| name | competitive-teardown |
| description | Analyzes competitor products and companies by synthesizing data from pricing pages, app store reviews, job postings, SEO signals, and social media into structured competitive intelligence. Produces feature comparison matrices scored across 12 dimensions, SWOT analyses, positioning maps, UX audits, pricing model breakdowns, action item roadmaps, and stakeholder presentation templates. Use when conducting competitor analysis, comparing products against competitors, researching the competitive landscape, building battle cards for sales, preparing for a product strategy or roadmap session, responding to a competitor's new feature or pricing change, or performing a quarterly competitive review. |
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
references/data-collection-guide.md to 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
references/analysis-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 references/data-collection-guide.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
Parse 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 references/data-collection-guide.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 references/analysis-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 references/analysis-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
Related Skills
- Product Strategist (
product-team/product-strategist/) — Competitive insights feed OKR and strategy planning
- Landing Page Generator (
product-team/landing-page-generator/) — Competitive positioning informs landing page messaging
