How to Do Effective Market Research Before You Invest

Why market research matters for a new venture

Over the years, I have constantly met founders and people with excellent ideas for ventures, businesses, and startups. Unfortunately, many were missing one of the most important things to do with a good idea: thorough market research or an initial market survey to help test it.

I suspect 95% of the people reading this page have had a product idea at some point. We all think about products, dream, and have good ideas. It is human nature, especially among entrepreneurial Israelis.

You are about to read a detailed explanation and comprehensive method for market and competitor analysis. Allow at least 10–15 minutes. Bring tea or coffee—my favorite is cardamom coffee from a moka pot—so you can take your time with this free professional guide, originally written in Hebrew.

You can research like a professional: market research tools and methodology

Read the full guide and you will find market research methods and competitor discovery tools to help you work to a high professional standard, step by step.

I want to emphasize from the outset that this article focuses on competitor analysis, rather than market sizing or financial modeling.

Following a structured research method can save thousands of shekels, hundreds of hours, or considerable embarrassment.

I once sat in an investor meeting where an investor explained how he challenged founders who had not researched thoroughly. He would excuse himself to the bathroom, spend three minutes on Google, and return with three competing products the founders did not know. The conversation was never quite the same afterward. He had the upper hand.

What “we have no competitors” really signals: the importance of competitive intelligence

First, I assume we all understand the importance of good preliminary market research and analysis.

My partners and I at my first company found that in-depth research into the competition gave us considerable momentum, especially when dealing with skeptics, suppliers, and investors.

People simply began treating us differently. When founders approach me, investors, or other experts to raise capital and say they have no competitors, it tends to suggest one of two things:

1. 1. They have not mapped the competition thoroughly enough and have taken shortcuts.

1. 1. There may be no established market for the product, making market education difficult and expensive.

Either interpretation can substantially reduce the founder’s chances of moving toward an investment or deal.

How much time should comprehensive research take? Should you do it yourself?

When founders or friends bring me an idea, one of my first questions is: “How many hours have you spent searching online for competitors and alternative solutions?”

The answer is usually, “A lot of time—at least a few hours.” I want to use this blog to tell them, and you, clearly: that is not enough.

For these reasons and many others, my recommendation in this guide is to devote at least 30 hours to online market research.

AI and market research: after all, this guide was updated in 2025

I decided to split my guide to research for a new venture into two parts. The first is the classic approach for founders and businesspeople who do not want AI in their workflow. They may not yet be ready to use AI for market research because:

• • They are concerned about revealing their idea to AI providers for confidentiality reasons.

• • They do not know whether the different tools can provide reliable results.

• • They do not know which provider or model to choose.

• • They do not know how to use the tools efficiently.

• • They believe they can hold back the tide with their hands.

In the AI guide I am working on, I explain how to use ChatGPT or Claude or Perplexity without disclosing sensitive information, how to check reliability, and how to choose a suitable model. AI tools can assist with competitor discovery, user review analysis, and more. Stay tuned for updates.

The stages of initial product market research: how do you do it?

These are the steps I take when assessing a venture’s feasibility. Each is explained below:

1. 1. Define and test the business idea and describe the product, one to two hours.

1. 1. Open a 'Google Sheets spreadsheet or Miro board to record findings systematically, about half an hour.

1. 1. Conduct initial online research through open-ended Google exploration, at least ten hours.

1. 1. Carry out a second, deeper search in specialist databases for competitor analysis and benchmarking, about five hours.

1. 1. Visit and analyze relevant competitor and alternative product websites, including SWOT analysis, about ten hours.

1. 1. Prepare a market research presentation or report, about two and a half hours.

The research process: from a framework to findings

These steps may seem intimidating. Some people will call that too much research time, while others will call it too little. I see it as a necessary minimum for this kind of initial product feasibility investigation.

Doing the work thoroughly can help you stand behind your idea or product more confidently and begin understanding the market you want to enter.

Stage 1: define the business idea

This stage is especially useful when the idea is not yet fully formed in your head or notebook. To begin testing a business idea, define several things clearly.

Without this first stage, the rest of your research may be irrelevant: you would be searching for competitors to a product you have not defined. As the Cheshire Cat explains in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland":

: “Would you tell me which way I should go?” asks Alice. “That depends on where you want to get to,” says the Cat. “I don’t much care where,” says Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.” Alice adds that she wants to get somewhere. The Cat assures her that she will, if she walks long enough.

