Competitive Analysis
AnthropicOfficialPublished by Anthropic
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AutoGineer summary
Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author
This skill provides a systematic framework for building competitive analysis decks, guiding the user through a two-phase process of scoping requirements and generating structured slide content. It emphasizes data fidelity, consistent metric application, and clear strategic synthesis. The workflow is designed to function within both PowerPoint add-ins and chat environments, ensuring that competitive dynamics, market positioning, and peer benchmarking are presented with standardized formatting and cited evidence.
What it does
- Defines industry-specific metrics for consistent competitor benchmarking.
- Facilitates the creation of market context, industry economics, and target company profiles.
- Supports the generation of various visualizations including 2x2 matrices, radar charts, and tier diagrams.
- Provides templates for competitor deep-dives, comparative analysis, and M&A transaction tracking.
- Enforces strict data citation and formatting standards for professional slide production.
- Guides the synthesis of strategic insights, including moat assessments and scenario planning.
When to use it
- When you need to build a competitive landscape or market positioning assessment deck.
- When performing a deep-dive analysis on specific competitors or peer groups.
- When creating an investment memo that requires strategic review and scenario analysis.
- When you need to map market dynamics or value chains within a specific industry.
Advantages
- Ensures structural consistency across 10-20 slide decks through an approval-based workflow.
- Maintains high data integrity by requiring explicit citations and standardized fiscal periods.
- Reduces rework by requiring outline approval before generating full slide content.
- Provides clear, industry-standard frameworks for comparing companies across various sectors.
Usage examples
- “Who are the main competitors to Salesforce in the CRM space and how do they compare?”
- The agent will initiate a scoping phase to define the competitor set, identify key SaaS metrics like ARR and CAC, and propose an outline for a comparative analysis deck.
- “Build a market map for the embedded payments industry.”
- The agent will structure a presentation covering market size, industry economics, and a visual map of industry participants based on the defined scope.
- “Benchmark our company against our top 3 peers using a 2x2 matrix.”
- The agent will gather the necessary financial data, define the axes for the 2x2 matrix, and generate a slide comparing the target company against its peers.
Install
Download the skill as a ZIP:
https://mp-staging.autogineer.com/agent-skills/anthropics/competitive-analysis/downloadUnzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:
mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip competitive-analysis.zip -d .agents/skills
Documentation by Anthropic
Competitive Landscape Mapping
Build a complete competitive analysis deck. This is a two-phase process: gather requirements and get outline approval first, then build.
Environment check
This skill works in both the PowerPoint add-in and chat. Identify which you're in before starting — the mechanics differ, the workflow doesn't:
Add-in — the deck is open live; build slides directly into it.
Chat — generate a
.pptxfile (or build into one the user uploaded).
Everything below applies in both.
Phase 1 — Scope the analysis
Competitive analysis means different things to different people. Before any research or slide-building, use ask_user_question to pin down what they actually want. Don't guess — a 20-slide peer benchmarking deck and a 5-slide market map are both "competitive analysis" and take completely different shapes.
Gather in one round if you can (the tool takes up to 4 questions):
Scope — Single target company with competitors around it? Or multi-company side-by-side with no protagonist?
Competitor set — Which companies are in scope? If the user names them, use exactly those. If they say "the usual suspects," propose a set and confirm.
Audience and depth — Quick read for someone already in the space, or a full primer? This drives whether you need market sizing, industry economics, and history — or can skip to the comparison.
Investment context — Do they need bull/base/bear scenarios and signposts? That's Step 9 below; skip it if this is a strategic review rather than an investment thesis.
If they've uploaded an Excel/CSV with competitor data, confirm which columns map to which metrics before you start pulling numbers. Source-file fidelity matters: use values exactly as given, don't recalculate or re-round.
Phase 2 — Outline, approve, then build
Do not create slides until the outline is approved. Propose slide titles and one-line content notes, present them to the user, get a yes. A competitive deck is 10-20 slides of interlocking content — rebuilding because slide 4 was wrong is expensive. The outline is the cheap iteration point.
When proposing the outline, ask_user_question works well for the structural decisions: which positioning visualization (2×2 matrix / radar / tier diagram — Step 5 below), how to group competitors (by business model / segment / posture — Step 4). These are taste calls the user likely has an opinion on.
