gathering-competitive-intelligence

name	gathering-competitive-intelligence
description	Builds and maintains competitive intelligence through Wardley Mapping, 7 Powers analysis, battlecards, and JTBD competitive mapping. Use when a new competitor emerges, preparing for investor meetings, building sales enablement materials, or quarterly strategy reviews.
version	1.0.0
created	"2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z"
updated	"2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z"
author	[YOUR_NAME]
tags	["competitive-intelligence","strategy","sales-enablement","wardley-mapping","7-powers"]
triggers	["new competitor emerges or raises funding","preparing for investor meetings (competitive positioning slides)","building or refreshing sales enablement materials","quarterly strategy review cycle","prospect asks \"how are you different from X?\"","upstream provider launches competing product"]
cadence	{"quarterly":"Wardley Map refresh, 7 Powers audit, JTBD competitive map","monthly":"Battlecard updates, competitor activity log review","ad-hoc":"New competitor alert, deal-specific competitive brief"}
inputs	["Competitive landscape documents","Strategic plan","Fundraising and investor-ready comparisons","Meeting notes (competitor mentions in prospect/investor calls)"]
outputs	["Updated competitive landscape docs","FIA battlecard deck","Quarterly Wardley map narrative","Quarterly 7 Powers defensibility scorecard"]
cross-references	[{"skill":"closing-deals","relationship":"Battlecards feed directly into sales objection handling"},{"skill":"steering-strategy","relationship":"Thiel Monopoly Lens primary home; annual 7 Powers refresh feeds strategy"},{"skill":"shaping-product-strategy","relationship":"JTBD analysis shared (product discovery vs competitive analysis angles)"},{"skill":"building-brand","relationship":"Positioning differentiation data informs brand messaging"}]

Gathering Competitive Intelligence

Purpose

Equip [YOUR_COMPANY] with continuously updated, actionable intelligence so the team can position effectively in sales, make informed strategic decisions, and anticipate market shifts. [YOUR_COMPANY] occupies a unique intersection in the market that no single competitor fills. This skill maintains clarity on where competitors are evolving and where [YOUR_COMPANY]'s structural advantages are strongest.

---

Framework Stack

Strategic foundations (Wardley + 7 Powers) feed operational intelligence (Battlecards + JTBD), with the Thiel Monopoly Lens as a periodic strategic gut-check.

STRATEGIC LAYER (Quarterly)
  +-- Wardley Mapping -----------> Where is the value chain evolving?
  +-- 7 Powers Audit ------------> Where are structural advantages?
  +-- Thiel Monopoly Lens -------> Are we building something nobody else can?
  |                                (reference -- primary home in steering-strategy)
  v
OPERATIONAL LAYER (Monthly)
  +-- Klue Battlecards (FIA) ----> What does sales need to win deals?
  +-- JTBD Competitive Map ------> What alternatives are prospects actually considering?

Framework 1: Wardley Mapping (Quarterly)

Map [YOUR_COMPANY]'s value chain from user need to underlying components, plotting each on the evolution axis (Genesis -> Custom -> Product -> Commodity). Overlay competitor positions to spot opportunities.

Why Wardley over Porter's Five Forces: Porter is static. Wardley shows movement -- critical when the market category is evolving rapidly. [YOUR_COMPANY] needs to see where components are commoditizing vs. where differentiation persists.

Quarterly steps:

1. Start from user need: "[YOUR_CUSTOMER] wants to [PRIMARY_JOB_TO_BE_DONE]"
2. Map the value chain: User Need -> [Component A] -> [Component B] -> [Component C] -> [Infrastructure]
3. Place each component on the evolution axis
4. Overlay competitor positions (who owns which components?)
5. Identify movement since last quarter
6. Spot where competitors are over-invested in commoditizing components

Framework 2: 7 Powers Audit (PRIMARY HOME -- Quarterly)

Hamilton Helmer's 7 Powers assesses structural competitive advantages that persist and compound. This is the primary home for 7 Powers; other skills reference this output.

Power	Assessment Question
Scale Economies	Does adding clients reduce per-client cost of integration and operations?
Network Effects	Does each new customer make the platform more valuable? (Aggregation effects, shared data, liquidity)
Counter-Positioning	Would incumbents adopting our model cannibalize their existing relationships or business?
Switching Costs	Once a customer integrates our full platform, how painful is switching to multiple point solutions?
Branding	Does "[YOUR_COMPANY]-powered" signal reliability and breadth to target buyers?
Cornered Resource	Does [YOUR_COMPANY] have exclusive/preferred access to key upstream providers or partnerships?
Process Power	Does the team have a compound advantage from unique domain expertise and engineering capability?