Unlike Alice, you need to be clear about where you want to go.

For a commercial company, as opposed to a nonprofit or another kind of organization with different goals, your destination will often involve one of two outcomes, and the journey may include fundraising along the way:

1. 1. An exit, such as a sale, merger, or another event in which you sell your shares, potentially building wealth quickly.

1. 1. Distributing dividends, as many companies do, and building wealth more slowly—or sometimes faster.

Define the central terms and research directions

Sit down together. If you have partners, bring them into the discussion. If you are still searching for a cofounder, you may also want to read this post.

Take a notebook or whiteboard—I love whiteboards, but use whatever you enjoy—and write detailed answers to the following questions as part of your market feasibility study.

This does not need to be an exact science, just a set of initial directions. Preliminary market research is intended to help establish an initial idea. Studying market trends comes later, in a different guide.

You can choose other ways to define your product or other questions to answer. Here is my suggested starting point:

1. 1. How would you describe your company or product?
   2. What need does the product address? Identify customer pain points.

1. 1. Who has that need? Consider demographic, geographic, psychographic, and other useful segmentation variables.

1. 1. How will the product address that need?

1. 1. Which features must be included in the first version?

1. 1. Which features do you expect to become essential or important in later versions?

1. What business model might enable you to earn revenue?

Stage 2: document and organize the information

Once you have answered those questions, you are ready to investigate competing and alternative products that address the same need. When doing your own research, record every finding.

To avoid giving skeptics the problematic answer “I have no competitors,” it is time to start looking for them in depth.

Systematic documentation is the foundation of useful research

Here you will meet the accountant in me, trained over two and a half years to value systematic records and source collection in professional, data-driven client research.

Do not underestimate or skip this step. Without it, when you return to the research days, weeks, or months later—and you will—you may remember nothing and find nothing.

In my experience, spending ten to thirty minutes setting up a Google Sheets or Excel file can save many hours of searching. It is an essential part of testing a startup idea.

Record findings and their sources

I have attended countless meetings where someone mentions the most relevant competitor and remembers seeing its unit sales figures, but cannot find them or identify the source when sitting in front of investors.

Record every link and every source behind your findings, conclusions, and insights. Otherwise, it is almost as if you did not do the research. Documentation is critical to qualitative market research.

Why use cloud-based tools?

*Note: I suggest using Google Sheets because it is available in the cloud and easy to share. You can work with teammates, an industrial designer, or a supplier over coffee while showing them the competitor they thought you had missed.

Structure your competitor analysis spreadsheet

For a competitive landscape analysis, include these columns:

1. 1. Competitor or company name.

1. 1. Homepage link.

1. 1. Year founded, or product launch year for a competing product.

1. 1. Geographic markets where it currently sells.

1. 1. Similarities to your product.

1. 1. Differences from your product.

1. 1. Product image.

Do not spend too long filling irrelevant columns for companies whose products do not resemble yours. You will use information on relevant companies later, so organize the sheets properly from the start. Link to every source you enter. Tip: Ctrl+K quickly adds a hyperlink.

Another option: Miro for visual competitor mapping

Since I started using Miro, my competitor research has become more organized and professional. Its infinite canvas lets me bring together competitor product images, PDFs with market data, and summaries of buyer persona interviews in one place.

Why I use Miro

The real improvement is how easily I can move between different parts of the research. I can focus on a specific area or zoom out to see the overall picture, helping me notice connections and insights I might otherwise miss. To share findings with a team or client, I invite them to the board so they can see what I see.

Quick tip: WhatsApp for immediate, ongoing notes

Adding tags and links to information makes it easy to organize and find things quickly. The tool changed my research process from a complicated task into something more intuitive and fluid.

One useful trick I discovered was creating a WhatsApp group with only myself in it, as a personal digital notebook. Create a group and remove the other participant, leaving a place to quickly save different kinds of information you encounter during research.

When I come across something during the day that I want to save or revisit, I send it to my WhatsApp notebook. Every few days, I review it on my computer and move each item to the right place.

