Module 06 · The fundraising deck~17s dwell · weight 7
Competition
Show you understand the landscape and have a defensible wedge. Underrated by founders, scrutinized by investors, they spend ~17 seconds here.
Include
- Who you really compete with, including the status-quo workaround
- Why you win for a specific segment (not on every axis)
- Your durable advantage: data, distribution, cost, or workflow lock-in
- The one thing you deliberately don't do
Cut
- 'We have no competitors'
- A 2x2 rigged so you're alone top-right
- Ignoring the incumbent workaround (usually Excel + email)
- Rating every competitor worse on every axis
Red flags a reader notices
- 'We have no competitors', reads as naivety
- Every competitor worse on every axis (transparently rigged)
- No mention of the status-quo tool most customers use
Pitfalls behind them
- The 2x2 axes are chosen so you're alone in the winning quadrant.
- The 'status quo workaround' (Excel, email, in-house tools) is missing entirely.
- Every competitor is scored worse than you on every axis, transparently rigged.
60-second self-test
- · Is the incumbent workaround (the tool 60%+ of prospects actually use today) on the slide?
- · Can you name one axis on which a serious competitor legitimately beats you?
Template
[Incumbent A] owns [segment]. [Incumbent B] owns [segment]. Most customers still use [status quo]. We win [our segment] because [durable advantage].
Weak
"We have no direct competitors."
Strong
"Deel & Remote.com own enterprise EOR. Rippling owns US-first mid-market. 63% of remote-native software cos still stitch a US EOR + Wise + a spreadsheet, that's our wedge, and we win because Nimbus is one vendor of record in 40 countries, paid from Slack."
Names real incumbents by segment, names the real workaround (EOR + Wise + spreadsheet), and states a defensible wedge in one line.
Quick quiz
1. Saying 'we have no competitors' usually signals…
- ○ A true blue ocean.
- ✓ That you haven't looked hard enough or don't understand the market.
Investors read this as naivety almost every time.
2. The strongest competition slide includes…
- ✓ The status-quo workaround, not just funded competitors.
- ○ Only Series B+ competitors, to look serious.
Excel + email is the #1 competitor for most B2B startups.