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Competitor Analysis Framework for Startup GTM Strategy
I created a competitor intelligence framework for an MVP-stage edtech app to help define its market position, sharpen its go-to-market direction, and identify where the product could stand apart in a crowded student-tech category.
The project focused on turning scattered competitor data into a clear strategic foundation for positioning, messaging, launch planning, and early-stage growth.
The Challenge
The student-tech market is crowded with platforms focused on engagement, peer connection, study support, university communication, recruitment, and campus communities.
For a new product entering this space, the risk was clear:
Without sharper positioning, the app could easily sound like another student platform.
The goal was to identify a stronger market angle before moving into messaging, campaigns, or launch execution.
I led the strategic research and competitor analysis behind the GTM foundation.
My work covered:
Competitor mapping
Market positioning review
Audience and channel analysis
Feature gap review
SWOT synthesis
Launch checklist planning
Strategic positioning recommendation
This gave the product a clearer direction before execution started.
The Approach
I analysed 10 student engagement, community, and edtech platforms across positioning, target audience, acquisition signals, onboarding, monetisation, feature coverage, market strengths, weaknesses, and GTM patterns.
The purpose was not to copy what competitors were doing.
It was to understand the category clearly enough to find white space.
Key Insight
The research showed that many competitors were strong in one lane but weaker across the full student-life experience.
Some were institution-first.
Some focused mainly on academic support.
Some leaned into student connection.
Others relied heavily on community, search visibility, or university partnerships.
The opportunity was to position the app as a student-first platform that could connect belonging, campus discovery, community, and institutional credibility.
That insight helped move the product away from generic “student engagement app” messaging and toward a more differentiated GTM direction.
Strategic Output
The final framework helped define:
A clearer category position
A stronger student-first narrative
Priority competitor gaps
Core messaging direction
Feature-led differentiation
Launch and acquisition priorities
A practical GTM checklist
This research became part of the strategic foundation behind the product’s early growth approach.
Result
The strategic foundation contributed to a 0-budget growth approach that helped drive:
2,000+ account signups
+1,200% month-over-month install growth
70% referral rate
27% average conversion rate
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PROJECT TITLE
Customer Discovery & Customer Insight Research
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
I developed this customer discovery project to demonstrate a structured approach to understanding potential customers before developing or improving a product or service.
The goal of customer discovery is to listen to real and potential customers, understand their experiences and challenges, explore their current solutions, and identify unmet needs and opportunities.
The approach focuses on asking open-ended, neutral questions and allowing customers to describe their experiences in their own words.
CUSTOMER DISCOVERY OBJECTIVES
• Identify and understand target customers.
• Explore customers’ real problems and challenges.
• Understand how customers currently solve those problems.
• Discover products or services they already use.
• Understand purchasing motivations and decision-making factors.
• Identify frustrations with existing solutions.
• Discover unmet needs and expectations.
• Identify recurring themes and customer patterns.
• Generate insights that can support product development and marketing.
CUSTOMER DISCOVERY PROCESS
Define the Research Goal
Establish what the business needs to learn about its potential customers.
Identify the Target Customer
Develop a clear participant profile based on the research objectives.
Develop Interview Questions
Create open-ended and neutral questions designed to encourage honest customer feedback.
Conduct Customer Interviews
Explore customers’ experiences, behaviors, challenges, current solutions, and purchasing decisions.
Organize Customer Feedback
Group responses into meaningful themes and recurring patterns.
Analyze Customer Insights
Identify common problems, motivations, frustrations, preferences, and unmet needs.
Develop Actionable Insights
Translate customer feedback into practical insights that can help inform product development, positioning, and marketing.
KEY AREAS OF DISCOVERY
CUSTOMER PROBLEMS
What problems are customers experiencing and how significant are those problems?
CURRENT SOLUTIONS
What are customers currently doing to solve the problem?
PURCHASING BEHAVIOR
What influences customers when deciding whether to purchase a product or service?
CUSTOMER FRUSTRATIONS
What do customers dislike about the solutions they currently use?
UNMET NEEDS
What do customers wish existing products or services could do better?
CUSTOMER MOTIVATIONS
What matters most to customers when choosing a solution?
EXPECTED DELIVERABLES
• Customer research objectives
• Target customer profile
• Interview guide
• Customer screening questions
• Interview framework
• Qualitative findings
• Customer pain-point analysis
• Purchasing behavior insights
• Unmet-needs analysis
• Recurring themes and patterns
• Customer insight summary
• Actionable recommendations
MY APPROACH
My approach to customer discovery is simple:
Listen first. Understand the problem. Explore the customer’s experience. Identify patterns. Then turn those insights into practical recommendations.
The objective is not to tell customers what they need, but to understand what they actually experience and discover opportunities that can inform better products, services, and customer experiences.
SKILLS
Customer Discovery
Consumer Research
Market Research
Qualitative Research
Customer Interviews
Customer Insights
User Research
Research Analysis
Product Research
Research Writing
This work focuses on the dynamic growth of marketers and highlights the strategies that drive their success
PROJECT TITLE
Women’s Wellness Consumer Research & Customer Discovery
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
I developed this consumer research project to demonstrate a structured approach to understanding women’s experiences, purchasing behavior, pain points, and unmet needs related to recurring lower-back discomfort.
The research approach focuses on listening to consumers without pitching a product or leading participants toward a particular answer.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
• Understand consumers’ real experiences with recurring lower-back discomfort.
• Explore how they currently manage the problem.
• Identify products and solutions they have previously tried.
• Understand what influenced their purchasing decisions.
• Discover what they liked and disliked about existing solutions.
• Identify problems and frustrations that remain unresolved.
• Understand what consumers wish existing products could do better.
• Identify recurring patterns and opportunities for product development.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Planning
Define the research objectives and target participant profile.
Interview Guide Development
Create clear, open-ended, and neutral questions designed to encourage honest responses.
Participant Screening
Establish appropriate criteria for identifying relevant consumers.
Consumer Interviews
Use short, structured conversations to explore participants’ real experiences, behaviors, and preferences.
Qualitative Analysis
Organize responses into themes and identify recurring pain points, behaviors, preferences, and unmet needs.
Insight Development
Translate research findings into practical insights that can support product development and marketing decisions.
KEY RESEARCH AREAS
Customer Experience
Understanding how consumers experience and manage recurring lower-back discomfort.
Purchasing Behavior
Exploring what consumers purchase, why they purchase it, and what influences their decisions.
Existing Solutions
Understanding what consumers have tried and their experiences with those solutions.
Customer Pain Points
Identifying frustrations and problems that remain unresolved.
Unmet Needs
Discovering what consumers wish existing products or solutions did better.
EXPECTED DELIVERABLES
• Research objectives
• Participant screening criteria
• Neutral interview guide
• Consumer interview framework
• Qualitative findings
• Customer pain-point analysis
• Purchasing behavior insights
• Unmet-needs analysis
• Recurring themes and patterns
• Actionable recommendations
• Research summary/report
MY APPROACH
My approach is centered on listening before recommending.
The goal is to understand what consumers actually experience, what they have already tried, what they liked or disliked, what problems remain, and what opportunities may exist to create better solutions.
This project demonstrates my ability to structure consumer research, conduct qualitative discovery, organize customer insights, and communicate research findings clearly and professionally.
SKILLS
Consumer Research
Market Research
Customer Discovery
Qualitative Research
Consumer Interviews
Customer Insights
Research Analysis
Research Writing
Product Research