Stage 3: open-ended browsing—how to start competitor research for free

This is almost my favorite stage. Imagine being given an urgent research mission: the only solution to a serious problem is somewhere on the web, and you need to find it.

Adopt a useful research mindset

Perhaps the example is dramatic, but the point is simple. You can see this as a tiresome, boring task, or as the most important investigation you have undertaken in months.

Think of it as work that helps you decide whether there is a reason to continue developing the product you dream about. In-depth analysis of the business model can save time and money later.

A thorough search method

Open Google Search and, alongside it, your spreadsheet or chosen documentation tool. Keep the notes from Stage 1 in front of you as part of your customer discovery work.

Enter your first search term. Start opening the results, from the first onward and well beyond the first page. In the original method, I suggested exploring at least eight pages of results, checking each for relevance.

Screening potential competitors

Be thorough enough to inspect several pages on each site. The homepage or Products and Services section usually provides the first clues for classification. If you suspect a company is a competitor, explore further.

If it is relevant—a company, organization, product, or idea similar to yours—add a row to your spreadsheet. At this stage, the initial review of a site should usually take no more than about five minutes.

I am only making a quick screening decision here: competitor or not? If a company might compete with us, I paste the link into the sheet and move to the next tab.

Understand different kinds of competitors

One of the most important parts of market analysis is mapping the competitive landscape correctly. Start with direct competitors: those doing what you do, or want to do. They form a central part of your initial feasibility investigation.

Then consider indirect competitors: those doing something quite different but solving the same problem for your audience, such as a restaurant managing its own deliveries. Strategic planning requires understanding both types.

Why the wider map matters

Customers ultimately care less about the route to a solution than about having their problem solved.

Do not look only at businesses that resemble yours. Consider every plausible way customers can address the problem. That also helps you understand the risks to your proposed solution.

Go further in competitor discovery

Repeat the process for every phrase in your notes, using relevant languages, synonyms, and different grammatical forms. Add all relevant findings to the analysis file.

Ways to find less obvious competitors

Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. What would they search for when looking for a solution to the problem you address? Run three such searches without using your company’s name.

Look carefully at both paid ads and organic results. Potential competitors are right there. This is an important input to your go-to-market strategy.

Another useful search technique

If you already know one competitor, search its name followed by “vs” or “alternatives.” This can uncover more businesses in the same market.

Customers may already have compared similar services for you. Searching “Monday vs” or “Asana alternatives,” for example, reveals other project management platforms. It is a useful way to see how the market compares competitors and who else is involved.

Stage 4: deeper research in specialist databases

If you completed the previous stage thoroughly, it may well have taken around ten hours. That is a sign that you are taking the initial investigation seriously.

This stage is more advanced, but it can provide information and value that open-ended Google searching cannot deliver as efficiently. It is an important part of professional research.

Using databases

Keep your analysis spreadsheet open in front of you.

Visit one, two, or all of the following databases as appropriate. If you know useful databases I have not included, please suggest them in the comments.

Run more focused searches on the competing companies already in your file. This is another way to collect professional market data.

What information can you find?

Different databases offer different kinds of information, making professional data easier to discover. Some of it may also support your business plan.

Depending on the source, you may find:

• • Additional competitors or related companies you had not discovered.

• • Funding raised.

• • Revenue.

• • Employee counts.

• • Recent news coverage.

• • Investor identities.

• • Office locations.

• • Parent companies and subsidiaries.

• • Social media follower counts.

• • Historical Alexa rankings.

• • Other measures of reach and virality.

These can all contribute to a broader market analysis.

An overview of research databases

International databases and platforms:

1. 1. CrunchBase—described in the original guide as a TechCrunch-related resource—offers a searchable company database focused largely on startups. Its filters help you explore companies by different characteristics. Search the competitors you found to learn more as part of your competitive intelligence work. The original guide also noted a free entry-level search option.

1. 1. PitchBook focuses strongly on investment and venture capital data. It supports investigation of funding rounds, mergers, acquisitions, and market developments. The original guide described it as relatively expensive but useful when comprehensive information was needed.

1. 1. CB Insights provides research on technology and innovation markets, including reports and emerging trends. Its industry newsletter was another resource highlighted in the original guide.

1. 1. Dealroom is a European platform with particular coverage of the European startup ecosystem. It includes company, investor, and transaction information, including markets that may receive less attention elsewhere.