Scoring: 0 = Not present, 1 = Emerging, 2 = Established (1-2 years to replicate), 3 = Dominant (structural moat)

Framework 3: Thiel Monopoly Lens (Reference)

Primary home in steering-strategy. This skill tests the monopoly thesis with competitive data.

[YOUR_COMPANY]'s thesis: "[State the unique thing you are building that nobody else can -- your monopoly hypothesis.]"

Quarterly validation: Is anyone building this? Has anyone announced intent? Are pieces getting easier to assemble independently?

Framework 4: Klue Battlecards -- FIA Format (Monthly)

Translate strategic analysis into sales ammunition. One card per tracked competitor, 8-12 FIA entries each.

• Fact: Objective, verifiable statement about a competitor
• Impact: What this means for [YOUR_COMPANY] (threat, opportunity, or neutral)
• Action: What [YOUR_COMPANY] should do or say in response

Framework 5: JTBD Competitive Map (Quarterly)

Map ALL alternatives a prospect considers -- not just direct competitors. [YOUR_COMPANY]'s biggest competitor is often "build it in-house" or "do nothing."

The Job: "[STATE_THE_CORE_JOB_YOUR_CUSTOMER_HIRES_YOU_FOR]"

Map: Direct competitors, adjacent solutions, build in-house (DIY), do nothing / status quo, non-obvious substitutes.

---

Competitors to Track

Organize competitors into tiers and review quarterly. Critical distinction: upstream providers are partners, not competitors -- but monitor for disintermediation risk.

Tier 1: Direct Competitors

Competitor	Why Track	Key Threat
[Competitor A]	[Funding, market overlap]	[Primary threat]
[Competitor B]	[Market presence, distribution]	[Primary threat]
[Competitor C]	[Adjacent market, converging]	[Primary threat]

Tier 2: Regional / Adjacent

Competitor	Why Track	Key Threat
[Competitor D]	[Regional strength, funding]	[Regional or adjacent threat]
[Competitor E]	[Adjacent capability]	[Could package capability for your market]

Tier 3: Non-Traditional

Competitor	Why Track	Key Threat
"Build In-House"	Prospects assembling own stack from multiple providers.	The status quo. Must prove build-vs-buy math decisively.

---

Deliverables

1. Strategic Position Brief (Quarterly)

Audience: Founders, investors, board. Contents: Wardley Map narrative with movement annotations, monopoly thesis validation (strengthening/weakening/stable), 7 Powers Scorecard, top 3 strategic implications, 1-paragraph competitive position statement for investor materials.

2. Competitive Landscape Report (Quarterly, monthly spot updates)

Audience: Founders, sales, product. Contents: 2x2 positioning map, per-competitor profiles (standardized fields below), feature comparison matrix, funding/growth tracker, gap analysis.

Per-Competitor Profile Fields: Company, HQ, Founded, Funding, Headcount, Target Market, Products, Pricing, Key Clients, Regulatory Status, Recent Moves (90 days), Our Advantage, Our Vulnerability, Likely Next Move.

3. Battlecard Deck (Monthly)

Audience: Sales, founders in deals. One FIA card per tracked competitor. See Template B.

4. Competitor Activity Log (Rolling)

Audience: All team. Running log tagged by significance:

• HIGH: Direct threat (product overlap, major funding, client win in our market) -- triggers immediate battlecard update + team alert
• MEDIUM: Indirect signal (adjacent move, partnership, leadership change)
• LOW: Background (blog posts, minor features, conferences)

5. JTBD Competitive Map (Quarterly)

Audience: Product, sales, strategy. Maps the job, ranked hiring criteria, solutions comparison ([YOUR_COMPANY] vs each alternative), non-obvious alternatives, switching triggers.

---

Templates

Template A: 7 Powers Scorecard

# 7 Powers Audit -- Q[X] [YEAR]

**Date:** [YYYY-MM-DD] | **Assessor:** [Name] | **Period:** [Quarter]

| Power              | Us  | Comp A | Comp B      | Comp C    | Comp D | Comp E  | Notes |
|--------------------|-----|--------|-------------|-----------|--------|---------|-------|
| Scale Economies    |[0-3]| [0-3]  | [0-3]       | [0-3]     | [0-3]  | [0-3]   |       |
| Network Effects    |[0-3]| [0-3]  | [0-3]       | [0-3]     | [0-3]  | [0-3]   |       |
| Counter-Positioning|[0-3]| [0-3]  | [0-3]       | [0-3]     | [0-3]  | [0-3]   |       |
| Switching Costs    |[0-3]| [0-3]  | [0-3]       | [0-3]     | [0-3]  | [0-3]   |       |
| Branding           |[0-3]| [0-3]  | [0-3]       | [0-3]     | [0-3]  | [0-3]   |       |
| Cornered Resource  |[0-3]| [0-3]  | [0-3]       | [0-3]     | [0-3]  | [0-3]   |       |
| Process Power      |[0-3]| [0-3]  | [0-3]       | [0-3]     | [0-3]  | [0-3]   |       |
| **TOTAL**          |**/21**|**/21**| **/21**     | **/21**   |**/21** | **/21** |       |

