How to show your insight and competitive advantage in a pitch deck
Based on advice from Aaron Harris (Y Combinator), Sequoia Capital · Updated 2 October 2026
Short answer
Tell the investor what makes you special, what makes this work and what your insights are. Y Combinator's seed template puts this right after traction and says it may take more than one slide. Sequoia's business plan outline covers the same ground in two parts, why now and competition.
What YC asks for
- What makes you special.
- What makes this work.
- Your insights: what you understand that others don't.
- It can take more than one slide, up to three.
Where it fits
In YC's template the insight comes after traction and before the business model. Proof first, then why it will keep working.
Sequoia's two questions
- Why now? Sequoia asks why your solution hasn't been built before now.
- Competition and alternatives: who your direct and indirect competitors are, and your plan to win.
In your deck
Read your insight slide and ask: could a competitor put the same words on theirs? If yes, it isn't an insight yet.
Real examples
Dropbox (2007) · slide 8
Dropbox's why-now slide: more devices and bigger files, more remote teams, and falling bandwidth and storage prices.
See the whole Dropbox deck
Uber (2008) · slide 6
Uber listed what made it different from a taxi: one-click hailing, fast response, driver ratings and auto-dispatch.
See the whole Uber deck
Airbnb (2008) · slide 10
Airbnb named six advantages, from first to market to host incentives and design.
See the whole Airbnb deck
Read the originals
- How to build your seed round pitch deck · Aaron Harris (Y Combinator)
YC's seed deck template, with what goes on each slide.
- Writing a business plan · Sequoia Capital
Sequoia's outline, including why now and competition.
Questions founders ask
- What is the insight slide in a pitch deck?
- The slide that explains what makes you special and why this works. Y Combinator's seed template puts it after traction.
- Do I need a competition slide?
- Sequoia's business plan outline includes competition. YC's template folds it into the insight: what makes you special compared to everyone else.
- What is a why now slide?
- A slide that explains what changed to make this possible today. It's part of Sequoia's business plan outline, and Dropbox's 2007 deck has a good example.
Get your deck reviewed the same way.
Comments on every slide, the words to change highlighted, and the 3 fixes that matter.
Keep reading
- How to show your business model in a pitch deck
YC's guidance for the business model slide, and how Airbnb, Dropbox and LinkedIn showed how they'd make money.
- How to show market size in your pitch deck
What YC says the market slide must prove, why Andreessen ranks market above team and product, and Gurley on not capping your market at today's size.
- How to build a seed pitch deck: YC's template, slide by slide
Y Combinator's seed deck template explained slide by slide: title, problem, solution, traction, insight, business model, market, team and the ask.
- How many slides should a pitch deck have?
Y Combinator's seed template points to 10 to 15 slides. What famous decks like Airbnb, Coinbase, Intercom and Uber actually used.