1. 1. Owler was described in the original guide as a community-driven competitive intelligence platform. Its features included company revenue estimates, competitor updates, industry analysis, alerts, comparisons, leadership ratings, and a personalized newsletter, with free and paid options.

1. 1. Product Hunt brings together a community discussing product and company launches. Search for competitors’ launches, or browse their categories to discover products your earlier research missed. Filters and search tools can help narrow the field.

1. 1. Crowdfunding websites, including Kickstarter, Indiegogo and others, can be useful when researching physical products. I look for products that succeeded or failed, campaign dates, how campaigns were run, and the companies behind them. If you are researching a new physical product, do not skip this stage. In this method, I suggest giving it at least two hours.

Israeli databases

1. 1. Ecosystem mapping: https://mappedinisrael.com/ was Ben Lang’s initiative to map Israeli startups, accelerators, funds, and other organizations. Filters by tags, investors, and locations helped researchers learn more about Israeli companies.

1. 1. SNC – Start Up Nation Finder provides a detailed view of Israel’s innovation and startup ecosystem. Its focus on Israeli companies makes it a useful source alongside international platforms, and an important initiative for promoting the local technology community.

Using databases more effectively

When researching these databases, save relevant information, using permitted export tools or screenshots where appropriate, and include it among the material for your final research presentation in Stage 6.

A note about ecosystem maps

Many venture capital funds and other ecosystem participants publish maps of companies in a particular industry, market, or vertical. If you work in cybersecurity, for example, such a map can help identify subcategories and additional companies.

Stage 5: analyze the most relevant competitors in depth

Now comes one of the most important stages: reviewing all the competitors and alternatives you have collected and deciding which ones concern, threaten, excite, or inspire you most.

Choose the scope of the analysis

You may now have more than ten companies in your file. Choose carefully, and do not take shortcuts when deciding which competitors deserve closer investigation.

Research has a date: why ongoing review matters

Your research describes the market today. Tomorrow, it may be different. Competitors do not ask our permission before launching products. I learned that firsthand with my first product, when someone launched a similar concept before we did.

Revisit the market periodically. I generally check competitors at least every three months. Later in this guide, I explain my approach to ongoing monitoring through LinkedIn.

What to examine when analyzing competitors

Focus on relevant companies and investigate:

1. 1. What does their product do?

1. 1. When was it launched?

1. 1. Who is the target audience, including demographic characteristics?

1. 1. How does the company market the product and reach its audience?

1. 1. What do customer reviews and feedback say, both positively and negatively?

Analyze user reviews

For sentiment analysis, some tools let you export app-store reviews into spreadsheets, including Heedzy for Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Reviewing customer feedback is a valuable complement to direct user testing.

Important financial and business information

Also investigate:

• • Product price.

• • Business model.

• • Complementary products.

• • Investors in the company.

• • When it raised funding and on what terms.

• • Whether it is profitable.

• • Patents registered to its founders or CTO in GOOGLE PATENTS;

• • Its current employee count.

A careful comparison between your intended product and what competitors do provides the foundation for deeper competitor analysis as your idea and product develop.

I must emphasize again: systematically record every source you rely on, including links or screenshots that will help you find the information again.

Mystery shopping for deeper insights

Mystery shopping can reveal important business insights. It helps you understand competitors from a customer’s perspective. Do it thoughtfully and ethically as part of qualitative market research.

What the mystery shopping approach offers

Try the customer touchpoints: sign up, go through the purchase process, contact customer service, and observe how problems are handled. You can also involve beta testers who try competitors’ products and share feedback.

Document the experience in depth

Record every point of friction, pleasant or unpleasant surprise, and moment of delight or frustration. This information is valuable when designing your own product or service. Pay special attention to small details, where some of the best opportunities for differentiation may be hiding.

Use a time machine to explore how competitors developed

Here is another useful research resource: Web Archive . Think of it as an internet time machine. Enter a URL to explore how a website looked a year, five years, or even a decade earlier. It can be valuable for data-driven research into market trends.

The value of historical information

You can track changes in branding, pricing strategy, and marketing messages: when a company changed its market-entry approach, introduced products, or responded to competitors.

