Prompt Starters for Product Managers

Prompts for PMs evaluating markets, features, and competitive dynamics.

[Live]

Overview

As a product manager, you make decisions about what to build, who to build it for, and how to position it in the market. These prompts help you test demand for features, analyze competitive pricing, understand objections, run competitive teardowns, and set up ongoing market tracking. Copy them, replace the bracketed text with your details, and paste them into HolyShift.

Demand Validation Prompts

Test demand for a feature

Is there demand for [feature description]? I want to understand
whether [target audience] actively wants this, how urgently they
need it, and whether it would influence their purchasing decision.
Show me the evidence from real market conversations.

Prioritize a feature backlog

I am considering building these features:
1. [Feature A]
2. [Feature B]
3. [Feature C]
Which has the strongest demand based on market conversations?
Rank them by demand strength and willingness to pay.
Target audience: [persona].

Competitive Analysis Prompts

Compare pricing strategies

Compare pricing strategies in [market/niche]. I want to understand
what pricing models competitors use (freemium, per-seat, usage-based,
flat rate), what price points they charge, and where there is room
for a different approach.

Competitive teardown

Generate a competitive teardown of [competitor]. I want to understand
their product positioning, feature set, pricing, target audience,
strengths, weaknesses, and the most common complaints from their users.
Show me where they are vulnerable.

Customer Understanding Prompts

Surface objections

What are users' top objections to [product type]? I want to understand
the specific reasons people hesitate to buy or switch. Include both
rational objections (price, features, integration) and emotional
objections (trust, risk, effort).

Understand switching barriers

What prevents people from switching away from [competitor/current solution]?
I want to understand the switching costs — technical, financial, and
behavioral — so I can design my product and messaging to lower them.

Market Monitoring Prompts

Set up weekly tracking

What market signals should I track weekly for [product/market]?
Set up monitoring for the most important indicators: competitor activity,
demand trends, new entrants, pricing changes, and customer sentiment shifts.

Monthly market review

Give me a monthly market review for [product/market]. Summarize the
most significant changes in the past 30 days: new competitors, feature
launches, funding rounds, pricing changes, and shifts in customer sentiment.
What should I adjust in my product strategy?

FAQ

How do I use demand validation for roadmap prioritization? Run separate validations for each major feature under consideration. Compare the demand signals and willingness-to-pay data across features. The feature with the strongest demand and highest willingness to pay gets priority — unless risk assessment reveals blockers.

Can I share competitive teardowns with my team? Yes. Competitive teardowns are designed to be shared with product, engineering, and marketing teams. They provide a common understanding of the competitive landscape that aligns decision-making.

How is HolyShift different from traditional competitive analysis tools? Traditional tools scrape public data and compile it. HolyShift tests demand through real conversations and combines that with competitive monitoring. The result is not just what competitors are doing, but how the market actually responds to what they are doing.

What's Next

• For Founders — Prompts covering the full founder journey.
• For Marketers — Prompts focused on positioning and growth.
• Core Concepts — Understand the methodology behind demand validation.