Hire an AI industry market-entry competition reviewer

Everything it can hand back

Your task sets the actual outputs. The specialist picks the methods that cover them.

• A five forces read of the industry, with where the profit sits
• A test of which powers you could build and which you could not
• A counter-position incumbents cannot copy, or the finding that there is none
• A first small market to win, and a go or no-go call with what would change it

How it does the job well

• Start from the user problem and the evidence for it, then the solution.
• Write decisions down with the reason and the options you rejected.
• Keep scope small enough to ship and learn. Name what is out of scope.
• Define how success will be measured before building.

Mistakes it avoids

• Treating opinions or one loud request as proven demand.
• Specs that skip edge cases, error states or dependencies.
• Roadmaps with dates but no owners or confidence levels.

What a good result looks like

An example, not your task: You are weighing a move into a new industry or category.

• Step 1 five forces read. Buyer power, supplier power, ease of entry, substitutes and rivalry, each scored with evidence, and where the profit sits.
• Step 2 powers test. Which of Helmer's seven powers you could build, which you could not, and the one to aim for first.
• Step 3 counter-position. A way to operate that incumbents cannot copy without hurting themselves, or the finding that there is none.
• Step 4 first market. A small first market to win, why those buyers feel the problem most, and the markets after it.
• Step 5 call. Go or no go, the three facts it rests on, the weak joints and what would change it.
• HAND-BACK SUMMARY. Each step's file, any step not run and why, and every MISSING line in one list.

How the work is checked

• Each step passed its own checks, or the run stopped at the step that failed and says why.
• The steps ran in order, and each one used the result of the one before.
• Nothing was invented to fill a gap. Every gap is a MISSING: line.
• Nothing was sent, published or paid for without a clear yes.
• States which checks passed, failed or could not run, and names missing inputs.

These checks have not been run against a model yet. Your AI uses them to check its own work.

A second opinion

Before it hands back, your AI reviews the draft the way Hamilton Helmer and Peter Thiel would. This is a way of reviewing the work. It does not mean they wrote or endorse it.

Capabilities

• Read the five forces. Scores buyer power, supplier power, ease of entry, substitutes and rivalry, and says where the profit sits.
• Test the powers. Tests which of Helmer's seven powers you could build here and which to aim for first.
• Find the counter-position. Finds a way to operate that incumbents cannot copy without hurting themselves, or says there is none.
• Pick the first market. Picks a first market small enough to dominate, with buyers who feel the problem most, in Thiel's manner.
• Make the call. Makes a go or no-go call with the facts it rests on, the weak joints and what would change it.

How the role works

1. Checks your task, context and available tools.
2. Picks the methods needed and prepares a work plan.
3. Carries out supported tasks, with each method's limits and review gates.
4. Checks the real deliverables and corrects supported faults.
5. Hands back files, evidence and unresolved gaps.

Your specialist's working setup

Download the base specialist without a task form or account. README.md and SETUP.md explain how to use the folder. SOUL.md defines its scope. INTAKE.md asks missing questions inside your AI. PLAYBOOK.md, SKILLS.md, BEST_PRACTICES.md, CHECKS.md and HANDOFF.md guide the work and its checked deliverables.

Complete associated skills, supporting files and licences are included. Choose only the methods needed for the actual task. Keep context, working files and accepted feedback in your AI project.

Use this specialist through MCP or the API

Call prepare_specialist with role_id size-up-an-industry-before-you-enter-it only. No task is required to load it. Your AI asks what job you need done, what you want back and which relevant context it can use.

For task-led hiring, call find_specialist, explain the suggested specialists and let the user accept or change the team.

Complete ZIP: Download base specialist. API: GET /api/v1/specialists/size-up-an-industry-before-you-enter-it/pack. The host AI supplies its own model, tools and execution; a pack does not connect accounts or run a task.

Inputs and helpful context

The specialist starts from the task brief. Only active methods require their inputs.

For the primary method, when used

• The industry you would enter and what you would offer
• What you know about the rivals, the buyers (who decides, whose word they take) and the suppliers
• Your strengths, your money and your time
• A list of competitors, if you have one (optional)
• Your launch plan, if you have one (optional)

Helpful context (optional)

• Public filings of the largest rivals
• Interviews with buyers in the industry
• Your own cost and margin numbers

Tools and access

• Any good chat AI: Every step is a plan or a piece of writing.
• Trade and industry reports: The forces read is sharper with real numbers on margins and share.
• Any good chat AI: Applying a fixed five-part frame to facts you paste is text work any strong chat AI can do.
• Any good chat AI: Weighing evidence against a fixed list of tests is reasoning work any strong chat AI does well.
• Your accounts or margin report: Real margins make the materiality test a number, not an opinion.
• Any good chat AI: Building a loss-and-gain sum for a rival from a few facts is reasoning work any strong chat AI does well.
• The leader's public price lists and annual reports: They give the revenue split the sum needs.
• Any good chat AI: Listing and scoring groups against fixed tests is text work that any strong chat AI does with this skill.
• Any good chat AI: Checking a plan against a fixed list of faults is text work any strong chat AI does well with this skill.

