) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Features | Core only, many gaps | Solid coverage | Comprehensive + unique |
| 2 | Pricing | Confusing / overpriced | Market-rate, clear | Transparent, flexible, fair |
| 3 | UX | Confusing, high friction | Functional | Delightful, minimal friction |
| 4 | Performance | Slow, unreliable | Acceptable | Fast, high uptime |
| 5 | Docs | Sparse, outdated | Decent coverage | Comprehensive, searchable |
| 6 | Support | Email only, slow | Chat + email | 24/7, great response |
| 7 | Integrations | 0-5 integrations | 6-25 | 26+ or deep ecosystem |
| 8 | Security | No mentions | SOC2 claimed | SOC2 Type II, ISO 27001 |
| 9 | Scalability | No enterprise tier | Mid-market ready | Enterprise-grade |
| 10 | Brand | Generic, unmemorable | Decent positioning | Strong, differentiated |
| 11 | Community | None | Forum / Slack | Active, vibrant community |
| 12 | Innovation | No recent releases | Quarterly | Frequent, meaningful |
Example completed row (Competitor: Acme Corp, Dimension 3 – UX):
| Dimension | Acme Corp Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| UX | 2 | App Store reviews cite "confusing navigation" (38 mentions); onboarding requires 7 steps before TTFV; no onboarding wizard; CC required at signup. |
Apply this pattern to all 12 dimensions for each competitor.
Templates¶
Full template markdown is in
TEMPLATES.md. Abbreviated reference below.
Feature Comparison Matrix¶
Rows: core features, pricing tiers, platform capabilities (web, iOS, Android, API).
Columns: your product + up to 3 competitors.
Score each cell 1–5. Sum to get total out of 60.
Score legend: 5=Best-in-class, 4=Strong, 3=Average, 2=Below average, 1=Weak/Missing
Pricing Analysis¶
Capture per competitor: model type (per-seat / usage-based / flat rate / freemium), entry/mid/enterprise price points, free trial length.
Summarize: price leader, value leader, premium positioning, your position, and 2–3 pricing opportunity bullets.
SWOT Analysis¶
For each competitor: 3–5 bullets per quadrant (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities for us, Threats to us). Anchor every bullet to a data signal (review quote, job posting count, pricing page, etc.).
Positioning Map¶
2x2 axes (e.g., Simple ↔ Complex / Low Value ↔ High Value). Place each competitor and your product. Bubble size = market share or funding. See TEMPLATES.md for ASCII and editable versions.
UX Audit Checklist¶
Onboarding: TTFV (minutes), steps to activation, CC-required, onboarding wizard quality.
Key workflows: steps, friction points, comparative score (yours vs. theirs).
Mobile: iOS/Android ratings, feature parity, top complaint and praise.
Navigation: global search, keyboard shortcuts, in-app help.
Action Items¶
| Horizon | Effort | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Quick wins (0–4 wks) | Low | Add review badges, publish comparison landing page |
| Medium-term (1–3 mo) | Moderate | Launch free tier, improve onboarding TTFV, add top-requested integration |
| Strategic (3–12 mo) | High | Enter new market, build API v2, achieve SOC2 Type II |
Stakeholder Presentation (7 slides)¶
- Executive Summary — Threat level (LOW/MEDIUM/HIGH/CRITICAL), top strength, top opportunity, recommended action
- Market Position — 2x2 positioning map
- Feature Scorecard — 12-dimension radar or table, total scores
- Pricing Analysis — Comparison table + key insight
- UX Highlights — What they do better (3 bullets) vs. where we win (3 bullets)
- Voice of Customer — Top 3 review complaints (quoted or paraphrased)
- Our Action Plan — Quick wins, medium-term, strategic priorities; Appendix with raw data