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Quiz: Alternatives & the Competitive Landscape

Test your understanding of mapping alternatives and the competitive landscape with these review questions.

1. How does the chapter define an alternative solution?

  1. Anything a target customer currently uses, does, or chooses instead of your proposed offer to address their problem
  2. Any business that has raised more funding than your own venture
  3. A solution a founder plans to build after the current offer succeeds
  4. The single most expensive option available to a target customer
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. An alternative solution is anything a target customer currently uses, does, or chooses instead of your proposed offer to address their problem — a category far broader than "other companies selling something similar." This broader definition is why the chapter warns founders against filling in the Alternatives block too narrowly, since the word "competitor" tempts people to think only of rival businesses.

Concept Tested: Alternative Solution

See: Glossary

2. What counts as a competitor, according to the chapter's definition?

  1. Only another registered business selling a product similar to your own
  2. Any government regulation that makes a venture harder to launch
  3. Any existing solution — business, product, or workaround — that a target customer might choose over your offer
  4. A customer who has expressed doubt about whether your offer will work
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. A competitor is any existing solution — business, product, or workaround — that a target customer might choose over your offer. This definition deliberately extends beyond formal rival businesses to include informal workarounds and even the option of doing nothing, all of which a target customer might pick instead of the founder's offer.

Concept Tested: Competitor

See: Glossary

3. How does the competitive landscape differ from a single competitor, as the chapter uses the terms?

  1. The competitive landscape refers only to competitors located within the founder's own geographic area
  2. A competitor is one alternative a customer might choose; the competitive landscape is the full, organized picture of every alternative available to the target customer
  3. The two terms are synonyms and can be used interchangeably throughout the chapter
  4. The competitive landscape only includes direct competitors, while the term "competitor" includes all four categories
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. A competitor is one specific alternative a customer might choose; the competitive landscape is the resulting full picture — every alternative a target customer has available, organized and understood together. Mapping individual competitors is a step toward building the broader competitive landscape, not the same thing as it.

Concept Tested: Competitive Landscape

See: Glossary

4. Why does the chapter classify Priya's interviewees' rotating mix of takeout, cereal for dinner, and a freezer of half-used ingredients as a current workaround rather than a competitor business?

  1. Because it costs the customer money every single time it is used
  2. Because it was recommended to the customer by a dedicated meal-kit company
  3. Because it directly copies an existing storefront restaurant's approach
  4. Because it is an informal, imperfect method the customer assembled on their own to partially address the problem, without a dedicated solution
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. A current workaround is any informal, imperfect method a customer has assembled on their own to partially address the problem without a dedicated solution. Priya's interviewees' rotating mix of takeout, cereal for dinner, and half-used freezer ingredients was exactly this kind of self-assembled, imperfect fix — not a competing meal-kit company.

Concept Tested: Current Workaround

See: Glossary

5. A self-service dog wash station at the local pet store doesn't groom a dog the way Jordan's service does, but it satisfies enough of the underlying "my dog needs attention" feeling that a customer might choose it anyway. Which category does this fit?

  1. Direct competitor, because it addresses the exact same grooming problem using the same approach
  2. Do-nothing alternative, because the customer is not paying for professional grooming
  3. Substitute solution — it doesn't solve the exact same problem, but satisfies enough of the same underlying need that a customer might choose it anyway
  4. Current workaround, because it requires no dedicated business to operate
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. A substitute solution doesn't solve the exact same problem at all, but satisfies enough of the same underlying need that a customer might choose it anyway. A self-service dog wash doesn't groom the dog, but it addresses the "my dog needs attention" feeling behind the request, which is what makes it a substitute rather than a direct competitor.

Concept Tested: Substitute Solution

See: Glossary

6. Which of the following is Jordan's direct competitor, as the chapter defines the term?

  1. Another mobile dog-grooming service in the area, solving the same problem for the same target customer using essentially the same approach
  2. A traditional storefront groomer that requires customers to drop off and pick up their dog
  3. A self-service dog wash station at the local pet store
  4. A customer who simply stops getting their dog groomed altogether
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. A direct competitor solves the same problem for the same target customer using essentially the same approach. Another mobile dog groomer matches Jordan's approach exactly — at-home service — which is what separates it from an indirect competitor's meaningfully different approach or a substitute solution's different underlying need.