Functions and deliverables

• Industry market-entry competition reviewer: Share facts about buyers, suppliers and rivals. Get a five-forces review, ways to stand out and a first market to explore.
  • A five forces read of the industry, with where the profit sits
  • A test of which powers you could build and which you could not
  • A counter-position incumbents cannot copy, or the finding that there is none
  • A first small market to win, and a go or no-go call with what would change it
• Five forces industry checker: Name your industry and buyers. Get a five-force read of where profit comes from and a score.
  • A read of each of the five forces
  • A call on the industry's profit potential
  • The one or two forces that decide, and what could shift them
  • A score out of 100 for how complete the read is
• Competitive advantage tester: Share your business, rivals and cost or price evidence. Get a test of the benefit, copying barrier and seven possible sources of advantage.
  • The benefit named in numbers and the barrier in words
  • A materiality test with a number or a clear reason
  • A match to one of the seven powers, and the stage check
  • The edge to build next and the evidence still missing
• Competitive business model planner: Find a business model your market leader would lose money by copying. Give it the leader and your idea. You get the sum and a call.
  • How the leader earns, in a short table
  • Your model, and which buyers it is better for
  • A sum of what the leader would lose and gain by copying
  • The leader's other moves, each with a likely result
  • A call of strong, weak or not counter-positioning, with the first-year path
• First market picker: Find the small group of buyers you can win first. Give it your product. You get a ranked short list and the one group to own.
  • A scored list of groups
  • A ranked short list with reasons
  • The one group to own first
  • What to count to confirm it
• Go or no-go launch checker: Check a launch plan against six faults and three readiness checks. Get a go, wait or no verdict and a fix list before you spend.
  • Each of six faults marked present, absent or missing, with a reason from your plan
  • Three halfway checks answered yes, no or missing
  • One verdict, go, wait or no, with the single reason that decided it
  • A fix list for each fault found, and what would turn a wait into a go
• Product context file writer: Share product facts, audience and positioning. Get a reviewed context file that other marketing skills can reference.
  • A product marketing context file
  • A summary of what the file already holds
  • A change log of updates
  • Gaps you still need to fill
  Source: Corey Haines.
• Hamilton Helmer: Test a business advantage using Hamilton Helmer’s 7 Powers approach. Find the benefit, what stops rivals copying it and the next move to test.
  • Your problem worked on the way Hamilton Helmer would: their questions, their method, their push-back
  • The answer or the work, in Hamilton Helmer's voice, using their ideas by name
  • Anything that goes beyond their public record, marked
  • One suggested next step
• Peter Thiel: Test a startup idea with Peter Thiel's public approach. Find your market, your real edge and the weakest of seven questions. Not for investment calls.
  • Your problem worked on the way Peter Thiel would: their questions, their method, their push-back
  • The answer or the work, in Peter Thiel's voice, using their ideas by name
  • Anything that goes beyond their public record, marked
  • One suggested next step

Tasks you can use it for

• You are weighing a move into a new industry or category.
• The market is big and you suspect that is why everyone is in it.
• You want a plan that names the first customers and the power you would hold.

Limits to check before starting

• You only want a quick test of a product idea: use the Seven-question startup scorer first.
• You already sell in this market and want to know which edge you hold: use the Competitive advantage tester.
• You need a rollout plan for markets you have picked: use the Market expansion roadmap planner.

Best way to use this role

Give it one clear outcome, the actual files and a definition of done. Keep the work in one AI project so it can reuse checked context and earlier files.

• Download the handoff pack. It's a zip with HANDOFF.md and five skill files, in the order they run: Five forces industry checker, Business power tester, Counter-positioning finder, First market picker and Go or no-go launch checker.
• Give the folder to Claude (in Claude Code, or as files in a Claude Project) and say "Follow HANDOFF.md".
• Paste the industry, your offer and what you know. The rivals, buyers and money figures must come from you. It will not estimate a margin or a market share without a source. It reads the forces and tests the powers.
• Read the counter-position. If there is none, take the finding seriously.
• Read the call. If it is go, start with the first market it names.

Read it as data

Read the complete role setup as JSON. Connect your AI to the AI Blocks MCP library and read aiblocks://roles/size-up-an-industry-before-you-enter-it for its role instructions and pinned sources.

This is a prepared AI role. No task has run. Your AI carries out authorized work using its available tools and reports the actual deliverables and checks.