Scoring: 0=Not present, 1=Emerging, 2=Established (1-2yr to replicate), 3=Dominant (structural moat)

## Power-by-Power Analysis
### Scale Economies
[How does volume affect per-unit costs? Multi-tenant infrastructure amortizes upstream
integration across clients. Compare to competitors with higher marginal costs.]

### Network Effects
[Does the platform gain value with more participants? Aggregation benefits, shared
compliance, data advantages.]

### Counter-Positioning
[Would copying our model damage incumbents? Would traditional players adopting our approach
alarm their existing partners? Would adjacent players need licenses they've avoided?]

### Switching Costs
[Multi-product single-API creates high switching costs (N separate integrations to
replace). Single-product competitors have lower switching friction.]

### Branding
[Brand perception among target buyers. Track mentions, developer sentiment, conference
presence. Nascent for all players at this stage.]

### Cornered Resource
[Upstream provider partnerships -- any exclusive? Could competitors access same providers?
Team network as cornered resource for industry relationships.]

### Process Power
[Unique combination of domain expertise and engineering capability. This expertise
combination is rare and compounds over time.]

## QoQ Changes
[What shifted? Which competitors gained or lost power?]

## Strategic Implications
1. [Implication + action]
2. [Implication + action]
3. [Implication + action]

Template B: FIA Battlecard

# Battlecard: [COMPETITOR NAME]

**Updated:** [YYYY-MM-DD] | **Confidence:** HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW

## Snapshot
- **What they do:** [One sentence]
- **HQ / Funding / Key clients:** [Brief]
- **Their pitch:** [Their own words]

## FIA Entries

### Product Capability
**FACT:** [Objective statement]
**IMPACT:** [Threat/opportunity/neutral for us]
**ACTION:** [What to say or do]

### Pricing & Business Model
**FACT:** [Objective statement]
**IMPACT:** [What this means for us]
**ACTION:** [What to say or do]

### Weaknesses & Gaps
**FACT:** [Objective limitation]
**IMPACT:** [How we exploit this]
**ACTION:** [Talking point for sales]

### Recent Moves
**FACT:** [Latest announcement]
**IMPACT:** [What this means for us]
**ACTION:** [Response]

## Win/Loss Themes
- **We WIN when:** [Patterns]
- **We LOSE when:** [Patterns]
- **Landmines:** [Topics that backfire]

## Head-to-Head
| Dimension | Us | [Competitor] |
|-----------|-----|-------------|
| Products | [Your product breadth] | [Theirs] |
| Integration time | [Your timeline] | [Theirs] |
| Settlement | [Your settlement model] | [Theirs] |
| Geography | [Your markets] | [Theirs] |
| API | [Your API approach] | [Theirs] |
| Pricing | [Your pricing model] | [Theirs] |

Template C: Competitor Activity Log Entry

## [YYYY-MM-DD] -- [Competitor]: [Event Title]
**Significance:** HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW | **Category:** Funding/Product/Partnership/Hiring/Regulatory/Client Win
**Source:** [URL]

**What happened:** [2-3 sentences]
**Impact on us:** [What this means]
**Action:** [ ] Update battlecard / [ ] Brief team / [ ] Adjust positioning / [ ] Monitor only

---

Execution Playbook

Quarterly Deep Dive (3-4 hours)

Timing: First week of quarter | Owner: CEO (with CTO + CPO input)

1. Refresh Wardley Map (60 min) -- Review last quarter, identify component movement, update competitor positions, spot new components entering the map
2. Run 7 Powers Audit (60 min) -- Score all entities using Template A, compare QoQ, flag any competitor with 3+ point total increase
3. Update JTBD Map (30 min) -- Review prospect conversations for new alternatives, update hiring criteria from win/loss data
4. Validate Monopoly Thesis (15 min) -- Answer three validation questions, update thesis if needed
5. Produce Strategic Position Brief (45 min) -- Synthesize into Deliverable 1, highlight top 3 implications

Monthly Battlecard Refresh (1-2 hours)

Timing: Last week of month | Owner: CEO

1. Review Competitor Activity Log for the month
2. Update each battlecard with new FIA entries
3. Archive stale entries (>6 months, no current relevance)
4. Share updated deck with the team

Ad-Hoc: New Competitor Alert

Trigger: New player enters your space or existing player makes significant move.

