icp-research

name

icp-research

description

Research companies against ICP criteria for ELK/observability tools. Use when: (1) Finding companies that match ICP (MSSPs, SOC-as-a-service, SIEM providers, cybersecurity where observability IS their product), (2) Evaluating if a company fits the ideal customer profile, (3) Researching company size, business model, and ELK criticality, (4) Building prospect lists for outreach. ICP: Small-medium companies (≤200 employees) where observability/ELK is mission-critical to revenue. Use DuckDuckGo first, then PinchTab for deeper research, then LinkedIn MCP ONLY for company/people lookup (never for outreach).

ICP Research Skill

Research companies to determine if they match the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) for ELK/observability tools. This ispurely for research—never for outreach or connecting.

The ICP

Golden Example: OmniSock SOC

• Small team (51-200 employees)
• ELK/observability IS their product (SOC-as-a-service using Elastic SIEM)
• Cannot afford to hire more → needs AI leverage
• Mission-critical ELK stack (if it goes down, business stops)

ICP Criteria:

Criteria	Must Have	Nice to Have
Company Size	≤200 employees (hard cap)	51-200 optimal
Business Model	Observability IS the product	SIEM/MDR/MSSP/SOC
ELK Criticality	Mission-critical	If ELK down = revenue lost
Team	Small, understaffed	"Hair on fire" pressure
Budget	Headcount budget exists	VP/Director has authority

Perfect ICP Signals:

• MSSP (Managed Security Services Provider)
• SOC-as-a-Service
• SIEM provider
• Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
• "Security monitoring is our business"
• Company URL contains: /soc, /siem, /mdr, /managed-security

NOT ICP:

• Large enterprises (>200 employees, especially>1,000)
• Companies where ELK is "one of many tools"
• IT services/consulting (they provide ELK support to others)
• Contractors/C2C
• Elastic/Splunk employees (competitors)
• Job seekers

Research Workflow

Step 1: DuckDuckGo Search (Primary)

Use web_search to find potential companies:

Search queries:``` "MSSP" "Managed SIEM" "SOC as a Service""MDR" "Managed Detection Response" "Security Operations Center" company "SIEM provider" small company "Managed security services" employees "ELK stack" "Security monitoring" company

**Extract from results:**
- Company name
- Website URL
- Company description (what do they DO?)
- Size hints (team size, number of customers)
- Business model (MSSP? SOC? SIEM?)

### Step 2: PinchTab (If DuckDuckGo Insufficient)

Use PinchTab when:
- DuckDuckGo results lack detail
- Need to visit company website for business model clarity
- Need to find employee count on website/LinkedIn

**PinchTab workflow:**

1. pinchtab_navigate({ url: "company-website.com" })
2. pinchtab_wait_for_load({ load: "networkidle" })
3. pinchtab_get_text() or pinchtab_screenshot()
4. Look for: About page, Team page, Careers, "What we do"

### Step 3: LinkedIn MCP (Company Details Only)

**CRITICAL: This is RESEARCH ONLY. Never connect, message, or outreach.**

Use LinkedIn MCP `get_company_profile` to verify:
- Employee count (confirm ≤200)
- Company description
- Industry (SIEM/cybersecurity/managed services)
- Headquarters location

**LinkedIn workflow:**

mcp action=call server=linkedin-mcp tool=get_company_profile params={ name_or_id: "Company Name" }

**What to extract:**
- `employee_count` → Must be ≤200
- `description` → SIEM/MDR/MSSP keywords?
- `industries` → Cybersecurity/IT services?
- `specialties` → Managed security, SIEM, SOC?

**DO NOT:**
- Use `search_people` to find contacts (research only)
- Use `send_message` or `send_invitation`
- Connect with anyone

## ICP Match Scoring

After research, score each company:

### Score Card

| Factor | Weight | Score 0-5 |
|--------|--------|-----------|
| Company Size (≤200) | 25% | 5=≤200, 3=201-500, 0=>500 |
| Business Model Match | 30% | 5=SIEM/MSSP/SOC, 3=Security adj, 0=Unrelated |
| ELK Criticality | 25% | 5=Observability IS product, 3=Critical internal, 1=Nice-to-have |
| Team Pressure | 20% | 5="Hair on fire", 3=Understaffed, 1=Stable |

**Total Score:**
- **20-25: HOT** → Perfect ICP, prioritize for outreach
- **15-19: Good Fit** → Strong match, proceed with research
- **10-14: OK Fit** → Investigate further before deciding
- **0-9: NOT ICP** → Disqualify

## Output Format

For each researched company, provide:

```markdown
## Company Name

**ICP Score:** XX/25 (HOT/Good/OK/Not ICP)

### Match Criteria
| Criteria | Status | Evidence |
|----------|--------|----------|
| Size | ✅/❌ | Employee count, source |
| Business Model | ✅/❌ | What they sell |
| ELK Criticality | ✅/❌ | How critical observability is |
| Team Pressure | ?/? | Unknown without conversation |

### Business Model
- [What the company actually does]
- [Whether observability/ELK is their revenue source]

### Size Verification
- Employees: [count] (Source: LinkedIn/website)
- Fits ICP: Yes/No

### Recommendation
[Hot/Research More/Disqualified] - [Reason]

### Sources
- Website: [URL]
- LinkedIn: [URL]- DuckDuckGo: [Search query used]

Common Patterns

Hot Targets (Score 20-25)

- MSSPs with 50-200 employees
- SOC-as-a-Service providers
- Managed SIEM companies
- Security monitoring is their primary revenue

Borderline (Score 15-19)

- Larger MSSPs (200-500 employees) - may have big platform teams
- Security-adjacent companies (configurations, compliance)
- Companies using ELK internally but not selling it

NOT ICP (Score 0-9)

- Enterprise companies (>1,000 employees)
- Companies where ELK is one of 20 tools
- IT consulting firms (they sell services, not monitoring)
- Pure software companies (observability is overhead, not product)

Disqualification Examples

Company	Why Disqualified
Discord	Too large (500+), platform team has DSE support
Accenture	IT consulting, not MSSP product
Dagster Labs	Data orchestration tool, not security/observability
Insurance Company	Insurance is their business, ELK is internal

Remember

1. Research = Golden Example: Compare every company to OmniSock SOC
2. Business ModelMatters: "Do they SELL observability?" > "Do they USE observability?"
3. Size is Hard Cap: >200 employees = disqualified
4. LinkedIn is READ-ONLY: Never connect or outreach during research
5. Score Before Deciding: Don't guess—use the scorecard

Quick Reference

DuckDuckGo Search Terms

"MSSP" "Managed SIEM" "SOC as a Service" 
"MDR" "Managed Detection Response"
"Security Operations Center" company
"SIEM provider" small
"Managed security" 51-200 employees

LinkedIn MCP Tools (Research Only)

get_company_profile → Verify size, industry, description

PinchTab Use Cases

1. Company website About page → Business model
2. Team/Careers page → Size hints
3. Service pages → SIEM/MDR/SOC keywords