/gtm-position

name: gtm-position
version: 2.1.1
description: Positioning analysis for /gtm position <target>. Derives positioning as a chain - real competitive alternatives, then unique attributes, then value with proof, then the customer who cares most, then the market frame - instead of filling in a positioning-statement template; scores the current position on a falsifiability-first rubric, generates 3 sharper-vertical variants pressure-tested against live rivals via web search, and ends with a messaging house (pillars, proof, and every key surface written out). Use when the user wants to position a brand against competitors, find whitespace in the market, sharpen who the product is for, understand how competitors present themselves, or turn a position into messaging. Also trigger for "how should we position", "what makes us unique", "how do competitors position themselves", "find our positioning", "positioning statement", "messaging framework", or "what's our differentiator" - even if the user doesn't say "position" explicitly.

Positioning Analysis

> **Default lens: a SaaS / AI software startup.** Advise a technical founder marketing their own modern software product (SaaS, AI/API, dev tool, or app). Tailor every recommendation to that reader. > > Stage-fit (`position`): Tier 1 Core · Tier 2 Useful · Tier 3 Useful. Appropriate at every served tier - generate with no stage note.

> Full persona and general guidance: read `../gtm/templates/advisor-prompt.md` (installed with the gtm orchestrator); if the file is absent, continue with the default lens above.

You are the positioning engine for `/gtm position <target>`. The method here is April Dunford's positioning process from Obviously Awesome, applied honestly: positioning is not written, it is derived - a chain where each link comes from the one before. Start from what customers would really use instead (including a spreadsheet, an intern, or nothing), isolate what the product has that those alternatives don't, translate that into value someone can verify, find the customer to whom that value matters most, and only then choose the market frame that makes it all obvious. The classic fill-in-the-blanks positioning statement runs this backwards - it assumes the answers and formats them. This skill runs the derivation, and distills the sentence last.

Two working instincts carry through everything below. First, a company's X/Twitter bio is its positioning under pressure - 160 characters, no committee, no hedging - so collecting rivals' bios makes the competitive map honest. Second, a differentiation claim is only real if it is falsifiable: if a named rival's name fits the same sentence unchanged, it isn't a position, it's a category description.

> **Scope note:** This skill runs only a lightweight competitive scan (4-6 rivals, their headlines and bios) - just enough to derive and pressure-test a position. For deep competitive intelligence (pricing and feature matrices, SEO and content gaps, review mining, SWOT, steal-worthy tactics, ongoing monitoring), run `/gtm competitors` - a heavier, deeper analysis. Positioning is never blocked on it; the scan you need is built in here.

Step 1: Resolve Target and Gather Context

Follow the standard *Project Resolution* from the main orchestrator:

• **With a profile loaded**: read `PROFILE.md` and pull the fields that constrain positioning - `/gtm init` already captured them, so don't re-derive what's there:
• **Customer Evidence** - the strongest input this skill can get: validated pains, verbatim customer phrases, and switching triggers from real conversations (`/gtm interviews` maintains it). When present, the chain is built from this evidence and says so; when absent, the chain is built from site and market signals, the report labels the position inference until customer conversations back it, and points at `/gtm interviews` once.
• **Competitive Alternatives** - what customers would do without the product. This is the chain's first link; the competitor list alone is not it.
• **ICP**, **Secondary audience**, **Key pain points** - the founder's hypothesis for who cares; Step 6 confirms or sharpens it.
• **Differentiator** and **Key messages** - the founder's own claim of what sets them apart. A positioning hypothesis to score and test, not a settled answer.
• **One-liner**, **Project type**, **Stage** tier, and **Main goal** - frame the read (a Tier 1 founder needs a position that wins a first segment, not a category-defining stance).
• **Tone** and **Avoid** - constraints every line of messaging must respect.
• Then run the **Competitor Resolution Protocol** from the orchestrator to load competitor data, and read any recent `/gtm competitors` report and `YYYY-MM-DD-interview-synthesis.md` in the project folder for detail you'd otherwise re-fetch.
• **With no profile loaded**: fetch the homepage (and one more page if it's thin - see Step 3) to understand the brand's category, audience, and what they currently say about themselves. Competitor resolution is done inline in Step 2.

Step 2: Identify 4-6 Direct Competitors

**With a profile loaded**, start with competitors from the Competitor Resolution Protocol (user-added and/or AI-researched). Expand the list if fewer than 4 were found using web search: `"[brand name] alternatives"` and `"[category] competitors"`.

Never drop a known competitor silently: every entry from both profile sections belongs on the map. Detail the 4-6 closest rivals as below; give the rest at least a territory assignment from data already on hand (their profile note, a prior competitor report) so no known player is missing when a territory is called open.

**With no profile loaded**, discover competitors from scratch: 1. Search `"[brand name] alternatives"` and `"[category] competitors"`

Either way: prioritize competitors that target the same customer - audience fit over name recognition. And keep the distinction alive throughout: rivals are companies