In the previous pdmpill we talked about how to best identify competitors and how to classify them. Now let’s talk about some pragmatic criteria successful product managers have an eye on when understanding the competition.
The product core team: seek to understand who’s in your competitors’ team. Why? The team is what makes a venture special and defines the company culture. This can build the foundation of successful companies that are resilient and can execute fast while adapting to an ever-changing context in search of product-market fit and growth.
The customer/user base: if the user base is growing, then it can culminate with market domination, the press is more inclined to talk about fast-growing companies and it’s much easier to negotiate.
The product design: seek to understand and evaluate the competition’s abilities to make well-designed products. Why? In a customer-centric world, people expect and love easy to use beautiful products. Companies that invest in their design abilities are a threat to any market they enter.
The perceived brand: the perception customers have can determine what a company does with the product in the future. If the brand is strong, the press is more interested in the company, and investors as well.
The speed of execution: seek to understand how quickly the competition builds a new feature/product. When a company grows, the procedures are more complex, hence the agility decreases.