/competitor-intel

name: competitor-intel
description: Analyzes competitors using web research to provide verified business metrics, actionable leverage strategies, and predicted next moves. Use when user needs competitive intelligence, competitor analysis, market positioning insights, or strategic leverage opportunities.

Competitor Intel

Purpose

Provide data-backed competitive intelligence by researching real signals across the web—no assumptions, no made-up numbers.

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Execution Logic

**Check $ARGUMENTS first to determine execution mode:**

If $ARGUMENTS is empty or not provided:

Respond with: "competitor-intel loaded, proceed with competitor name and any context (website, industry, etc.)"

Then wait for the user to provide their requirements in the next message.

If $ARGUMENTS contains content:

Proceed immediately to Task Execution (skip the "loaded" message).

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Task Execution

When user requirements are available (either from initial $ARGUMENTS or follow-up message):

1. Check for Business Context (Optional)

Check if `FOUNDER_CONTEXT.md` exists in the project root.

• **If it exists:** Read it to understand your company's positioning, strengths, and goals—this informs the leverage strategies.
• **If it doesn't exist:** Proceed with analysis focused purely on competitor weaknesses.

2. Extract Input

From the user's requirements, extract:

• Competitor name (required)
• Competitor website (if provided)
• Industry/vertical (if provided)
• Specific areas of interest (if provided)

3. Research Phase — MANDATORY WEB SEARCH

**This skill REQUIRES web search. Do not proceed without searching.**

Execute web searches across these sources:

Business Metrics Research

Search for verified data only. Query patterns:

• `"[Competitor]" revenue OR MRR OR ARR site:crunchbase.com`
• `"[Competitor]" funding raised valuation site:crunchbase.com`
• `"[Competitor]" employees headcount site:linkedin.com`
• `"[Competitor]" revenue growth OR metrics`
• `"[Competitor]" pricing customers`
• `"[Competitor]" CEO OR founder interview revenue`
• `"[Competitor]" Series A OR Series B OR funding`

Traffic & SEO Research

Search for web traffic and search presence signals:

• `"[Competitor]" site:similarweb.com` (traffic estimates, top pages, traffic sources)
• `"[Competitor]" site:ahrefs.com` (backlinks, domain rating, organic keywords)
• `"[Competitor]" site:semrush.com` (traffic, keyword rankings, ad spend)
• `"[Competitor]" site:trends.google.com` (search interest over time)
• `[Competitor website domain] site:builtwith.com` (tech stack, tools used)

Technical & Product Research

Search for product and development signals:

• `"[Competitor]" site:github.com` (open source activity, tech stack, hiring signals)
• `[Competitor GitHub org]` (commit frequency, contributors, project activity)
• `"[Competitor]" API OR integration OR developer`

Advertising Research

Search for ad strategy and spend signals:

• Search Meta Ads Library: `https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/` for [Competitor]
• `"[Competitor]" ads site:facebook.com/ads/library`
• `"[Competitor]" advertising spend OR ad budget`
• `"[Competitor]" marketing campaign`

Weakness & Sentiment Research

Search for complaints, issues, and struggles:

• `"[Competitor]" reviews site:g2.com`
• `"[Competitor]" reviews site:capterra.com`
• `"[Competitor]" reviews site:trustpilot.com`
• `"[Competitor]" complaints OR issues OR problems`
• `"[Competitor]" "doesn't work" OR "broken" OR "terrible"`
• `"[Competitor]" layoffs OR firing OR cuts`
• `"[Competitor]" lawsuit OR sued`

Signal Research (for predictions)

Search for hiring, product, and strategic signals:

• `"[Competitor]" hiring site:linkedin.com`
• `"[Competitor]" job openings`
• `"[Competitor]" new feature OR launch OR release`
• `"[Competitor]" roadmap OR upcoming`
• `"[Competitor]" partnership OR integration`
• `"[Competitor]" site:twitter.com OR site:x.com` (founder/company posts)

4. Compile Verified Metrics

From research, extract ONLY verified numbers with sources:

• MRR/ARR (if disclosed)
• Funding raised (total and rounds)
• Valuation (if known)
• Employee count
• Customer count
• Churn rate (if disclosed)
• Growth rate (if disclosed)
• Pricing tiers

**CRITICAL RULE:** If a metric cannot be found with a source, mark it as "Not publicly available" — DO NOT estimate or assume.

5. Identify Leverage Opportunities

Analyze collected data to find 3 actionable weak spots:

Look for patterns in:

• **Product gaps**: Features users complain about, missing integrations
• **Service failures**: Support complaints, response times, bugs
• **Pricing friction**: Users complaining about cost, hidden fees, poor value
• **Trust issues**: Security concerns, data breaches, broken promises
• **Operational struggles**: Layoffs, leadership changes, funding difficulties
• **Marketing weaknesses**: Poor ad execution, weak positioning, low engagement

For each weakness, formulate an actionable strategy your company can execute.

6. Predict Next Moves

Based on all signals, predict what the competitor will likely do next:

Signals to interpret:

• **Hiring patterns**: Engineering = product push, Sales = growth mode, Support = scaling issues
• **Job postings**: Reveal technology bets, market expansion, new products
• **Funding status**: Recent raise = aggressive expansion, No raise in 2+ years = potential trouble
• **Content/PR**: Topics they're pushing indicate strategic focus
• **Partnership announcements**: Reveal market positioning and gaps
• **Founder activity**: Where they speak, what they post, who they meet

7. Format Output

Structure findings according to **Output Format** section.

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Writing Rules

Hard constraints. No interpretation.

Core Rules

• Every metric MUST include a source link or be marked "Not publicly available"
• No estimations, assumptions, or "likely" numbers for metrics
• Strategies must be actionable (specific steps, not vague advice)
• Pred