Few slides reveal more about a founder than the competition slide. In a single glance, an investor can tell whether you understand your market, whether you are honest about your position, and whether you have a real reason to win.
Unfortunately, it is also the slide most often built on autopilot: a grid of logos, a column of green ticks for you and red crosses for everyone else. Investors have seen that slide thousands of times. It rarely convinces anyone.
Never say you have no competition
Every business has competition, even if it is a spreadsheet, a manual process, an agency or the option of doing nothing. Claiming otherwise signals one of two things: you have not looked, or there is no market. Neither helps.
Naming the alternatives, including the unglamorous ones, shows you understand how customers solve the problem today. That is exactly what investors want to know.
What the slide needs to prove
- You know who else is in the space.
- You understand why customers choose them.
- You have a specific, defensible reason customers will choose you instead.
That third point is the whole purpose of the slide. Everything else is context.
Formats that work
The 2×2 positioning map
Choose two dimensions that genuinely matter to buyers — price and ease of use, say, or depth of features and speed of setup — and plot the market. Done well, it shows an open space that your product occupies.
The trap is choosing axes purely so you land in the top-right corner. Investors can tell. The axes should reflect what customers care about, not what flatters you.
The comparison table, done honestly
Tables work when the criteria are meaningful and you are willing to show where competitors are strong. A table with a few ticks in the other columns is more believable than one where you win on every row. Limit it to four to six criteria that matter to buyers.
Categories of alternative
Sometimes the most useful view groups competitors by approach: legacy software, point solutions, consultants, in-house tools. Then explain why each approach falls short for your customer. This works particularly well in new or fragmented markets.
Make the differentiation specific
“Better user experience” and “AI-powered” are not differentiators. Everyone claims them. Look for something concrete and hard to copy:
- A proprietary data set or integration others cannot easily access
- A distribution advantage, such as a partnership or an existing customer base
- A cost structure that lets you profitably serve customers others cannot
- Deep expertise in a niche that larger players ignore
- Measurable results: faster setup, lower cost, higher conversion
Then make that single advantage the visual focus of the slide. Everything else should be quieter.
Design details that matter
- Use the headline to state your edge. “The only platform built for multi-site clinics” beats “Competitive Landscape”.
- Keep logos consistent. Same size, same treatment, ideally monochrome, so no competitor visually dominates by accident.
- Highlight yourself with colour, not decoration. Your brand colour on your row or position is enough. Stars, glows and badges look insecure.
- Keep it current. An investor who knows the space will spot a missing competitor or an outdated claim immediately.
Be ready for the question
The follow-up is nearly always “What stops a bigger company from doing this?” Have a clear, calm answer. It might be focus, speed, a structural advantage or a market too small for them to prioritise yet. Whatever it is, the slide should set it up, and you should be able to finish the thought in one sentence.
An honest competition slide does not make you look weaker. It makes everything else in the deck more believable.
Need help positioning your company against the competition? Get in touch — it is one of the slides I spend the most time on.