---
user-invocable: true
name: competitor-response
description: Assess competitive threats and decide how to respond
tokens: ~400
cloud-ok: true
---

# Competitor Response
#claudeai

## When to Use
A competitor launched something, raised money, made noise, or a customer asked "what about [competitor]?"

## What I Need
- What happened? (launch, funding, feature, PR)
- Which competitor?
- Why are you concerned?

## First: Don't Panic

Most competitive moves matter less than you think. The question isn't "should I worry?" but "does this change what I should do?"

## Assessment Framework

### 1. Threat Level

| Signal | Threat Level |
|--------|--------------|
| PR/announcement with no product | Low - vapor |
| Feature you don't have | Medium - evaluate |
| Feature that's your core differentiator | High - respond |
| They're winning YOUR customers | Critical - act now |
| They raised money | Context-dependent |

### 2. The Key Questions

**For a feature launch:**
- Do our customers actually want this?
- Is this our core value prop or adjacent?
- How long to replicate if needed?
- Does this change our positioning?

**For a funding round:**
- Does money alone threaten us? (usually no)
- Will they outspend us on sales/marketing?
- Does this validate the market? (often good for you)

**For customer loss:**
- Why did they switch? (get the real reason)
- Is this a pattern or one-off?
- What segment is vulnerable?

### 3. Response Options

| Option | When to Use |
|--------|-------------|
| **Ignore** | Doesn't affect your customers or positioning |
| **Monitor** | Interesting but not urgent |
| **Differentiate** | They're going one direction, you go another |
| **Match** | Table stakes feature you're missing |
| **Leapfrog** | Build something better, not equivalent |
| **Communicate** | Customers are asking - address it proactively |

## Output Format

```
## Competitive Assessment: [Competitor] - [Event]

**What happened:** [Facts only]

**Threat level:** LOW / MEDIUM / HIGH / CRITICAL

**Impact on us:**
- Customers: [Will they care?]
- Positioning: [Does this change our story?]
- Roadmap: [Should we adjust?]

**Recommended response:** [IGNORE / MONITOR / DIFFERENTIATE / MATCH / LEAPFROG]

**Action items:**
1. [Specific action]
2. [Specific action]

**Talking points (if customers ask):**
- [How to address this]
```

## What NOT to Do
- Panic-ship a half-baked response
- Copy their feature exactly (you'll always be behind)
- Trash-talk them publicly
- Ignore customers asking about it
- Assume your customers care (ask them)

## Quick Reframe
- Competitor success often validates your market
- Features are easier to copy than distribution
- Your unfair advantage is what they CAN'T copy
- Focus on your game, not theirs