We Made Up Our Own Market: The Real Story Behind Startup Competition
You’ve probably seen it. The pitch slide with the perfect X-Y quadrant. The startup’s logo is alone in the upper-right. It’s clean. It’s confident. It’s complete BS—unless you’ve done your homework.
In this episode of Zero to Traction, JDM (Josh David Miller) and Cameron Law unpack one of the most misunderstood parts of the startup pitch: the competition slide. But this conversation isn’t about how to make it pretty. It’s about what it says about your entire business.
Here’s what most founders get wrong—and how to flip the script.
The Three Silent Confessions in a Bad Competition Slide
When a founder says, “We have no competition,” investors don’t hear confidence. They hear one of three confessions:
You didn’t do your homework.
If someone can find your competitors in a two-minute Google search, you’ve lost credibility. Even worse? If you don’t mention them, you might as well be saying, “I didn’t care enough to check.”You don’t understand your customer.
If you can't name how people currently solve the problem—even if it's janky spreadsheets or DIY hacks—you’re showing you haven’t walked a mile in their shoes.There’s no market.
No competition might not mean you're first. It might mean there's no demand. That’s not innovation. That’s a red flag.
It's Not About Competitors—It’s About Competition
A key mindset shift: competition ≠ competitors.
Sometimes your biggest threat isn’t another startup. It’s a spreadsheet. Or a pill. Or even nothing—because status quo inertia is real.
Take the mattress example from Ash Maurya: if you’re selling better sleep, your competition might be melatonin, not memory foam. Because what customers really want is the outcome—not your clever features.
Your job isn’t to list logos. It’s to connect the dots between what customers want and how they're trying (and failing) to get it. That’s where you live. That’s your niche.
Turn the Competition Slide Into a Strategic Weapon
When you demonstrate how you fit into the customer’s current behavior, you’re also signaling:
Market timing: Others are in this space. The market is active.
Customer insight: You know who you’re serving and what they’ve tried.
Go-to-market strategy: If they’re Googling melatonin, maybe that’s where your Google Ads go.
Early traction clues: Have people cobbled together a workaround? That’s your early adopter. Start there.
Airbnb didn’t find their users on a “marketplace for short-term home rentals.” That didn’t exist. Instead, they found people searching Craigslist for temporary places to crash. That was the competition. That was the channel. That’s how they got traction.
It's All Connected: Slides, Strategy, and Startups
Here’s the truth: if building your deck feels hard, the problem probably isn’t the slides. It’s the business.
When founders struggle with the competition slide, it’s usually because they haven’t figured out who their customer is, what problem they’re solving, or how their solution fits into the existing world.
Which brings us to the best advice from the episode:
“The best way to improve your pitch… is to build a better business.”
— JDM
Your deck isn’t performance art. It’s a reflection of your thinking. So when you talk about competition, you're really telling the story of your customer, your market, and your edge.
TL;DR: Competition Is a Lens
Don’t just show up with the quadrant. Show up with clarity.
Understand what your customer currently does to solve the problem.
Identify the real threats: substitutes, workarounds, or indifference.
Use the slide to show insight, not just differentiation.
And remember—if you have no competition, you might have no market.
And if you're pitching and still not sure what to put on that slide?
Ask yourself: “What would my early adopter be doing today if I didn’t exist?”
Now go build your quadrant from there.
Bonus Frivolity (Because It’s Zero to Traction)
JDM recommends Only Murders in the Building—now with 100% more meta and Meryl Streep. Cameron’s watching Great British Bake-Off, where bakers pass out and yet still manage more camaraderie than most startup cohorts.
If you're building a startup, may your pitch earn a Paul Hollywood handshake.
About Josh David Miller
Over the past decade, Josh David Miller has empowered over 100 startup founders and innovators to launch and scale their ventures. As the driving force behind the Traction Lab Venture Accelerator,
Josh specializes in guiding early-stage startups through the intricate journey from ideation to product-market fit. His expertise lies in transforming innovative concepts into viable, market-ready solutions, ensuring entrepreneurs navigate the challenges of the startup ecosystem with confidence and strategic insight.
About Cameron R. Law
Cameron R. Law is a Sacramento native dedicated to building community, growing ecosystems, and empowering entrepreneurs.
As the Executive Director of the Carlsen Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at California State University, Sacramento, he leverages his passion for the region to foster innovation and support emerging ventures. Through his leadership, Cameron plays a pivotal role in shaping Sacramento's entrepreneurial landscape, ensuring that innovators and builders have the resources and support they need to succeed.
