Competitive Scan Lite Skill

Competitive scans fail toward two poles: the mural (a beautiful landscape slide, no implications, stale in a month) and the strawman (competitors rendered conveniently weak, disproven at the first customer call). The lite scan is evidence-first and implication-shaped: a small dimension table (the 5–7 dimensions that matter for the current decision), filled from what's publicly observable — pricing pages, docs, changelogs, review sites, job postings (the underrated tell of where rivals are investing) — with claims marked as claims and observations as observations, ending in the only section that justifies the exercise: so-what moves for us. Dated, because scans rot on schedule.

What This Skill Produces

• The dimension table — competitors × the decision-relevant dimensions, every cell sourced
• The claims-vs-observed flags — what their marketing says vs. what docs/reviews/changelogs show
• The investment tells — changelog velocity, job postings, pricing changes — where rivals are heading
• The so-what synthesis — the 2–3 implications and moves, plus the scan's staleness date

Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:

• The decision the scan feeds — pricing review? Roadmap bet? A deal's competitive slide? The dimensions come from the decision, not from "everything about everyone"
• The competitor set, argued — who actually competes for the same customer decision (the aspirational rival and the real alternative — often "spreadsheets" — both belong or don't, per the decision)
• What's already known — the team's current beliefs and battle-scars (sales's anecdotes are evidence at anecdote grade — evidence-grading applies)
• The freshness need — one-shot for a decision, or a standing scan with a refresh cadence?