I've been sent ~500 startup pitch decks in the past 3 years. And a common facepalm moment is the competition slide.

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You know the ones I mean - the 'Here's 5 features we have that our competitors don't' slides, or the 'We chose an X and Y matrix that makes us look good' slides. Not totally useless, but almost.

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I've had enough. This is the hill I will die on.

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Here’s some simple tips for writing a better slide.

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Don't (just) do this
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Or this
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Why not?
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These slides talk about differentiation. 

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But that, in itself, is not terribly helpful. Because it might be entirely irrelevant that you have a higher quality product, or that you’re easier to use, or that you have “AI capability” (whatever that is). My local barista makes a sumptuous flat white, but that will not be the reason they unseat Starbucks.

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Put simply - no investor cares about your differentiation unless it's meaningful. Unless it's a key reason why you will beat the competition. So it's your job as a founder to make it crystal clear not just what your differentiation is - but why it will be critical to success in your market.

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These slides also totally fail to address +30% of what should be on a competition slide - defensibility (i.e. why fast-followers won’t out-compete you over time).

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Instead, articulate why your differentiation is meaningful (& your defensibility)

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The best competition slides outline 3 things:

1. Your differentiation (limited to your strongest points)
2. Why it's critical to success in your market
3. How you will defend yourself against competition over time

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Resist - I repeat resist - the temptation to believe 2 & 3 are implicit. Trust me, 90% of the time they're not.

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Cool, so give me an example

Here's a template, and a fictitious application of it (with apologies to Spotify).

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I'm not pretending this is perfect (the design could be 10X'd for starters).

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But it is far more helpful - and powerful - than most competition slides. Because it shows that you understand (or at least have a view on) what the critical drivers of success in your market will be.

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So when you next hunker down to write your pitch deck, consider showing the reader not just your differentiation, but why it matters.

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Paddy Stobbs is Co-Founder of Stackfix. Stackfix helps startups find the right software, fast. If you or any company you know are looking for CRM / Customer Support / Applicant Tracking / HRIS software - go to www.stackfix.com (it's totally free).