Market Research Brief

The expensive consulting reports run a four-step process — establish scope, size the market from two directions, analyse the dynamics, map the competition — then pad it with charts. The brief that actually drives a decision is the four-step version without the padding. This skill produces that brief, with the same analytical rigor and explicit honesty about which numbers are verified, estimated, or speculative.

Market sizing happens from two directions because one is never enough. Top-down uses industry reports and reasonable filters: total market × adoption rate × your serviceable slice. Bottom-up counts: addressable customers × realistic conversion × ARPU. If the two converge, confidence is high. If they diverge wildly, the skill investigates why — typically confusion between TAM and SAM, geography mismatch, or citing total industry revenue when the product serves a small niche within it. The brief presents both, with methodology, so an investor or stakeholder can scrutinise the number without it falling apart.

FORCES analysis covers Fundamentals (growth, drivers, headwinds), Opportunities (gaps, underserved segments), Rivals (players, positioning, weaknesses), Customers (personas, decision criteria, unmet pain), Economics (pricing models, margins, CAC benchmarks), and Shifts (technology, regulation, adjacent disruption). The competitive landscape map identifies where players cluster — and more importantly, where they don't. White space is the finding. A small market with weak competition often beats a large market with entrenched players, and the brief frames the opportunity that way rather than chasing big-TAM theatre.

Built-in protections: a timing assessment because market size is meaningless without entry window — "now," "6-12 months," "too early," "too late" — with the signals to watch. A business model viability check because the market may be attractive while the model within it doesn't work (CAC benchmarks ruin many headlines). An insider mode that skips 101-level content for users already in the space and instead pushes on non-obvious shifts and second-order effects. User-provided TAM verification — if someone walks in claiming "£50bn market," the skill calculates independently and flags the gap before it embarrasses them in front of investors. A Market Flash 5-minute mode exists when the question is just "should I keep investigating?"