Market research
Skill eltntawy/idea-discovery-playbook/skills/market-research
16 agent skills to validate software ideas before you build — Mom Test interviews, JTBD, market research, pretotype tests, unit economics, and go/no-go scorecards. For Cursor, Claude Code & skills.sh.
npx -y skills add eltntawy/idea-discovery-playbook --skill market-researchAssembled from the repository path, not quoted from the project. Check it against their README if it does not work.
One thing to look at
- 0 stars0 stars. Stars are a popularity signal and not a quality one, but at this level it is likely that nobody has read this closely except its author, and you would be relying on your own review.
What its author says it does
Copied from the file, not written here
Researches the current market for a software or digital business idea using web search and credible public sources, maps competitors and substitutes, identifies gaps, and writes a cited gap-and-fit memo. Use when the user asks for market research, gap analysis, competitive landscape, demand signals, or whether an idea fits today's market.
SKILL.md
6.4 KB, as published. Nobody here has run it
Market research
Goal
Find what already exists, who gets paid today, and where the wedge is for one idea in the current market. Use live web research; do not rely on memory or uncited synthesis.
Keep validation order: idea validation → market validation → product validation. This skill covers market validation research, not MVP build.
Revealed preference (paid tests, pre-orders) outweighs stated preference (interviews alone) for demand proof.
Workflow
- Frame the idea — one-sentence job-to-be-done, ICP, geography, and solo-plus-AI constraints.
- Resolve the research — read
discovery/INDEX.md, then that folder'sTOPIC.mdand existing artifacts underdiscovery/<topic-slug>/before contradicting them. Do not readdiscovery/archive/or unrelated active researches unless the user explicitly asks. Ifdiscovery/INDEX.mdis missing, create it with the active topic slug. - Search the open web — run multiple queries; vary keywords (problem, buyer role, category, "alternative", pricing, complaints).
- Collect primary evidence — live pricing pages, product positioning, reviews, founder posts, listings, and forum threads.
- Map the market — summary competitor set (see Output); full memo →
competitor-landscape. - Identify gaps — recurring complaints, missing workflows, switching costs, and segments incumbents under-serve.
- Size bottom-up (sketch) — segment count × adoption × price; full TAM/SAM/SOM →
market-sizingskill. - Why now — timing, regulation, tech shift, or buyer urgency.
- Decide — proceed, pivot wedge, or kill; name the next cheapest test.
Search playbook
Run at least three of the four families below before concluding:
| Family | Example queries |
|---|---|
| Category | [category] software, [job to be done] tool |
| Buyer pain | [ICP] [pain] workaround, how to [job] without [incumbent] |
| Competition | [competitor] alternative, [competitor] pricing, best [category] for [segment] |
| Demand proxy | [problem] reddit, [category] site:news.ycombinator.com |
Prefer current pages. Capture URL, publisher, and access date for each material claim.
Source tiers
Use the smallest set that answers the question. Prefer primary pages over roundups.
| Tier | Use for | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | Offers, pricing, positioning, reviews, public traction | Company sites, pricing pages, App Store / Play Store, G2, Capterra, Trustpilot, Product Hunt, Indie Hackers, LinkedIn headcount, public founder posts |
| Market and keyword proxies | Demand and category language | Google Trends, Google search results, Reddit, Hacker News, niche forums |
| Idea and revenue databases | Comparable ideas and public revenue signals | IdeaProof, BigIdeasDB, AppMagic, SensorTower |
| Secondary | Pointers only until triangulated | News roundups, listicles, VC blogs, analyst summaries |
Do not treat database labels, TAM copy, or viability scores as verified facts. Triangulate with live competitors and buyer language.
Gap analysis checklist
- At least five named solutions mapped (direct, indirect, or substitute) — summary matrix only
- Pricing captured from live pages when available
- Recurring complaints from reviews or forums (not marketing copy)
- Gap hypothesis stated as a buyer job plus segment, not "no one does this"
- Clone vs wedge decision documented — full positioning →
positioning-wedgeskill - Why now articulated
- Kill criteria if no wedge or economics fail the stated goal
Output
Save to discovery/<topic-slug>/research/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic-slug>-market.md unless the user requests a brief-only pass. If the topic folder does not exist, add it under active topics and update discovery/INDEX.md.
Default sections:
- Facts
- Assumptions
- Evidence (with URLs)
- Analysis (market map summary, gap, sizing sketch, why now, risks)
- Decision
- Next experiment
Include:
- Summary competitor matrix (≤5 rows; type, audience, price, strength, weakness, evidence URL) — expand in
competitor-landscape→-competitors.md - Gap table (segment, unmet job, workaround today, wedge, confidence)
- Bottom-up sizing sketch with formula — full worksheet →
market-sizing - Sources list at the end
Escalation
- Economics and pricing depth →
revenue-modelskill - Structured competitor memo and battle cards →
competitor-landscapeskill - Bottom-up TAM / SAM / SOM →
market-sizingskill - Positioning and category →
positioning-wedgeskill - Demand tests after market evidence →
validation-experimentsskill - End-to-end orchestration →
discovery-playbookorbehavior-led-validationskill - Final go/no-go →
idea-scorecardskill
Do not recommend implementation until a scorecard records Strong go or Conditional go with explicit gaps to close.
Gives 0 of the 12 instructions most research analysis skills give
Counted across 1,063 of the 1,754 authors here whose files we hold, read 2026-08-06
- generate a markdown reportin 32 of 1063, across 17 files
- cite each claim's sourcein 31 of 1063, across 14 files
- define the ideal customer profilein 20 of 1063, across 2 files
- search for companies matching the criteriain 20 of 1063, across 2 files
- assign a fit score from one to tenin 20 of 1063, across 2 files
- format results in a scannable markdown templatein 20 of 1063, across 2 files
- analyze the codebase to understand the productin 19 of 1063, across 1 file
- ask clarifying questions about the value propositionin 19 of 1063, across 1 file
- look for signals of immediate needin 19 of 1063, across 1 file
- identify the target decision maker rolein 19 of 1063, across 1 file
- suggest a personalized contact strategyin 19 of 1063, across 1 file
- provide conversation starters for outreachin 19 of 1063, across 1 file
Said here and by no other author read
- capture url publisher and access date for claims
- prefer primary pages over roundups
- triangulate database labels with live competitors
- map at least five named solutions
- capture pricing from live pages
- state gap hypothesis as buyer job plus segment
Grouped from the skills themselves: near-identical wordings counted once, and counted by distinct author, so one author publishing three of these counts once.