Customers & Research

What tools should I use to track competitors and market landscape?

A starting point

Start free and manual before you pay for anything: Google Alerts and their newsletter for moves, G2/Capterra reviews for weaknesses, Crunchbase for funding, and their careers page for where they're headed. Tools help, but reading 50 customer reviews teaches you more than any dashboard.

Go deeper

Read

📄 Article
Free Intermediate

16 Startup Metrics

From a16z by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) ~15 min read

Why we picked it

The reference primer on the metrics and market-sizing logic investors use, including bottom-up market sizing that keeps founders honest about how big a market really is. Canonical a16z source.

  • Size markets bottom-up from customer count and willingness to pay
  • Know the metrics that actually signal a healthy business
  • Distinguish real traction from vanity metrics
  • Use consistent definitions when comparing yourself to the market
Open a16z.com →

Use

🛠️ Tool
Freemium Beginner

G2, software reviews and competitive comparison

From G2 by G2 ongoing

Why we picked it

The fastest way to mine real customer complaints and comparisons about your competitors, the negative reviews are a free roadmap to your differentiation. A staple competitive-research tool.

  • Read competitor reviews (especially critical ones) to find unmet needs
  • Compare feature grids and pricing across alternatives quickly
  • Spot which segments love or hate a competitor
  • Use recurring complaints as your wedge into the market
Open g2.com →

People also ask

How do I research my competitors properly? Go beyond their homepage: sign up, read their reviews, their churned-customer complaints, their job posts, and their pricing page. The gold is in w... Beginner 2 resources → What if my customers say they have no competitors, is that good or bad? Almost always bad, because it usually means the job isn't painful enough to spend money or effort on. If nobody's built anything, ask what people c... Beginner 2 resources → How do I position against a bigger, better-funded competitor? Don't fight them on their strengths, reframe the category so your strengths matter most. Anchor on the competitive alternatives your best customers... Advanced 2 resources → How do I size the market and figure out if it's big enough? Build it bottom-up, not from a scary McKinsey top-down number: who exactly is the customer, how many are there, what will they pay, and how will yo... Intermediate 2 resources → How do I understand the competitive landscape for an Indian market specifically? Don't assume the US playbook maps onto India, pricing power, distribution, and willingness-to-pay are wildly different. Study who Indian customers ... Intermediate 2 resources → What are unit economics and why do they matter? Unit economics is the profit or loss on a single customer or unit, strip away the noise and ask 'do I make money on one customer?' If the answer is... Beginner 3 resources →