Rubric reference
Competitor Threat Triage
Competitor Threat Score: A 0–13 score of how much one competitor move threatens your product, based on adjacency to your core, depth of the feature, customer signal, buyer overlap and momentum.
How do you decide whether to respond to a competitor's new feature?
Score the move on five things: how close it is to your core, how deep the feature really is, whether customers have mentioned it, whether it targets your buyers, and whether there is momentum behind it. Most moves land at Ignore or Monitor. Respond only when the score reaches Defensive Counter or higher.
Criteria and weights
| Factor | Scoring |
|---|---|
| Adjacency to your core | Core 3 · adjacent 2 · edge 0 |
| Depth of the feature | Deep 3 · partial 1 · marketing bullet 0 |
| Customer signal | Lost deals 3 · customers asking 2 · none 0 |
| Buyer overlap | Same 2 · partial 1 · different 0 |
| Momentum | Backed 2 · steady 1 · one-off 0 |
Bands
| Threat score | Verdict | Log it as | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 3 | Ignore | Noise | Log it and move on. |
| 4 to 7 | Monitor in Pipeline | Worth Noting | Watch deals for 60 days before acting. |
| 8 to 10 | Defensive Counter | Act On | Respond with positioning or a small, scoped change. |
| 11 to 13 | True Moat Threat | Act On | A strategy decision, not a feature request. |
Caps and overrides
- Marketing bullet, no customer mentions: capped at Monitor (Worth Noting). Announcements without depth rarely need a response.
- Core, real depth, lost deals: at least Defensive Counter (Act On). It's already costing you.
How to apply it
- Score the five factors.
- Add them and read the verdict.
- Apply the overrides.
- Log the move with its significance.
Use it
Score it in the free Competitor Signal Threat Triage, or keep it running in Competitor Intelligence Tracker.
Plotted Work Studio rubric by Dominique Simmons. You may cite or adapt it with a link to this page.