Most pitch decks fail to answer the critical timing question.
Investors see 100+ pitches monthly. They need to know why your startup matters today, not next year.
The why now slide explains market timing. It shows why your solution works today when it couldn't work before. Without it, investors assume you're too early or too late.
Below: how to build a why now slide that actually convinces investors. Examples from real pitch deck templates included.
What is a why now slide?
The why now slide justifies your startup's timing.
It answers one question: why is this the perfect moment for your startup to exist.
Goes in the first third of your pitch deck. Usually slides 3-5, after problem and solution.
Shows specific market changes that enable your business today:
- New regulations
- Technology breakthroughs
- Consumer behavior shifts
- Competition gaps
Not generic trends like "AI is hot" or "mobile is growing."
The best why now slides create urgency with data. They make investors realize the window is open now and won't stay open forever.
Why now slide examples from pitch deck templates
Different businesses need different timing arguments. Here's how three pitch deck templates approach the why now slide.
Sales pitch deck
This why now slide targets enterprise buyers.
It shows market opportunity through growth data. Enterprise buyers need hard numbers to justify purchases internally. The slide gives them ammunition - competitor movements, ROI timelines, cost of waiting.
Works because it speaks their language. Data over hype.
Full template below:
Startup pitch deck
Early-stage startups face the "too early or too late" question constantly. This template's why now slide proves perfect timing through market inflection points.
Shows what changed in the last 18 months. Technology costs dropping. Consumer behavior shifting. Infrastructure finally ready. The slide builds a case that this exact moment is when everything aligns.
VCs see this narrative daily. This structure actually proves it with specifics instead of generic "the market is huge" claims.
Full template below:
VC pitch deck
Tech investors understand timing deeply.
This why now slide speaks their language - technical shifts, platform changes, API availability. Shows exactly which technical barriers fell recently. Maps where incumbents are vulnerable and for how long.
No fluff about market size. Just hardcore competitive dynamics and technology cycles. Built for investors who've funded winners and losers based on timing alone.
Full template below:
Each template takes a different angle. Pick based on who you're pitching.
What makes a strong why now slide
Four elements separate winning why now slides from weak ones.
Market inflection point
Show a specific change that happened recently. Not a gradual trend.
Stripe's why now: "For the first time, developers can integrate payments without talking to banks."
Uber's why now: "Smartphone penetration hit 65% + GPS became standard + app stores launched."
Point to the exact moment when impossible became possible.
Quantifiable urgency
Numbers that show acceleration. Growth rates jumping. Adoption curves steepening.
"Enterprise cloud spending grew from $30B to $180B in 3 years"
"Regulatory compliance costs increased 5x since new legislation"
"Customer acquisition costs in our space tripled as competition heated up"
Make the change dramatic and measurable.
Competitive advantage window
Explain why moving now gives you an edge. What happens to latecomers.
"First-mover advantage in securing exclusive partnerships"
"6-month head start before big tech notices this market"
"Patent pending on core technology"
Show investors the cost of waiting.
External validation
Third-party proof the timing is right. Industry reports. Competitor moves. Customer behavior data.
"Gartner predicts 80% of enterprises will adopt this by 2027"
"Amazon just announced entry into adjacent market"
"Early customers already asking for this solution"
Let outside sources make your case.
How to create your why now slide
Building a compelling why now slide takes research and ruthless editing.
Start with data collection
Gather everything that proves your timing. Industry reports from the last 24 months. Regulatory changes. Technology cost curves. Competitor funding announcements. Customer surveys showing behavior shifts.
Look for inflection points. When did the curve bend? What specific event triggered change?
Most founders collect 10x more data than needed. That's fine. You'll cut later.
Identify your strongest timing argument
You can't use every proof point. Pick the one that makes investors lean forward.
Maybe it's a new regulation creating mandatory demand. Perhaps costs dropped below a magic number. Could be a platform shift opening new distribution.
Test your argument on advisors. If they don't immediately get why now matters, keep refining.
