We learned about Steve Blank’s Petal Diagram during Sept. 16th’s EFF webinar held by MIT. A petal diagram can help identify competitors, and can be the second best way to conduct a competitive analysis (first being actually getting in front of the folks). Put your idea in the center of a piece of paper, circle around it the four or five customer segments you think your product would serve. Then, research which companies are currently serving those customer segments with similar products.
Here’s more – http://steveblank.com/2013/11/08/a-new-way-to-look-at-competitors/