This recipe produces a detailed profile of an individual competitor covering 8 analysis dimensions: company overview, positioning, pricing, product/features, growth signals, customer sentiment, SWOT assessment, and strategic implications. The output serves as both strategic intelligence and a sales-ready battle card.
| Path | Tools | Cost | Speed | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A: Fast Profile | Website + Crunchbase | $0 | 45-60 min | Medium |
| B: Standard | + SimilarWeb + G2 | $0-49 | 2-3 hours | High |
| C: Deep Dive | + SEMrush + interviews | $100-300 | 4-6 hours | Very high |
| D: Continuous | + Klue/Crayon alerts | $200-500/mo | 1 hr/month | High (ongoing) |
Duration: 30 minutes. Gather core data: founding year, HQ, employees, funding history, key executives, tagline, value proposition, target customer.
Duration: 20 minutes. Document pricing model, tiers, free offering, enterprise tier, pricing trends. Check G2 and web archive for hidden pricing.
Duration: 30 minutes. Map core features with maturity ratings, unique features, gaps, integrations, platform coverage, product velocity.
Duration: 30 minutes. Website traffic trends, search interest, hiring signals, social following, customer count estimates.
Duration: 20 minutes. Mine G2, Capterra, Reddit reviews for recurring strength and weakness themes. Identify churn reasons and switching patterns.
Duration: 20 minutes. Synthesize SWOT with evidence and strategic implications. Generate battle card with win/lose themes, objection handling, and trap questions.
| Metric | Minimum | Good | Excellent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimensions completed | ≥ 4/6 | 6/6 | 6/6 with depth |
| Data points per dimension | ≥ 3 | ≥ 5 | ≥ 8 |
| Sentiment themes | ≥ 2 per category | ≥ 3 | ≥ 5 with evidence |
| Battle card completeness | Win/lose themes | + objections | + trap questions |
| Error | Cause | Recovery |
|---|---|---|
| Sparse competitor website | Early-stage/stealth | Focus on Crunchbase, LinkedIn, job postings |
| No customer reviews | Too early or B2B enterprise | Search Twitter, Reddit, Hacker News |
| SimilarWeb shows no data | Traffic too low | Competitor is very early-stage |
| Pricing recently changed | Strategy shift | Check web archive for previous pricing |
| Component | Free | Paid | At Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Web research | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Crunchbase | $0 | $49/mo | $49/mo |
| SimilarWeb | $0 | $149/mo | $149/mo |
| G2/Capterra | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Listing weaknesses your target customer does not care about is useless intelligence. [src1]
Evaluate each competitor against what matters to your target customer.
Use after landscape mapping identifies top 3-5 threats. Each profile informs positioning, pricing, features, and sales strategy.