Structure for maximum impact
Lead with your strongest point. "In January 2024, API costs dropped 90%, making our solution profitable for the first time."
Support with 2-3 additional proofs. Keep each one specific and recent.
End with urgency. What happens if investors wait 12 months? Market saturates? Competitors lock up partnerships? Window closes?
Design for clarity
Your why now slide competes for attention. Make it scannable.
Use charts showing acceleration. Timelines highlighting key events. Before/after comparisons demonstrating change.
Avoid walls of text. If you need more than 50 words total, you're overexplaining.
Common structure that works
Opening statement: The specific change that enables your business.
Supporting evidence: 2-3 data points proving the change is real.
Urgency driver: Why waiting hurts investors.
Visual proof: Chart or timeline making it obvious.
Remember: investors see timing arguments daily. Yours needs to be undeniable. Not just believable - undeniable.
Key questions your why now slide must answer
Investors test every why now slide against four brutal questions.
"Why couldn't this be done 3 years ago?"
Name the specific barrier that existed. Technology too expensive. Regulation preventing it. Consumer behavior not ready. Infrastructure missing.
Airbnb couldn't exist before: widespread broadband + digital cameras + online payment trust.
Be specific. "The market wasn't ready" fails. "GPU costs were $10,000 per unit until 2023" works.
"Why will it be too late in 3 years?"
Show the closing window.
Markets get crowded. First-movers lock up partnerships. Network effects kick in. Switching costs increase. Patents get filed.
Quantify when possible. "By 2027, the top 3 players will control 80% of supply chain relationships."
"What changed in the market recently?"
Point to the catalyst. New regulation passed. Major player exited. Technology breakthrough happened. Consumer threshold crossed.
The change should be observable and irreversible.
Bad: "People are more digital now"
Good: "Apple's new privacy rules killed existing solutions overnight"
"Why is your team uniquely positioned now?"
Timing isn't just about markets. It's about you.
Maybe you worked at the company that created the problem. Perhaps you have exclusive access to distribution. Could be deep expertise in the newly important area.
Connect your background to why this moment matters for your specific team. Others might see the opportunity. Only you can capture it.
Investors ask these questions even if you answer them preemptively. Make your slide so clear that their questions become confirmations, not challenges.
Why now slide design tips
Your why now slide gets 30 seconds of attention. Design determines if investors understand or move on.
Visual hierarchy beats text
Investors scan before reading.
Your key message should hit without reading a word. Use size to show importance. Make your core timing argument 2x larger than supporting points. Bold the numbers that matter.
Color draws eyes. Highlight the inflection point in your chart. Make the urgency deadline red.
Charts that actually convince
Hockey stick growth charts are cliché. Show the inflection point instead.
Before/after bar charts work. Market size in 2022 vs 2025. Cost comparison showing 90% reduction. Time to implement dropping from months to minutes. Simple comparisons that prove dramatic change.
Timeline visualizations tell stories. Mark when each enabling factor appeared. Show convergence.
Avoid complex graphs. If it needs explanation, it's too complicated.
Data presentation that lands
Raw numbers overwhelm. Use comparisons.
Instead of "$50B market" try "10x larger than Uber's initial market"
Rather than "15% monthly growth" show "Doubling every 5 months"
White space is your friend
Crowded slides signal desperation.
One core message. Three supporting points maximum. Single powerful visual. Cut everything that doesn't directly support your timing argument. Save details for appendix slides.
Test the 5-second rule
Show your slide to someone for 5 seconds. Can they explain your timing argument?
If not, simplify. The best why now slides work instantly. No explanation needed. The story tells itself through design.
What investors look for in a why now slide
Investors pattern-match across thousands of pitches. They spot weak timing arguments instantly.
Market timing signals
VCs want to see irreversible changes.
Regulation that just passed. Platform shifts like iOS opening up APIs. Consumer behavior crossing adoption thresholds - think smartphone penetration hitting 80% enabling Uber.
