RivalSense

Customer Obsession & Competitor Awareness: The Dual Engines of Startup Success in 2025

In 2023, a McKinsey study revealed that customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable than those that aren’t. Yet, the same year, 41% of startups admitted to failing because they underestimated competitors (CB Insights). The lesson? Customer obsession wins battles, but competitor awareness wins wars. The most successful founders in

Google Alerts for Competitor Tracking: A Practical Guide (And When to Upgrade)

Google Alerts is the Swiss Army knife of competitive intelligence—free, simple, and universally accessible. But like any basic tool, its effectiveness depends on how you use it. While 72% of startups use Google Alerts for competitor monitoring (2024 Crayon report), only 9% extract strategic value from it. Why? Most

B2B Growth Hacks: 3 Unconventional Partnership Strategies to Scale Your Startup

Scaling a B2B startup is rarely a straight path. Traditional tactics like paid ads or cold outreach often yield diminishing returns, leaving founders scrambling for alternatives. But what if you could tap into existing networks, leverage competitor movements, and co-create value with clients to accelerate growth? Partnerships—when executed creatively—

Competitive Intelligence Tools in 2025 — Which One Fits Your Role?

The competitive intelligence landscape in 2025 is crowded. Tools promise to track competitors, decode strategies, and deliver insights—but with so many options, how do you choose? The answer lies in your role. Marketing teams need social listening. Sales teams crave battlecards. Analysts want raw data. But if you’re

How Business Founders Think About Launching New Product Features: 5 Steps

For business founders, launching new product features isn’t just about adding bells and whistles. It’s about solving real problems, moving fast with purpose, and staying relevant in a constantly evolving market. Great feature launches don’t start with code—they start with thinking. Here’s how founders typically

Should I Attend This Conference? A No-Nonsense Guide for B2B Founders

As a B2B founder, your time is one of your most precious resources. Every hour you spend away from your core business—whether that's building the product, closing deals, or refining your go-to-market strategy—comes at a cost. So when that flashy industry conference invitation pops into your

Outpredict, Outmaneuver: How to Forecast Competitors’ Moves Before They Happen

In 2024, 83% of business leaders admitted their biggest regret was reacting too late to competitors’ strategic shifts (Forrester). The difference between market leaders and laggards isn’t just innovation—it’s anticipation. Startups and SMEs that decode competitors’ hidden signals before they act gain a 14-month head start on

How to Track Competitors for Free in 2025: A Founder’s Survival Guide

67% of startups fail to scale because they misunderstand their competitors’ moves (2023 Failory Report). For bootstrapped founders and resource-strapped CEOs, free competitor intelligence isn’t a luxury—it’s survival. You don’t need a Fortune 500 budget to outmaneuver rivals. What you need is focus. Here’s how

Competitive Intelligence in 2025: Why Generic Tools Fail Leaders (And What Actually Works)

The competitive intelligence market is exploding. By 2030, over 85% of businesses will use some form of competitor monitoring—but only 20% will extract strategic value from it. Why? Most tools are built for departments, not decision-makers. Marketing teams get social listening dashboards. Sales reps receive battlecards. Analysts drown in

Mastering the Quarterly Business Review (QBR) for Key Accounts

Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) are pivotal for fostering strong relationships, demonstrating ROI, and uncovering new opportunities for collaboration.