Phase 1: The Core Mechanics (The "What" and "How")

Before you can analyze a company's market or strategy, you need to understand its basic plumbing.

• The Primary Tool: Business Model Canvas (BMC)

• The Quick Execution: Don't fill out all nine boxes unless you have to. Focus strictly on the "Engine" triangle:

  1. Value Proposition: What exactly are they selling?

  2. Customer Segments: Who is handing them money?

  3. Revenue Streams & Cost Structure: How do the economics actually work? (e.g., Is it high-volume/low-margin, or enterprise SaaS?)

Phase 2: The Customer Reality (The "Why")

Once you know how they make money, you need to know why people actually care.

• The Primary Tool: Jobs to be Done (JTBD)

• The Quick Execution: Ignore demographic personas for a moment. Ask: When a customer "hires" this company's product, what underlying progress are they trying to make in their life or business? This immediately cuts through marketing fluff and reveals the company's true competitors (e.g., Zoom isn't just competing with Microsoft Teams; it's competing with business travel).

Phase 3: The Battlefield (The Defensibility)

Now you know the mechanics and the motivation. It's time to see if the company can survive in the wild.

• The Primary Tool: A mashup of Porter’s 5 Forces and SWOT

• The Quick Execution: Use Porter's to look outward and SWOT to look inward.

  • Outward: Who has the power? Are suppliers squeezing them? Is it too easy for new competitors to copy them?

  • Inward: What is their absolute strongest advantage (Strength), and what is the one thing that could kill them (Threat)?

Phase 4: The Trajectory (The Future)

Finally, figure out where the ceiling is and how they plan to break through it. Choose your tool here based on the type of company:

• If looking at market scale: Use TAM/SAM/SOM. Is the prize big enough to justify their valuation or growth plans?

• If looking at product growth: Use an Opportunity Solution Tree (OST). What are the clear, actionable pathways they can take to solve customer pain points and drive their desired business outcomes?