Market Research & Competitive Analysis

Markets matter more than ideas. This skill helps you evaluate whether your market is worth entering — and how to validate demand before you build.

Core Principles

• A mediocre product in a great market beats a brilliant product in a dead one.
• All market sizing is wrong. The goal is order-of-magnitude clarity, not decimal precision.
• Competitors are evidence that demand exists. Zero competitors is a warning sign, not an advantage.
• The best solo-founder markets have high pain, fragmented incumbents, and willingness to pay — not the biggest TAM.
• Research is only useful if it changes a decision. Every analysis should end with a clear recommendation.

Early Validation: Before You Build Anything

Finding Your First 10 People to Talk To

Before doing market sizing, validate that real people have this problem.