Market research is the systematic gathering and analysis of information about a market (customers, competitors, dynamics, trends, size, segments) to inform strategic and operational decisions. It's conducted through primary research (customer interviews, surveys, focus groups, ethnographic studies) and secondary research (industry reports, public data, competitor analysis, academic studies). It's used at strategic inflection points (founding, market entry, new product launch, pivot decisions) and ongoing (customer feedback loops, competitive monitoring). Discipline varies between consumer-product startups (heavy survey and observational research) and B2B startups (deeper customer interviews with fewer subjects). It is the di...