Speedrun Demo Day: the 6 things best founders in the world do differently

Discover the founder playbook behind A16Z’s Speedrun Demo Day. Learn how 40+ startups pitched to 900+ investors, and what top 1% founders do differently

Last week

a16z speedrun

had it’s demo day: a one day event where their recently accelerated & invested companies pitched in front of +900 investors worldwide.

Marc Andreessen and Jon Lai in a16z Speedrun

I’ve been a founder myself and my mind was blown away by how these founders behaved.

This is what separates top 1% founders from the rest (and how Andreessen Horowitz boosts these

1. They are great storytellers and aren’t afraid of pitching anyone, anywhere

This is Vinay Chandrasekaran, founder of Layerpath

2. They show Proof Over Potential

Speedrun founders don’t talk about what they’ll build. They show what’s already working and is impressive:

“$1.5M in monthly revenue in x months” — Clubs Poker
“$8M pipeline. Signed Salesforce.” — Genway
“$10M GMV. 200K users in just x time” — SweatPals

Genway AI Pitch Speedrun

3. ⚔️ Tension in the First Sentence + aren’t afraid to be bold

Every great pitch opens with tension—a striking stat or visceral insight.

“Cheap drones are the #1 cause of losses in modern combat.” — Mara
“We’re building the Disneyland of social media.” — CoverStar
“We make robot guide dogs for the blind.” — Talis Robotics

✅ Lesson: Open with tension. Hook attention fast.

4. 📈 Metrics That Sell Themselves

You didn’t need a spreadsheet. One line said it all.

“$450K ARR in one city. 3× more dates.” — Sit
“$400K in contracts in 60 days.” — Marlo
“66% repeat attendance. $70K side hustles.” — SweatPals

✅ Lesson: Make traction visual. Make it hit.

5. Founder-Market Fit is off the charts

Plots founders a16z Speedrun

Each top founder had a story that made them inevitable.

“I scaled Rupa from $5M to $75M. Now I’m solving addiction.” — Sunflower
“We’re veterans building for veterans.” — Valor
“I was Tinder’s CTO. Now I’m fixing offline social.” — Plots

✅ Lesson: Make it personal. Be the best person to solve this problem.

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5. ✂️ No Fluff, Just Clarity

They didn’t describe. They translated.

“Plaid for behavioral data.” — Johnny
“Canva for 3D.” — Intangible
“AI employee for influencer marketing.” — Marlo

✅ Lesson: If your pitch isn’t tweetable, it’s too long.

6. Just as good in one on one

This Ahmed Ahres founder of Nativ

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The Speedrun 4 list of companies 🔥

Guillermo Flor at a16z Speedrun Demo Day

Speedrun #4 wasn’t just about a few breakout stars—every founder delivered. Here’s a rapid breakdown of all 40+ companies:

🔮 AI & Productivity

• Genway – AI user interviews at enterprise scale

• Marlo – AI employee for creator/influencer deal flow

• Outcome – AI that maps and unblocks org bottlenecks

• Layerpath – AI demo agents that pitch for you

• Labyrinth – AI user simulators for UX testing

• Deep Prediction – Vision agents that watch users and fix issues

• Chronicler – AI assistant that organizes your self-messages

• Flora – AI-native creative canvas for marketing teams

• Trophy – AI skill coaching for any activity (Rocket League → Welding)

• Sit – AI matchmaker for curated, high-intent dating

💻 Infra, Devtools, Ads

• Johnny – Plaid for behavioral data

• Naet – Native ads infrastructure for AI apps

• Intangible – Canva for 3D content creation

• Unbound – AI-native 3D content engine

🧠 Health & Wellness

• Sunflower – AI sponsor for sobriety and addiction recovery

• Talis Robotics – Guide dog robots for the blind

• CoverStar – Safe social platform for Gen Alpha

👥 Social & Consumer

• SweatPals – Community fitness platform (hosts monetizing like Airbnb)

• Plots – The in-person social network

• Valor – Cashback military discount platform

• Hooper – AI video highlights for basketball games

• Ghosted – Authentic no-filter dating app

• Atori – The luxury Temu (AI-personalized, factory-direct fashion)

🎮 Gaming, Creator, UGC

• Kitbash – No-code, AI-native game builder

• Circle Games – Casual mobile gaming studio

• Alpaca Games – Mobile action games, fast iteration engine

• Great Horn – Discord-native multiplayer game

• Double Dusk – 2-player co-op games with character mechanics

• Mini Studio – AI-powered animation IP studio

• Figment – Infinite storytelling engine for creators

• Clubs Poker – Fast-growing legal poker site

• Edgar – Sweepstakes meets social casino

• Cheddar – TikTok-style sports wagering platform

• Spectre – Web3 x Telegram gaming

🌐 Distribution & Culture

• Native – Visual culturalization AI for global brands

• Darwin – Interactive UGC video creation platform

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My favorite Speedrun companies