Concept Tested: Direct Competitor

See: Glossary

7. Why does the chapter classify a traditional storefront groomer requiring drop-off as an indirect competitor to Jordan's mobile service, rather than a direct one?

  1. Because it does not solve the same underlying grooming problem at all
  2. Because it costs less than Jordan's mobile service in every case
  3. Because it is a current workaround rather than a formal business
  4. Because it solves the same underlying problem but through a meaningfully different approach — a storefront requiring drop-off rather than an at-home visit
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. An indirect competitor solves the same underlying problem but through a meaningfully different approach. A storefront groomer addresses the same grooming need as Jordan's service, but requires drop-off rather than an at-home visit — a different enough approach to place it in the indirect category rather than the direct one.

Concept Tested: Indirect Competitor

See: Glossary

8. Why does the chapter call the do-nothing alternative "the actual default competitor a venture has to beat"?

  1. Because it is always the cheapest paid option available to the customer
  2. Because it costs the customer nothing to keep choosing, and customers simply tolerating the problem, unsolved, is a real and common option
  3. Because it is the option every direct competitor eventually adopts once they run out of customers
  4. Because regulators require every venture to compare itself against doing nothing before launching
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. The do-nothing alternative is the option of a customer simply continuing to tolerate the problem, unsolved, rather than adopting any solution at all — and it is, for most problems, the actual default competitor a venture has to beat, precisely because it costs the customer nothing to keep choosing it.

Concept Tested: Do-Nothing Alternative

See: Glossary

9. What is competitive analysis, according to the chapter?

  1. The step of interpreting gathered research to draw conclusions about strengths, weaknesses, and openings
  2. The act of copying a direct competitor's pricing exactly
  3. A one-time online search performed before a venture launches
  4. The process of ranking candidate problems by severity, frequency, and urgency
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. Competitive analysis is the step of interpreting gathered research to draw conclusions about strengths, weaknesses, and openings. It comes after competitive research has gathered the raw information, turning collected facts about alternatives into actual conclusions a founder can act on.

Concept Tested: Competitive Analysis

See: Glossary

10. A founder maps every alternative available to their target customer and finds that none of them — not even the do-nothing alternative — actually delivers something customers consistently say they want. What has the founder identified?

  1. A direct competitor, because customers are already aware of every option
  2. Competitive intelligence, because the founder has been updating a ledger of information
  3. A market gap — a genuine, customer-confirmed shortfall shared by every current alternative
  4. Competitive positioning, because the founder has decided where the offer sits in customers' minds
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. A market gap is a genuine, customer-confirmed shortfall shared by every current alternative — something the status quo consistently fails to deliver that a target customer actually wants. Finding that no mapped alternative, including doing nothing, delivers what customers say they want is exactly how a real market gap gets confirmed.

Concept Tested: Market Gap

See: Glossary

11. How does competitive positioning differ from differentiation, as the chapter distinguishes the two?

  1. Differentiation is decided by competitors, while competitive positioning is decided entirely by customers
  2. The two terms describe the same activity and are used interchangeably in the chapter
  3. Competitive positioning applies only to direct competitors, while differentiation applies to every category of alternative
  4. Differentiation is what makes an offer meaningfully different from mapped alternatives, while competitive positioning is the deliberate choice of where that offer sits in a customer's mind relative to the full landscape
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. Differentiation is what makes an offer meaningfully different from every mapped alternative, grounded in a specific gap; competitive positioning is the deliberate choice of where that offer sits relative to the full competitive landscape in a customer's mind — faster, cheaper, more personal, more convenient. Positioning builds on differentiation rather than replacing it.

Concept Tested: Competitive Positioning

See: Glossary

12. A founder claims their offer is simply "better" than everything else on the market, without pointing to any specific customer-confirmed shortfall in the alternatives. What is missing from this claim, according to the chapter?

  1. Competitive research, because no information has ever been gathered about alternatives
  2. Genuine differentiation, which the chapter says must be grounded in a specific identified gap, not a vague claim of being better
  3. A do-nothing alternative, because every venture must define one before claiming a difference
  4. Status quo, because the founder has not described how customers currently live with the problem
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. The chapter is explicit that differentiation must be grounded in the specific gap a founder found, rather than a vague claim of being "better." A claim of superiority with no identified, customer-confirmed shortfall behind it does not meet the chapter's bar for genuine differentiation.

