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Competitors, Comparables & Corpses | Tom Walsham | ProductTank Toronto
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Transcript of Competitors, Comparables & Corpses | Tom Walsham | ProductTank Toronto
Tom Walsham / @tomwalsham - - Sep 20th, 2016
A framework for exploring and exploiting the competitive landscape
Competitors, Comparables
& Corpses
Tom Walsham Director of Product The Working Group @tomwalsham
30 Years writing Code
15 Years working in Digital Product
10 Starts annually with TWG clients
WHY SHOULD I LISTEN TO THIS GUY?
Those solving similar problems for a similar user baseCompetitors
Those using similar techniques to solve problems in different domainsComparables
Those who have failed attempting to do exactly what you’re tryingCorpses
EVERYONE ALWAYS FORGETS THE CORPSES
@tomwalsham
01Competitive Landscape
Forget about your competitors, Just focus on your customers.
“ - Jack Ma, Founder Alibaba
@tomwalsham
OBEY THE FINGER
We watch our competitors, learn from
them, see the things that they were
doing for customers and copy those
things as much as we can
“LOOK AT THAT STARE. HE WATCHES EVERYTHING
- Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon
@tomwalsham
I’LL KEEP THE SPORTING ANALOGIES TO A MINIMUM
@tomwalsham
Competition is Interdependent
OK, LAST SPORTS ANALOGY, PROMISE
@tomwalsham
Tactics Only Make Sense in Context
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
@tomwalsham
“Steve Blank” Petal Diagram
https://steveblank.com/2013/11/08/a-new-way-to-look-at-competitors/
01Competitors
If you make anything good,
you're going to have competitors …
You can only avoid competition by
avoiding good ideas.
“
VERY ORANGE SLIDE
- Paul Graham, Y Combinator
@tomwalsham
BUFFALO BUFFALO BUFFALO BUFFALO BUFFALO BUFFALO
@tomwalsham
Find Competitors
SOMEONE ACTUALLY HAS THEIR BUSINESS ON A .net DOMAIN
@tomwalsham
Tool : AlternativeTo.net
Search for alternatives, see
ratings and reviews,
targeted traffic source
OR GOOGLE DOCS, FOR THE COOL KIDS
@tomwalsham
Excel is (probably) Your Competitor
BANANA AS USER METAPHOR
@tomwalsham
Learn From Their Users
http://www.artinthepicture.com/shop/Dolk/Shrink/
ALSO USEFUL FOR TRACKING HOW AWESOME YOU ARE YOURSELF
@tomwalsham
Tool : mention.com
Track your competitors
across Social Media, Blogs,
News.
NOT A GREAT EGG POACHING TECHNIQUE
@tomwalsham
Steal Their Customers
ALSO GOOD FOR LOOKING LIKE A KNOWLEDGE NINJA IN MEETINGS
@tomwalsham
Tool : BuiltWith.com
Company Tech Stacks, Find
SaaS Customers, Track
Trends
Caveat : Don’t build someone else’s idea
COVET NOT THY NEIGHBOUR’S TERRIBLE SITCOM STARTUP IDEA
@tomwalsham
BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL VANITY METRICS
@tomwalsham
Caveat : External Data
Are Vanity Metrics
THIS IS A SCREENSHOT FROM F-16 STEALTH FIGHTER. THAT’S THE JOKE
Caveat : Don’t Attempt Stealth Mode @tomwalsham
01Comparables
NOT A GREAT CHOICE OF ILLUSTRATION
@tomwalsham
Pattern Matching
HORSEY
@tomwalsham
Strategy
RUMOUR : PH ARE TRYING TO CREATE AN AI PRODUCT MANAGER
@tomwalsham
Tool : ProductHunt
Major releases, Indie side
projects, Any Vertical
IT’S LIKE MINORITY REPORT FOR FINANCIAL ANALYSTS
@tomwalsham
User Experience
GOOD PMs BORROW, GREAT PMs …
@tomwalsham
A library of design patterns
for solutions to common
user needs
Tool : ui-patterns.com
UVP : WE’RE LIKE A MAGNET FOR CUSTOMERS
@tomwalsham
Market Positioning
WINNER OF “MOST BRAZEN VALUE PROP” OF 2015
@tomwalsham
Tool : keywordspy.ca
View keywords, ad copy and
ad spend for your
competitors
01Corpses
Corpses / Zombies
A BETTER VISUAL METAPHOR THAN “STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS”
@tomwalsham
THAT’S NO BLUEJAY
@tomwalsham
Fresh Corpses
I MISS F***EDCOMPANY.com
@tomwalsham
Tool : TC Deadpool
A collection of dead
startups, reported as they
happen.
ALSO DID NOT HAVE A HEADPHONE JACK
@tomwalsham
Timing
HOURS OF FUN LAUGHING AT OLD TWITTER LOGOS
@tomwalsham
Tool : archive.org
View snapshots of websites
over time, dating back to
pre-2000
I PICTURE A BUNCH OF OTHER CATS ALREADY IN THERE
@tomwalsham
Avoid the
Avoidable
A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF ‘SPREADSHEET AS PRODUCT’
@tomwalsham
Tool : autopsy.io
A collection of 130 (and
growing) post-mortems
from startups
See also : https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/startup-failure-post-mortem/
Autopsy.io
USE IT WHILE YOU STILL CAN!
@tomwalsham
Tool : Twitter
Reach out to individuals, ex-
founders, and connect in
person.
01Conclusions
IF YOU FELL ASLEEP, JUST WRITE THIS DOWN. THAT’S PRETTY MUCH IT
@tomwalsham
A Framework?
• Scavenge from them • Understand your place in history • Don’t make the same mistakes
Competitors• Find all of them • Understand your/their customers • Steal their customers
Comparables• Create Differentiated Products • Borrow their UX • Learn from their Marketing
Corpses
THE “WERE YOU LISTENING” BIT
@tomwalsham
QUESTIONS?
Thanks!
Tom Walsham / @tomwalsham - - Sep 20th, 2016