Follow product development over time

Archived product pages can also reveal how a product evolved, how its features and prices changed, and which buyer personas it targeted over the years. This can add an important historical dimension to your research.

Tip 1: follow competitors’ CEOs and founders on LinkedIn

A particularly useful habit is following competitors on LinkedIn , especially founders and senior managers. Hiring, product launches, conference appearances, and market observations can bring useful information directly into your feed.

Read the discussions and comments too

Comments sometimes contain the most interesting clues about market reactions, customer views, and challenges. They can help you stay informed without devoting excessive time to monitoring.

Tip 2: find talks by competitors’ CEOs

Start watching and listening to content created by competitors’ founders and CEOs. Interviews, podcasts, webinars, and talks can reveal a surprising amount. Look on YouTube or Spotify as part of your deeper investigation.

In one venture I was assessing, a competitor had a podcast and a YouTube lecture for students that explained the thinking behind the product, its features, development schedule, and slides unavailable elsewhere.

Learn from public appearances

People are often more open in conference talks or podcast interviews than in official company communications. That can help you understand a business model more deeply.

Look for older talks too. They can be especially revealing because you can compare what was envisioned with what actually happened.

These appearances may discuss market insights, challenges, product development, and possible future directions. In a relaxed podcast conversation, you may hear more about the underlying vision and how leaders see the market developing.

Watch for research bias

Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek and emphasize information supporting what we already believe. It is particularly dangerous when researching a new product, because falling in love with an idea can lead us to filter out anything that challenges it.

How to respond to bias

Actively look for information that could contradict your initial assumptions.

Findings that do not fit your theory may lead to the most important insights. That is not always comfortable, but it makes research more useful and accurate.

Stay aware of the tendency and remind yourself to remain open-minded. The goal is to discover the market as it is, not as you wish it were.

Stage 6: summarize the research and present your findings

This is the final stage of the research process described in this guide. Depending on what you found, it may bring disappointment, excitement, or both. Now present the work you have done.

If you have not found strong competitors, you may feel ready to present your findings in a deck or report. You have worked hard. Give others a way to understand and use the research you have spent around 30 hours producing, and recognize the progress you have made along the way.

Adapt your strategy to the findings

Either way, you are in a more informed and professional position. If you have found many similar players, you can reconsider the strategy, identify a different source of value, or differentiate your product. If you have found few, continue examining what that absence means rather than assuming success.

Prepare a short research presentation

Create a concise presentation you can use later. I suggest including:

1. 1. A brief description of your product from Stage 1.

1. 1. A brief description of the methodology and the dates when you performed the research. You can draw on the approach in this guide.

1. 1. An executive summary slide naming the main competitors and your central conclusion about the competitive landscape.

1. 1. A slide on each important competitor, including its name, website, similarities, and available financial information.

1. 1. A comparison of competitors’ reach, communities, and marketing activity.

Summary and next steps

Now that you understand the main elements and a method for researching a new product yourself, you have a practical place to begin.

A clarification about scope

This guide emphasizes competitors. It is not intended to estimate market size, market-level financial figures, or macroeconomic data available from government research bodies or statistical agencies.

I use the broader term market research because I think of it like visiting a marketplace: comparing one vegetable seller with another, rather than comparing entire marketplaces such as Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market and Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda.

Common questions about market research

If there is interest, I would be happy to write more about other methods and market surveys. Please join the discussion in the comments.

Questions for discussion

• • How do you do market research? Is any part of the method unclear?

• • How much does market research cost? Do you have suggestions for improvement?

• • Is market research always necessary? What other types of research interest you?

• • When should market research be done? What is the best timing?

• • How long does comprehensive research take? Is the time frame I suggested realistic?

Why suggest 30 hours of research?

I often meet founders who think a few hours on Google has exhausted the market. A longer, structured investigation gives you room to uncover less obvious competitors, understand customers, identify gaps and trends missed by surface-level searches, and bring supported information rather than intuition to an investor discussion. When someone asks how much research you have done, you can explain the process and show its results in a grounded, credible overview.

Closing thoughts and an invitation to a future webinar

I hope this helped. If not, please contact me here and I will try again. The key is to be methodical and organized when developing recommendations from market research as described in this guide.

When I wrote this guide, I planned a webinar demonstrating the method for readers who prefer to watch it in action. Contact me to ask about future sessions.