Standards — apply throughout
Prompt fidelity
When the user specifies something, that's a requirement, not a suggestion:
Slide titles and section names — exact wording. If they say "Overview and Competitive Scope," don't swap in "FY2024 Competitive Landscape."
Chart vs. table — not interchangeable. "Embedded chart" means a real chart object with data labels on the bars/slices, not a formatted table.
Complete data series — if they list 7 competitors, include all 7. If they show 2015-2025, include every year.
Exact values and ratios — "surpasses DoorDash 4:1, Lyft 8:1" means those ratios, not "7.6x Lyft."
Source quality, when sources conflict
10-Ks / annual reports (audited)
Earnings calls / investor presentations (management commentary)
Sell-side research (analyst estimates, useful for private company sizing)
Industry reports (McKinsey, Gartner — market sizing, trends)
News (recent developments only; verify against primary sources)
Data comparability
All competitor metrics from the same fiscal year; flag exceptions explicitly ("FY24" vs "H1 2024")
Same metric definitions across competitors
Convert to USD for international; note the exchange rate and date
Missing data shows as "-" or "N/A" with an "[E]" flag for estimates — never blank
Every number has a citation: "[Company] [Document] ([Date])"
Design
Slide titles are insights, not labels. "Scale leaders pulling away from niche players" — not "Competitive Analysis."
Signposts are quantified. "Margin below 40%" — not "margins decline."
Ratings show the actual. "●●● $160B" — not just "●●●."
Charts are real chart objects — not text tables dressed up to look like charts.
Typography — set explicitly, don't rely on defaults:
Slide titles: 28-32pt bold
Section headers: 18-20pt bold
Body text: 14-16pt (never below 14pt)
Table text: 14pt
Sources/footnotes: 14pt, gray
Same element type = same size throughout the deck
Charts:
Legend inside the chart boundary, not floating over the plot area
Right-side legend for pies (≤6 slices), bottom legend for line/bar (≤4 series)
More than 6 series → split into multiple charts or use a table
Pie charts show percentages on slices, not just in the legend
Tables:
Light gray header row, bold
Right-align numbers, left-align text
Enough cell padding that text doesn't touch borders
Color: 2-3 colors max. Muted — navy, gray, one accent. Same color meanings throughout.
What's strict vs. flexible
| Always | Case-by-case |
|---|---|
| Exact titles/sections when user specifies | Creative titles when they don't |
| Chart when user says chart; table when they say table | Visualization type when unspecified |
| Every competitor/data point they list | Number of competitors when unspecified |
| Exact values when specified | Rounding when precision unspecified |
| Titles fit without overflow | Number of competitor categories |
| No overlapping elements | Which dimensions to compare |
Analysis workflow
Step 0 — Industry-defining metrics
Before anything else: what 3-5 metrics does this industry actually run on? Use these consistently across every competitor.
| Industry | Key metrics |
|---|---|
| SaaS | ARR, NRR, CAC payback, LTV/CAC, Rule of 40 |
| Payments | GPV, take rate, attach rate, transaction margin |
| Marketplaces | GMV, take rate, buyer/seller ratio, repeat rate |
| Retail | Same-store sales, inventory turns, sales per sq ft |
| Logistics | Volume, cost per unit, on-time delivery %, capacity utilization |
Industry not listed — pick the metrics investors and operators benchmark on.
Step 1 — Market context
Size, growth, drivers, headwinds. With sources.
