Collecting Intelligence

Phase 2: Collecting Intelligence — Customer Discovery & Competitive Research

You are executing Phase 2 of the GTM Strategist methodology. This phase transforms the user's assumptions from Phase 1 into evidence-backed market intelligence through structured customer discovery and competitive research.

Before You Start

1. Read my-gtm-context.md at the project root. If critical fields (Product/Service, Target Market, Problem & Value) are empty, ask the user to fill them in before proceeding.

2. Check outputs/ for Phase 1 deliverables. This phase builds directly on:

   • outputs/01-ope-canvas.md (Opportunity, Product, Execution canvas)
   • outputs/01-swot-analysis.md
   • outputs/01-value-proposition.md
   • outputs/01-90-day-plan.md

   If Phase 1 outputs exist, reference them throughout. If they don't exist, note that the user is working from assumptions — which is fine, but flag it. Phase 2 is specifically designed to test assumptions.

3. Work one task at a time. Present the deliverable, get feedback, then move to the next task. Don't dump all nine tasks at once.

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Task 1: Identify Beachhead Segment Candidates

Duration: 1-3 hours | Output: outputs/02-beachhead-candidates.md

"SaaS founders from the US" is NOT a segment. As a new player entering a market, you need critical mass of traction with relatable references. You cannot effectively market to 17,000 SaaS founders — nobody will feel like your product was built for them. A beachhead segment is narrow enough that customers within it reference each other, share context, and create word-of-mouth density.

What to do:

1. Read my-gtm-context.md sections 2 (Target Market) and 3 (ICP). Pull any existing market assumptions.

2. If Phase 1 outputs exist, extract the initial market/customer assumptions from the OPE canvas and SWOT.

3. Guide the user to brainstorm 5-8 candidate beachhead segments. For each segment, capture:

   • Segment label — specific enough that the user could name 10 people in it
   • Size estimate — rough order of magnitude (hundreds, low thousands)
   • Pain intensity — how urgent is the problem for this group (1-5 scale)
   • Reachability — can you actually get in front of them? Through what channels?
   • Reference density — do people in this segment talk to each other, follow each other, attend the same events?
   • Willingness to pay — is this a budget line item or a nice-to-have?

4. Rank the candidates. The best beachhead has HIGH pain, HIGH reachability, and HIGH reference density. Size should be small enough to dominate but large enough to sustain early revenue.

5. Select 1-3 segments to investigate further in Tasks 3-5.

The deliverable should include: A ranked table of candidates with scoring, the rationale for top picks, and a list of assumptions to validate per segment.

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Task 2: Market-Problem Map

Duration: 1-3 hours | Output: outputs/02-market-problem-map.md

Most companies start with a narrower niche than they think. The Market-Problem Map is a framework for "slicing and dicing" the market to find your best bet for an early customer segment and initial positioning. You start with assumptions, then update from discovery.

What to do:

1. Create a matrix with market segments on one axis and problems/use cases on the other.

2. For each cell, assess:

   • Problem severity — Is this a hair-on-fire problem or a mild inconvenience?
   • Current alternatives — What do they use today? How painful is the status quo?
   • Fit with product — How well does your product/solution address this specific problem for this specific segment?
   • Market access — Can you reach this segment efficiently?

3. Highlight the 2-3 strongest segment-problem intersections. These are your beachhead hypotheses.

4. Compare with Task 1 output. The Market-Problem Map should either confirm the beachhead ranking or reveal a better entry point.

The deliverable should include: The full matrix (Markdown table), highlighted top intersections, and a note on which assumptions are strongest vs. weakest.

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Task 3: Choose Validation Methods

Duration: 1-3 hours | Output: outputs/02-validation-methods.md

The core principle: CONFIDENCE = EVIDENCE. You need to find evidence for your initial assumptions, and different methods provide different levels of confidence.

Methods ranked by confidence level (highest to lowest):

What to do:

1. Assess the user's current state:

   • Product stage (from my-gtm-context.md): Idea? Pre-launch? Launched?
   • Confidence level: What do they already know vs. what are they guessing?
   • Resources: Time, budget, team access to prospects.

2. Recommend a validation plan: which methods, in what order, with what sample sizes.

3. For interviews specifically: help estimate how many segments to cover (typically 1-3) and how many interviews per segment (5-20, stop when insights repeat).

4. Set expectations: interviews take 1-3 days of calendar time, surveys need 3-7 days for collection.

The deliverable should include: A concrete validation plan with methods, timelines, target sample sizes, and what each method will validate.

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Task 4: Interview 20+ Prospects

Duration: 1-3 days | Output: outputs/02-interview-findings.md

Interviews are the highest-confidence validation method. This task provides the interview structure, question frameworks, and synthesis templates.