They ignore gradual trends. "Growing 20% annually" means nothing if it's been growing 20% for a decade. Show the knee in the curve. The moment when linear became exponential.
Benchmark Capital partner: "We look for discontinuous change. When something impossible yesterday becomes possible today."
Urgency indicators
Fear drives decisions more than greed.
Show what happens if they pass. Competitors raising rounds. Big tech sniffing around. Patent applications filed. Exclusive partnerships being negotiated. Make waiting feel expensive.
But avoid fake urgency. "Once in a lifetime opportunity" sounds like late-night TV. Use specific timelines backed by evidence.
Competitive advantages
Why you, why now.
Maybe you're the only team that understands both sides of the market. Perhaps you secured exclusive access to critical data. Could be your background at the exact right company at the exact right time.
Investors bet on unfair advantages. Show yours.
Risk mitigation
Good investors think about what kills companies. Your why now slide should address timing risk.
Too early? Show early adopter traction.
Too late? Prove the market is fragmenting, not consolidating.
Wrong catalyst? Provide multiple timing drivers so you're not dependent on one change.
Why investors ignore most why now slides
Five mistakes kill most why now slides.
Generic market trends
"AI is transforming industries" helps nobody. Every pitch says this.
"Digital transformation accelerating" - meaningless. "Cloud adoption growing" - obviously.
Get specific or get ignored. Which AI capability became viable? What exact digital process changed? Why does cloud matter for your specific solution?
Investors see 20 pitches weekly claiming AI/blockchain/metaverse timing. Yours needs precision.
Conflating big market with good timing
$100B market doesn't mean the timing is right.
Online education was massive in 2010. Startups still died because infrastructure wasn't ready. Video streaming sucked. Payment friction killed conversions. Teachers resisted digital.
Show why your slice of that big market is ready NOW. Not the whole market. Your specific opportunity.
Too many timing arguments
Three is plenty. Five is desperate. Ten means you have no idea why timing matters.
Pick your strongest argument and support it. Adding weak arguments dilutes strong ones.
Better to nail one perfect timing insight than scatter-shot ten mediocre ones. Investors remember clarity, not quantity.
Backward-looking proof
"Look how much changed in the last 5 years" misses the point entirely.
Investors buy future returns, not history lessons. Show inflection points happening now. Acceleration starting. Windows opening.
Past performance indicates nothing about timing. Show forward momentum.
No urgency
"This trend will continue" creates no pressure to invest.
Why not wait for Series B? What happens if they pass? Generic growth projections make investors comfortable waiting.
Create legitimate urgency. Competition heating up. Regulations taking effect. Price windows closing. Make waiting feel expensive without being pushy.
The fix is always the same: specific, recent, urgent. nail those three and your why now slide works.
Other pitch deck slides explained
From title slides to financial projections - we cover every slide that matters.
Go-to-market slide →
Problem slide →
Competition slide →
Customer acquisition slide →
Get started with proven why now slides
Building why now slides from scratch wastes time.
Use templates with proven why now slides. Customize in minutes. Track investor engagement to see what resonates.
Pick based on your pitch type:
- Sales Pitch Deck Template for B2B enterprise sales
- Startup Pitch Deck Template for seed/Series A rounds
- VC Pitch Deck Template for technical startups
Each includes a complete why now slide. Ready to customize with your data.
Ellty shows exactly how investors interact with your deck. Which slides they study. When they share internally.
Stop guessing what works. Start knowing.
FAQ
Where should the why now slide go in my pitch deck?
Slides 3-5. After problem and solution, before market size. Investors need context first.
How long should a why now slide be?
One slide. Always one slide. If you need multiple slides, your argument is too complex.
What if my timing isn't obvious?
Then you might not have a venture-scale opportunity yet. Better to build when timing is undeniable than fundraise when it's questionable.
Can I update my why now slide between pitches?
Yes. Update numbers monthly. Swap examples based on investor focus. Keep core argument stable, refresh supporting evidence.
