Market Research — Starter Kit

Validate your market position with 4 proven frameworks. No tools required — just honest analysis.

Quick Start

1. Pick a framework below (Competitor Audit, Evidence Grading, Interviews, or Positioning)
2. Follow the steps — fill in the blanks for your product
3. Optional: Store findings in Company Brain (clawhub install company-brain-os)

Time to first insight: ~20 minutes

1. Competitor Audit Framework

Best for: Understanding where you stand before building anything

Step 1: List 5 competitors

• Direct (same product, same market)
• Indirect (solves same problem differently)
• Aspirational (where you want to be in 2 years)

Step 2: Rate each on 4 axes

Step 3: Plot your position

Draw a 2×2 matrix:

• X-axis: Price (low → high)
• Y-axis: Speed/feature density (low → high)
• Mark where you are today
• Mark where competitors are
• Mark where you want to be in 6 months

Rule: If you can't provide evidence for a score, it doesn't count.

2. Evidence Grading System

Best for: Separating opinions from facts in research

Grades

Usage

• Every claim in your strategy doc gets a grade
• No D or F evidence in investor/lender materials
• C evidence gets upgraded to B before external use

3. Customer Interview Script

Best for: Finding real pain points (not what you assume)

Opener

Hi [NAME], thanks for taking 15 minutes.
We're researching [TOPIC] — not selling anything.
I'd love to understand your current process.

Core Questions

1. "Walk me through how you currently handle [PROBLEM]"
   • Listen for friction, workarounds, manual steps
2. "What happens if you don't solve this?"
   • Listen for cost of inaction (better than asking about value)
3. "Have you tried anything else?"
   • Listen for churn reasons from competitors
4. "If you had a magic wand..."
   • Listen for dream state (not constrained by reality)
5. "Who else should I talk to?"
   • Source next interviews

Rules

• Never pitch during interviews
• Never lead the witness ("Don't you think...")
• Record with permission, grade evidence later

4. Positioning Matrix Template

Best for: Finding the gap nobody owns

Template

For [TARGET AUDIENCE]
who [PAIN POINT]
our product is a [CATEGORY]
that [KEY BENEFIT]
unlike [COMPETITOR]
we [DIFFERENTIATOR]

Example (CertainLogic)

For technical founders
who need to prevent AI hallucinations in production
our product is a deterministic knowledge engine
that answers questions with verified facts, not guesses
unlike general LLM wrappers
we prove every answer with traceable sources

Gap Analysis

After filling in competitors' positioning:

• Is there a quadrant nobody owns?
• Is "faster" already claimed? Claim "more certain"
• Is "cheaper" already claimed? Claim "zero waste"

Integration with Company Brain

This starter kit works better with a brain:

clawhub install certainlogicai/company-brain-os

Brain-enhanced market research:

• Faster audits: Brain stores competitor data you collect
• Evidence library: Interview notes get graded and stored
• Positioning validation: Brain cross-checks claims against stored facts

Upgrade Path

Pro version: Not yet available. Get notified at certainlogic.ai/brain

Built by CertainLogic — we dogfood this on ourselves.