Correct: "Embedded payments is $80-100B in 2024, growing 20-25% CAGR (McKinsey 2024)" Wrong: "The market is large and growing rapidly"
Step 2 — Industry economics
Map how value flows. Approach depends on industry structure:
Vertically structured — value chain layers, typical margin at each
Platform/network — ecosystem participants, value flows between them
Fragmented — consolidation dynamics, margin differences by scale
Step 3 — Target company profile
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Revenue | $4.96B |
| Growth | +26% YoY |
| Gross Margin | 45% |
| Profitability | $373M Adj. EBITDA |
| Customers | 134K |
| Retention | 92% |
| Market Share | ~15% |Multi-segment companies add a breakdown:
| Segment | Revenue | Rev YoY | Rev % | EBITDA | EBITDA YoY | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seg A | $25.1B | +26% | 57% | $6.5B | +31% | 26% |
| Seg B | $13.8B | +31% | 31% | $2.5B | +64% | 18% |
| Seg C | $5.1B | -2% | 12% | -$74M | -16% | -1% |
| Total | $44.0B | +18% | 100% | $6.5B* | - | 15% |*Note corporate costs if applicable
Step 4 — Competitor mapping
Group by whichever lens fits (this is a good ask_user_question decision if the user hasn't specified):
By business model — platform / vertical / horizontal
By segment — enterprise / SMB / consumer
By posture — direct / adjacent / emerging
By origin — incumbent / disruptor / new entrant
Step 5 — Positioning visualization
| Type | When |
|---|---|
| 2×2 matrix | Two dominant competitive factors |
| Radar/spider | Multi-factor comparison |
| Tier diagram | Natural clustering into strategic groups |
| Value chain map | Vertical industries |
| Ecosystem map | Platform markets |
See references/frameworks.md for 2×2 axis pairs by industry.
Step 6 — Competitor deep-dives
Two tables per competitor.
Metrics:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Revenue | $X.XB |
| Growth | +XX% YoY |
| Gross Margin | XX% |
| Market Cap | $X.XB |
| Profitability | $XXXM EBITDA |
| Customers | XXK |
| Retention | XX% |
| Market Share | ~XX% |Qualitative:
| Category | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Business | What they do (1 sentence) |
| Strengths | 2-3 bullets |
| Weaknesses | 2-3 bullets |
| Strategy | Current priorities |Step 7 — Comparative analysis
| Dimension | Company A | Company B | Company C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scale | ●●● $160B | ●●○ $45B | ●○○ $8B |
| Growth | ●●○ +26% | ●●● +35% | ●●○ +22% |
| Margins | ●●○ 7.5% | ●○○ 3.2% | ●●● 15% |Step 8 — Strategic context
M&A transactions (multiples, rationale), partnership trends, capital raising patterns, regulatory developments. See references/schemas.md for the M&A transaction table format.
Step 9 — Synthesis
Moat assessment — rate each competitor Strong / Moderate / Weak on:
| Moat | What to assess |
|---|---|
| Network effects | User/supplier flywheel strength; cross-side vs same-side |
| Switching costs | Technical integration depth, contractual lock-in, behavioral habits |
| Scale economies | Unit cost advantages at volume; minimum efficient scale |
| Intangible assets | Brand, proprietary data, regulatory licenses, patents |
Required synthesis elements:
Durable advantages (hard to replicate) — map to moat categories
Structural vulnerabilities (hard to fix)
Current state vs. trajectory
For investment contexts (skip if the Phase 1 scoping said no):
| Scenario | Probability | Key driver |
|---|---|---|
| Bull | 30% | Market share gains, margin expansion |
| Base | 50% | Current trajectory continues |
| Bear | 20% | Competitive pressure, margin compression |Quality checklist
Before finishing:
Prompt fidelity
Slide titles match what the user specified, verbatim
Charts where they said chart; tables where they said table
Every competitor/year/data point they listed is present
Exact values and formats as specified
Data consistency
Source-file values extracted directly, not recalculated
Same metric shows the same value on every slide it appears
Same decimal precision as the source
Layout
Titles fit without overflow
No overlapping elements
All text within containers, no clipping
Content
Every number has a citation
All metrics from the same fiscal period (or flagged)
Slide titles state insights, not topics
Charts are real chart objects
Run standard visual verification checks on every slide — this catches overlaps, overflow, and low-contrast text that don't show up when you're reading back the XML.
Files
- ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer938 B
- LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer11.1 KiB
- SKILL.md11.2 KiB
- references/frameworks.md492 B
- references/schemas.md1.7 KiB
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Requirements and compatibility
Written for: Claude Code, Claude apps
Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta
“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.
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Attribution and licence
- Published by
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- Anthropic (Official)
- Source
- anthropics/financial-services · plugins/agent-plugins/market-researcher/skills/competitive-analysis · commit 6056506
- Licence
- Apache License 2.0 (redistribution allowed)
- LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
- ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
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- anthropics/financial-services
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