Other companies are doing something completely different - is that a problem?

So which one do you follow?

One competitor of yours is moving upmarket. Fewer deals, higher value, longer cycles to close. They’re going after larger customers, involving more stakeholders, and building a process that can support that.

Another is going downmarket. More volume, faster cycles, lower price points. Simpler product, quicker decisions, more throughput.

Your company sits in between.

Working with a range of deal sizes.
Closing some deals quickly, others over longer cycles.
Seeing variation, rather than a single pattern.

👉 Are we doing this wrong?

Is 36.6 degrees Celsius better than 60 miles per hour?

A comparison only works when the situations actually match.

Otherwise, you’re comparing readings of a thermometer to readings of a speedometer.

Both are accurate.
Both are numbers.
But they tell you completely different things.

If you dig a bit deeper into what’s driving those directions:

Company A (moving upmarket):

• more complex product
• reference customers with higher expectations and longer decision cycles
• more funding and capacity to sustain longer, higher-value deals

Company B (going downmarket):

• simpler, more standardised product
• faster buying decisions
• limited ability to compete upmarket, but strong fit at lower price points

Both directions make sense in their context.

Is one better than the other?

You can say 60 is bigger than 36.6 and you’d be correct.

But you’re still comparing numbers — just not measuring the same thing.

Even if two companies look similar on the surface, they may be operating under very different conditions, solving different problems, or responding to different constraints.

⚡ Only compare what is truly comparable.

The real question is:

👉 Are we doing the right thing?

You might also be seeing something else — both competitors moving away could leave more room in the space you’re in.

If you want to calibrate, comparison can help — but only when what you are comparing to actually matches your situation.

Because this is where the confusion usually shows up:

• other companies at a similar stage doing something completely different
• no clear benchmark that feels directly comparable

So it becomes:

• Are we comparing against something that actually fits?
• Do we know what’s different — and whether it matters?

🚀 What to do next

If this feels familiar, start here:

👉 Run the Second Look Decision Diagnostic to see what’s missing before you decide
👉See why this happens

 👉 📖 Read more on Second Look blog

You can continue with making the decision afterwwards.