In a separate post here, I wrote about an overall framework that entrepreneurs could use to think about competition -- and how to handle the issue in your VC pitch.
I think the framework is still good for the intended purpose, and I continue to dispense this advice to my "Sherpa" companies today.
There is, however, an additional set of competitors that I didn't mention, which is also very important -- although entrepreneurs will never mention them in pitch decks. For any particular VC whom an entrepreneur is soliciting, this set of competitors is all the other startups seeking funding from that VC.
Due to this, VCs with good deal flow (i.e., the one's you want to pitch) have overloaded attention spans. As a VC, it's easy to feel overwhelmed with the number of "interesting" pitches on one's desk. Triage on early-stage companies is hard to do, and FOMO is alive and well. Accordingly, the takeaway for entrepreneurs is that, to get funded, the first thing they must do is get the VC to even pay attention to their pitch materials.
So, make sure your prepare your pitch materials with this in mind: your reader is getting barraged with pitches from other startups. You need to find a way to stand out from the crowd. Don't bury the lede.