Hey, this is Napkin Notes: we’re Spotify Wrapped but instead of revealing your favourite artists, we introduce you to the hottest startup ideas (like a16z and Techstars pitch off next week) so you can join, partner or invest in their startup idea before the world finds out.

Side note: if a founder friend sent you this newsletter, subscribe so you don’t miss the next one.

Top up your Aeropress coffee, it’s time to hit our menu for the day.

🍽 Today’s Line-Up

• 📰 Startup news recap

• 🤝 Wanna meet Techstars and a16z's top alumni?

• 🔒 Request access to tier 1 VC firm demo days

• 💡 Startup ideas of the week

• ☕️ Swipes of the week

 📰 News Recap

Latest news: OpenAI has a new board. Cybertrucks are on the road. Mark Cuban sold his majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks. a16z and Techstars are pitching their startup ideas next week. The marketing person who invented Spotify Wrapped deserves a hell of a raise for taking over the internet each year. An AI company named Pika raised $55M to redesign video editing. Charlie Munger and Henry Kissinger passed away. And you finally finished your Thanksgiving leftovers in the fridge.

Now let’s get to the goods.

📖 The Origin Story of Techstars & a16z

It’s storytime. And we’re cracking open a good one.

It’s a walk back in time to teach you about two of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious startup brands: a16z and Techstars. Why now, you ask? Because we’re hanging out with them next week to host their founders for a pitch off and want you to feel up to speed on why they’re such powerhouses in the startup world if you run into them in the demo day.

Together a16z and Techstars have:

• 💸 grown to $36B+ in assets under management

• 🌎 impacted 20,000+ entrepreneurs through programs / investing

• 📰 scaled to accelerator alumni market cap value of $105B

• 📝 Had 31 years of existence

Techstars was founded in 2006 by David Cohen, Brad Feld, David Brown and Jared Polis. Since then, they’ve positioned themselves as “the largest startup network in the world" with 54 programs and 14 countries. They’ve also been growing their VC cycles and are leaning in to become the world’s most active pre-seed investor.

Andreessen Horowitz was launched in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. It coins itself on being a VC firm that backs bold founders from seed all the way to the growth stage and has $35B in assets under management to prove it.

While a16z has invested in Facebook, Slack, Instacart, Robinhood, and Postmates. Techstars has inked deals with Uber, Classpass, Twilio and SendGrid.

It’s fair to say, both a16z and Techstars are both impressive and worthy of being on any founder’s cap table. And what a16z had in VC power, Techstars has in alumni count.

They both have picked unique ways to scale and it’s fair to say, any new accelerator or venture fund looks to them for inspiration.

💰 Here’s the More Timely Question:

Now that they’ve both proven to attract unicorn founders, how do you get ahead of the next big founder they’re gonna invest in?

Our best guess is watching the demo days that they’re alumni are presenting at. And lucky for you, they’re happening next week right on our Kernal Dealroom platform. All you have to do is request access to join in.

Digging the deal flow? Share this newsletter with an investor friend of yours to keep an eye on our next demo day schedule.

🕹 How to Navigate their Demo Day

During the demo day, if a startup idea catches your eye all you have to do is hit the “invest” or “connect” button and badda bing, badda boom, you’ll be connected after their pitch for a conversation.

We hate to say it, but it’s never been easier to get introductions to invest in early-stage founders from top programs like a16z and Techstars.

From a16z, some founders we’ll hear from include:

• Alina Matson and Samara Fantie, founders of Glossbird

• Al Adjahoe, Jerome Howard and William “BAM” Sparks, founders of Culture Wireless

• Amen Rahh, founder of K12 Crypto

• Austin Webster and Darrell Thompson, founder of Deepr

• Dana Wilson, founder of CHIP

From Techstars, some founders we’ll hear from include:

• Devina Desai, founder of Kinometrix

• Etienne Louvet, founder of IONA

• Dan Botero, founder of inlike

• Nyamitse-Calvin Mahinda, Founder of Vital Audio

• Brendan Lawlor, Founder of Kilsar

And plenty more. To get the full list, check out the founder line-ups here.

Getting excited? Hit the button below to request a seat.

Want a sneak peek of what ideas will be pitched on stage?

Scroll below.

💡A Sneak Peak of Their Startup Ideas

🍷 Swipes of the Week

Have an awesome weekend.

💚 The Kernal Fam