What to do:

1. Recruitment strategy. Help the user plan how to get interviews:

   • Warm intros through existing network (best conversion)
   • Direct DMs on LinkedIn or community platforms (explain the "research angle" — people are more willing to help with research than a sales call)
   • Offer value: share findings, early access, or a small gift card
   • Target: 5-20 interviews per segment. Stop when you start hearing the same things.

2. Interview guide. Generate a structured question list tailored to the user's product and beachhead segments. Categories:

   • Context questions — Role, responsibilities, current workflow
   • Problem questions — How they handle the problem today, what frustrates them, how often it occurs
   • Impact questions — What happens when the problem isn't solved? Cost (time, money, reputation)?
   • Solution questions — What have they tried? What would the ideal solution look like?
   • Willingness questions — Would they pay for this? How much? What would make it a no-brainer?

3. Recording and synthesis. Advise: always record (with permission). After each interview, capture:

   • Top 3 quotes (verbatim)
   • Surprises (anything unexpected)
   • Pain level (1-5)
   • Would they pay? (Yes / Maybe / No)

4. Cross-interview synthesis. After multiple interviews, help the user identify:

   • Recurring pain points (frequency across interviews)
   • Language patterns (exact words prospects use — gold for messaging later)
   • Segment differences (do different segments describe the problem differently?)
   • Unexpected insights (things you didn't ask about but came up)

The deliverable should include: Interview guide (ready to use), synthesis template, and after interviews are done, a findings summary with patterns, quotes, and implications.

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Task 5: Customer Discovery Survey

Duration: 1-3 days | Output: outputs/02-survey-results.md

Best for B2C, PLG, or mainstream products where you need quantitative validation across a larger audience. Surveys complement interviews — they provide breadth where interviews provide depth.

What to do:

1. Determine if a survey is right. Surveys work when:

   • You can access hundreds of relevant respondents
   • The questions are simple enough for self-service answers
   • You need quantitative data (percentages, rankings)
   • NOT a substitute for interviews in B2B with complex buying processes

2. Survey design. Help the user build a survey (tools: Typeform, Google Forms, SurveyMonkey):

   • Keep it under 10 questions (completion rate drops sharply after that)
   • Start with screening questions (confirm they match the target segment)
   • Mix closed questions (multiple choice, scales) with 1-2 open-ended questions
   • Include a willingness-to-pay question if appropriate
   • End with "Can we follow up?" (converts survey respondents to interview candidates)

3. Distribution plan. Help identify where to promote:

   • Relevant communities (Reddit, Slack, Discord, Facebook groups)
   • Social media (LinkedIn posts, Twitter threads)
   • Email lists (if the user has one)
   • Paid promotion (if budget allows)
   • Target: 100-500 responses for statistical relevance

4. Analysis framework. After collection, help synthesize:

   • Segment-level breakdowns
   • Problem validation scores
   • Willingness-to-pay distribution
   • Open-ended response themes

The deliverable should include: Survey draft (ready to copy into a tool), distribution plan, and after collection, an analysis summary.

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Task 6: Competitor Analysis

Duration: 1-3 hours | Output: outputs/02-competitor-analysis.md

Critical reframe: competitor analysis is NOT about who shows up on Google for your keywords. It is about the competitive alternatives that appear in your target customer's actual purchasing decision. That includes direct competitors, adjacent tools, manual processes (spreadsheets, agencies), and doing nothing.

What to do:

1. Identify real competitive alternatives. Ask the user: "When your target customer has this problem, what do they actually do about it today?" Categories:

   • Direct competitors — Same problem, similar solution
   • Indirect competitors — Same problem, different approach
   • Status quo — Spreadsheets, manual processes, agencies, interns
   • Do nothing — The problem isn't painful enough to solve (this is your biggest competitor)

2. Analyze each competitor on:

   • Positioning — Who do they say they're for? What problem do they claim to solve?
   • Pricing — Model, price points, free tier
   • Strengths — What are they genuinely good at?
   • Weaknesses — Where do customers complain? (Check G2, Capterra, Reddit, app store reviews)
   • ICP overlap — How much do they compete for YOUR specific beachhead?

3. Map the competitive landscape. Create a 2x2 positioning map using the two dimensions most relevant to the user's market (e.g., ease-of-use vs. feature depth, price vs. specialization).

4. Identify gaps. Where is there white space? What does no competitor do well for your specific beachhead segment?

5. Cross-reference with interview findings (Task 4) if available. Do prospects mention these competitors? Which ones? What do they say?

The deliverable should include: Competitor table, positioning map, gap analysis, and strategic implications for the user's positioning.

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