/market-research answers “what’s the market opportunity?” with evidence instead of a hand-wavy TAM slide: is the market real and named, who’s in it, how buyers decide, and what people actually pay.
When to reach for it
- “How big is this market — is it even real?”
- “Who are the buyers and how do they make decisions?”
- “What do people typically pay for something like this?”
- “What are the tailwinds and headwinds in this space?”
- “The research is getting stale — refresh it”
First-time research
The initial run frames its output up front — a one-page market brief you could show an advisor or investor — and asks one scope question (segments, geographies, or pricing models to focus on or skip; “just go broad” is a fine answer). It detects whether your idea is B2B or B2C from your project definition and researches accordingly:- B2B leans on analyst coverage, G2/Capterra category data, and buying-process signals — who evaluates, who signs, what the criteria are.
- B2C leans on communities first — Reddit, app stores, social — where community size and activity are themselves market signals.
The goal is deliberately not a precise TAM figure. “The category has analyst coverage and established players” and “no formal sizing exists, but an active community suggests demand” are both honest, useful answers — and the file tells you which kind you got.
Working with existing research
Once the file exists, the skill handles the rest inline:- Answer questions from what’s already researched — and offer a targeted top-up if a dimension is thin
- Update sections as you learn (propose → confirm → write, with
last_updatedbumped) - Refresh when things feel stale — full or targeted re-run
- Connect to hypotheses — surface which findings support or challenge your current bets
What it writes
| File | What’s in it |
|---|---|
startup/market-research.md | The full living file: Market Overview, Customer Segments, Buying Behavior, Pricing Landscape, Trends, Key Sources, Open Questions |
startup/market-brief.md | The condensed one-pager: The Market / Who’s In It / What They Pay / Tailwinds — advisor/investor-ready |
startup/research/… | Raw research output, kept for reference |
Good to know
- Pricing data is sometimes inferred from competitor pricing rather than explicit category data — the file flags which kind you’re looking at.
- Open Questions is where your contradicting intuition lands. It’s not a failure bucket — it’s your future interview questions.
- Findings feed forward deliberately: pricing norms shape willingness-to-pay hypotheses, buyer behavior shapes interview scripts, and a sharper segment triggers an offer to update your core Audience field.
Related
competitors skill
The named players inside this market.
hypotheses skill
Where market findings become testable bets.