Concept Tested: Differentiation

See: Glossary

13. How does the chapter define competitive research?

  1. The general activity of gathering information about existing alternatives available to your target customer
  2. A formal legal filing required before a venture can claim any competitors exist
  3. The process of interviewing only customers who have already switched to a direct competitor
  4. A single spreadsheet listing every business registered in the founder's industry
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. Competitive research is the general activity of gathering information about existing alternatives available to your target customer. It is the first, broadest step in researching the landscape, later interpreted through competitive analysis and organized on an ongoing basis through competitive intelligence.

Concept Tested: Competitive Research

See: Glossary

14. What qualifies as an existing solution, according to the chapter's definition?

  1. Only a solution that has been operating successfully for more than five years
  2. Only a solution built by a venture with more funding than the founder's own
  3. Any product, service, or method — commercial or not — currently available to a customer for addressing their problem
  4. Only a solution the founder has personally used or purchased before
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. An existing solution is any product, service, or method — commercial or not — currently available to a customer for addressing their problem. This wide definition is what allows the status quo to include informal fixes and non-commercial methods alongside formal competing businesses.

Concept Tested: Existing Solution

See: Glossary

15. For Jordan's target customer, the chapter describes the status quo as some combination of a booked-solid salon, a bottle of dry shampoo, and quietly accepting a slightly smelly dog. What does this illustrate about the concept of status quo?

  1. That status quo refers to a single dominant direct competitor customers already prefer
  2. That status quo only applies once a customer has tried and rejected every paid alternative
  3. That status quo is a formal industry report published about a market
  4. That status quo encompasses every existing solution a customer uses, ignores, or tolerates, not just one option
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. The status quo is simply how the customer currently lives with the problem overall, encompassing every existing solution they use, ignore, or tolerate. Jordan's target customer's status quo isn't one groomer — it's the combination of a booked-solid salon, dry shampoo, and tolerating a smelly dog, all held together at once.

Concept Tested: Status Quo

See: Glossary

16. A founder builds a visual spectrum showing where the do-nothing alternative, current workaround, substitute solution, indirect competitor, and direct competitor each sit relative to their own offer. Which activity does this represent?

  1. Alternative assessment, because it evaluates each option against the validated problem
  2. Competitive landscape mapping — the specific act of laying the full competitive picture out visually
  3. Competitive intelligence, because it is an ongoing ledger of updated information
  4. Differentiation, because it identifies what makes the founder's offer meaningfully different
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. Competitive landscape mapping is the specific act of laying the full competitive picture out visually, such as a spectrum diagram running from options that cost nothing to keep choosing to options that look almost exactly like the founder's own offer. Building that visual spectrum is mapping in action, distinct from the research or analysis that feeds it.

Concept Tested: Competitive Landscape Mapping

See: Glossary

17. A founder examines each mapped alternative one at a time, checking specifically where it satisfies the target customer and where it still leaves them wanting something more. Which concept does this careful evaluation describe?

  1. Alternative assessment — the deliberate evaluation of each mapped alternative against the validated problem
  2. Competitive research, because it is simply gathering information about alternatives
  3. Competitive positioning, because it decides where the founder's offer sits in the customer's mind
  4. Status quo, because it describes how the customer currently lives with the problem
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. Alternative assessment is the deliberate evaluation of each mapped alternative against the validated problem, checking specifically where it satisfies the customer and where it leaves them still wanting something more. This item-by-item evaluation is what eventually reveals a genuine market gap.

Concept Tested: Alternative Assessment

See: Glossary

18. A founder doesn't stop after one search for alternatives — they keep a running, ordered file that gets updated every time new information about competitors surfaces. Which concept describes this ongoing practice?

  1. Competitive analysis, because it draws conclusions about strengths and weaknesses
  2. Market gap, because it identifies a shortfall shared across alternatives
  3. Competitive intelligence — the ongoing, ordered collection and interpretation of information, kept as a ledger rather than a one-time search
  4. Alternative assessment, because it evaluates each alternative against the validated problem
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. Competitive intelligence refers to the ongoing, ordered collection and interpretation of information about alternatives — not a one-time search, but a ledger a founder keeps updating. Continuing to update a running file as new information surfaces is exactly this ongoing discipline, distinct from a single round of competitive research.

Concept Tested: Competitive Intelligence

See: Glossary