How to run a competitor research squad

A competitor mission runs as a closed loop on the Market Research Squad. You draw the path in the mission goals: which rivals, which fields, and what counts as a change. The Mission Commander works inside that path and assigns the profiles to Radar. Steering is the approval step. Radar does not decide your response.

The squad you import

The template is the Market Research Squad, on /squads. It ships with four agents:

Atlas, Research Analyst, scans a market and keeps a source log.
Radar, Competitor Tracker, keeps a profile per competitor and reports changes.
Echo, Customer Insights Analyst, pulls themes from interviews and reviews.
Brief, Synthesis Writer, turns findings into a one-page brief.

This mission is Radar's. Atlas gets a card only if you also want the market scan. Echo and Brief stay off unless the goals ask for customer themes or a decision brief. The template has no required connection. A battlecard for sales is Pitch, on the Go-to-Market Squad, and it is a different mission.

You do this in the xSquads desktop app, on a folder of your own files. Mac now, with Windows coming soon. The product page is xSquads for Work.

How the mission runs

Step 1. Import the Market Research Squad

Open the squad templates and import the Market Research Squad onto the mission. Keep Radar. Remove Echo if you are not mining interviews. Keep Atlas and Brief only if the goals include a market scan or a one-page brief.

Step 2. Leave the connector list empty

This template has no required connection. Do not connect treg or Vapi. Put the competitor list, and any pages you have already saved, in the mission folder.

Step 3. Create the mission and set the goals

Create the mission and write the goals in plain language. Those goals are the path: the rivals, the fields to compare, and the rule that every claim needs a source. Point the mission at the local folder with the competitor list. The commander does not get to widen that path. Goals you can start from, as written on the squad page: build a profile for each of our top five competitors, and report what our competitors changed this week.

Step 4. Let the Mission Commander assign the work

Save the mission. The Mission Commander creates tasks on the task board and assigns them only inside the goals you wrote. Radar takes one profile per competitor, covering positioning, pricing, product, and messaging, and a change note that says what it means for you. Echo should not get an interview card unless customer quotes are in the goals.

Step 5. Add a task, steer, and approve before anyone acts on it

Steering is the approval step. Add a task on the board, or correct the Mission Commander in the group chat, when a row has no source. A useful task to add yourself: mark the pricing row as unchecked until the source page is in the folder. Radar does not choose a response. Start by approving every profile.

How much to review

Start by approving everything. Autonomy is a dial, not a switch you flip because the table has five names.

Always sign off the rival list and the fields yourself. Raise the dial only when the weekly change notes keep citing a page you can open. A pricing figure with no source goes back. The decision stays with you.

What the goals have to name

The competitors, by name. Five is the squad-page starting point. Write a different count if you need one.
The fields: positioning, pricing, product, messaging. Drop a field if you do not want it guessed.
The source rule. Facts are separated from opinion, and each claim is marked with its confidence. The source log is how you re-check.
What is out: a sales battlecard, a cold email, a customer-interview synthesis.
You review before anyone treats the profile as decided.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who tracks competitors?

Radar, on the Market Research Squad. The squad page missions are a profile per rival and a weekly change report.

Does Radar decide what we do about a change?

No. The change note says what it means. You choose. Agents gather and summarise. The decision stays with you.

Can a profile include an unsourced price?

It should not survive Review. Figures come from cited sources and your own files. Send an unsourced row back.

How is this different from a battlecard?

Pitch, on the Go-to-Market Squad, builds the sales asset from product facts you already hold. Radar keeps the research profiles. Do not treat one as the other.

Does this squad need a connector?

No. The Market Research Squad page lists no required connection.