1. Add HIGH entry to Activity Log
2. Decide: new tracked competitor or one-time event?
3. If new: create profile (Deliverable 2 format) + battlecard (Template B) + focused 7 Powers comparison
4. Brief team within 48 hours

Example: You discover a well-funded competitor in an adjacent market has raised a large round and announced plans to expand into your category. This warrants an immediate HIGH alert, a new battlecard, and a focused 7 Powers comparison to assess how their structural advantages compare to yours.

Ad-Hoc: Deal-Specific Competitive Brief

Trigger: Prospect mentions evaluating a competitor or sales needs ammunition.

1. Pull relevant battlecard
2. Customize FIA entries for prospect context (industry, geography, use case)
3. Prepare 3 talking points + 2 questions to ask prospect about the competitor
4. Deliver as 1-page brief

---

Competitive Position Map (Template)

Use a 2x2 positioning map with axes that reflect your market's key differentiating dimensions. Choose axes where [YOUR_COMPANY] occupies a unique quadrant that no competitor fills.

                    [Axis A: Your strength]
                          |
    [Competitor A]        |         [YOUR_COMPANY]
    [Competitor B]        |        (Unique Position)
                          |
[Axis B:   <--------------+-------------->  [Axis B:
 Left]                    |                  Right]
                          |         [Competitor C]
                          |         [Competitor D]
                          |
                    [Axis A: Opposite]

Example axis pairs (pick two that define your market):

• Horizontal: Single product <-> Multi-product platform
• Vertical: Traditional infrastructure <-> Next-gen infrastructure
• Horizontal: Self-serve / PLG <-> Enterprise / high-touch
• Vertical: Single geography <-> Global reach

Key Differentiators:

1. [Differentiator 1 -- the primary "why us" vs. the status quo]
2. [Differentiator 2 -- operational/technical advantage]
3. [Differentiator 3 -- speed/efficiency advantage]
4. [Differentiator 4 -- breadth/scope advantage]
5. [Differentiator 5 -- market-specific advantage]

Current Vulnerabilities:

1. [Vulnerability 1 -- e.g., early stage vs. well-funded competitors]
2. [Vulnerability 2 -- e.g., brand awareness]
3. [Vulnerability 3 -- e.g., supply-side dependency]
4. [Vulnerability 4 -- e.g., regulatory or market uncertainty]

---

Data Sources

Primary: Competitor websites/blogs/changelogs, Crunchbase/PitchBook, LinkedIn hiring patterns, prospect conversations, upstream provider communications.

Secondary: Industry reports, conference talks, developer forums (Discord, X, GitHub), regulatory filings, trade press.

Signal Interpretation:

Signal	Meaning	Action
Hires sales team in your market	Entering your geography	HIGH alert
Integrates with your upstream providers	Expanding toward your model	HIGH alert
Raises large round	More runway, potential expansion	MEDIUM alert
Launches developer docs/sandbox	Moving toward PLG	MEDIUM alert
Blog about your category	Narrative positioning	LOW, monitor
Exec at conference in your region	Testing market interest	MEDIUM alert

---

Decision Resolutions

Decision	Resolution	Rationale
7 Powers primary home	This skill	Fundamentally about defensibility vs competitors. Others reference here.
Porter's Five Forces	Not included (subsumed by Wardley)	Wardley adds evolution dimension. Porter is static.
Competitors to track	5-6 entities across tiers	Covers all positioning quadrants + most common non-purchase alternative.
Thiel Monopoly Lens home	Reference only (primary in steering-strategy)	Strategic framing question, not a competitive analysis tool. Validated here.
JTBD ownership	Shared with shaping-product-strategy	Different applications: competitive alternatives (here) vs unmet needs (there).

---

Getting Started

When first setting up competitive intelligence for your company:

1. Identify your 2x2 axes -- What two dimensions define your market? Where does your company sit uniquely?
2. List 5-6 competitors -- 2-3 direct, 1-2 adjacent/regional, and always include "Build In-House" as a non-traditional competitor
3. Run your first 7 Powers Audit -- Score yourself and each competitor honestly; this becomes your baseline
4. Create your first Wardley Map -- Map the value chain from user need to infrastructure; plot competitors on each component
5. Write one battlecard -- Start with your most frequently encountered competitor; expand monthly
6. State your monopoly thesis -- One sentence: what are you building that nobody else can?