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The competition slide how to show rivals without shrinking yourself..
Every founder wants the top-right quadrant to themselves. Every investor has seen a thousand decks where it is. The competition slide only earns trust when it concedes something real.
Investment
Three ways to raise.
Fixed price, fixed scope. Pick the tier that matches your raise — from a single deal deck to a full capital-raise kit.
Essential
A sharp investor deck at the length most decks should be — you bring the content, we design it.
5–7 business days
- 12–15 designed slides
- Core investor structure (problem → ask)
- Your brand applied throughout
- Custom charts (market, traction)
- 1 revision round
- Editable PowerPoint source files
Standard
The full raise: we shape the narrative from your inputs at the length investors actually read.
Priority · 4–5 business days
- 15–20 designed slides
- We build the narrative from your inputs
- Full custom chart set
- Matching 1-page investor teaser
- 2 revision rounds
- Editable PowerPoint + source
Complete
A comprehensive deck for detailed raises and sales — full appendix, plus a condensed sales version.
Rush available
- 25–40 slides — deck + appendix
- Custom graphics & data-room slides
- Condensed sales version of the deck
- 3 revision rounds, white-glove
- 30-minute strategy call
- All source files
N° 01What goes wrong
Three versions that investors discount instantly.
01
The empty top-right 2x2
You pick two axes on which you happen to win, plot four rivals in the bottom-left, and place yourself alone in the corner. Investors read this as axis-shopping, not analysis. If no competitor is anywhere near you, the axes were chosen to produce that result.
02
The table where you win every row
A feature grid with a full column of ticks for you and gaps for everyone else. Nobody believes it, and it invites the partner to find the row you left out.
03
‘We have no competition’
This says the market is unproven, not that you are unopposed. The alternative to your product is always something — a spreadsheet, an agency, doing nothing. Name it.
N° 02What works
Concede one thing, and the rest becomes credible.
01
Pick axes that matter to the buyer
Not axes on which you win. If buyers choose on price and integration depth, plot those, even if a rival beats you on one. A slide that admits a real trade-off is worth more than one claiming total superiority.
02
Name the incumbents plainly
Real company names, not ‘legacy providers’. Investors already know who they are, and vagueness reads as either ignorance or evasion.
03
Include the non-consumption option
Spreadsheets, in-house builds, doing nothing. For most early-stage companies the real competitor is inertia, and showing you understand that is a stronger signal than any quadrant.
Questions
The answers we give most often.
- What should the competition slide show?
- The realistic alternatives a buyer weighs, positioned on axes the buyer actually cares about — including the option of doing nothing.
- 2x2 matrix or feature table?
- A 2x2 at pre-seed and seed, where the argument is positioning. A feature table at Series A and beyond, where investors will verify the claims.
- Should I name competitors?
- Yes, real names. Vagueness reads as ignorance or evasion, and investors usually know the landscape better than you expect.
- What if I genuinely have no direct competitor?
- Show the substitute — spreadsheets, agencies, manual process, doing nothing. ‘No competition’ reads as ‘no proven demand’.
- How many competitors should I include?
- Three to five. More becomes unreadable; fewer looks like you have not surveyed the field.
- Where does it go in the deck?
- After the product and before traction. Investors need to understand what you do before they can judge who you are up against.
Next step
Want the whole deck to hold together?
One strong slide rarely rescues a deck. We design the argument end to end.