Empire Ants is a studio of designers, strategists and engineers that builds the brand, product and strategy behind early-stage businesses, working from one research base so nothing gets lost between handoffs.

Business Strategy

We help founders decide where to play and how to win. That means market and competitor research, positioning, pricing direction and a go-to-market plan, all written down so every later decision can point back to it.

Who it's for

Founders facing a launch, a raise or a new market, who need decisions backed by evidence.

Sound familiar?

  • You're entering a market and need to know who's there and why they win.
  • Your positioning changes depending on who's pitching.
  • You have a launch date but no plan for who you're launching to.

What we offer

Market research & idea validation
Market and industry research, startup and idea validation
Business model & go-to-market
Business strategy and planning, business model, go-to-market, customer and commercial strategy
Competitive & growth strategy
Competitive and positioning strategy, product and portfolio strategy
Strategic advisory for founders
Ongoing advisory and founder's assist

What you get

  • Market and competitor research, sourced and dated
  • Customer interviews and synthesis [CONFIRM]
  • Positioning and messaging
  • Pricing direction
  • Go-to-market and launch plan
  • Decision memos you can share with your team and investors

How it runs

  1. Research
    We map the market, competitors and customers from primary sources.
  2. Insights
    The few things that matter, each with its evidence.
  3. Ideas
    Strategic options and their trade-offs.
  4. Execution
    A plan with owners, dates and the numbers that show it's working.

Timeline

[CONFIRM: typically 2–6 weeks]

Price

[DECIDE: Research Sprint from $1,500; full strategy from $X]

Start with a Research Sprint. Two weeks, fixed price [DECIDE: from $1,500]. We build the research base for your question: your market, your audience and your competitors. Every finding is sourced and dated, and our reading is marked as ours. If you carry on with us, the sprint fee counts towards the project. [CONFIRM]

Start with a Research Sprint →

Questions

Is this a deck or a plan?

A plan. You get the research, the reasoning and the decisions, written so your team can act on them.

Can strategy lead into brand and product work?

Yes. That's the point of one research base: the evidence carries straight into brand and product, so nothing is learned twice.

Case studies

Tweaq

Product Development, Brand Development, Business Strategy

Evee

Naming, Product Identity, Market Research