The Philosophy Behind the Name
Before there were term sheets, before there were investment committees, before there were data rooms and quality of earnings reports — there was a napkin and a handshake. The biggest deals in history started as sketches on cocktail napkins, ideas scrawled over dinner, numbers worked out on the back of an envelope between two people who saw an opportunity and acted on it.
That is the spirit behind Napkin Deals. Not the informality — the accessibility. The idea that a deal should not require a Goldman Sachs relationship or a $50M minimum to get professional representation. That mergers and acquisitions should be available to any business owner, in any country, at any scale.
A napkin deal is any deal, anywhere, between anyone. It is the democratization of transaction advisory — and it is long overdue.
A Brief History of Deals Done on Napkins
The napkin deal is not a metaphor — it is a historical fact. Some of the most consequential business arrangements in modern history began as informal agreements sketched on whatever paper was available.
In the world of venture capital, early-stage commitments were routinely made over lunch with nothing more than a handwritten term outline. The formality came later. The conviction came first. Harvard Business School's research on deal origination found that more than 40% of successful acquisitions in the lower-middle market originated from informal introductions rather than structured auction processes.
The lesson is clear: deals are made between people, not between institutions. The infrastructure that follows — the legal documentation, the financial analysis, the regulatory compliance — is essential, but it is the means, not the origin. Every transaction begins with two parties who believe they can create value together.
Napkin Deals exists to honor that origin while providing the institutional infrastructure that turns napkin-sketch ideas into closed transactions.
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The Democratization Thesis
Investment banking has operated on the same model for decades: large teams of expensive professionals serving a small number of large clients. The economics are simple — a 2% success fee on a $500M transaction generates $10M in revenue. The same fee on a $5M transaction generates $100K, which barely covers the cost of the team's time.
This economic reality has created a two-tier market. At the top, business owners receive world-class advisory with global buyer reach, institutional-quality materials, and competitive auction processes. Below the threshold — which McKinsey's financial institutions practice estimates at roughly $25M in enterprise value — sellers are largely on their own. They get a listing on a marketplace, maybe a local broker, and little else.
Napkin Deals was founded on the thesis that technology can collapse the cost of delivering institutional-quality M&A services, making them available to every business owner regardless of deal size. This is what we call M&A for the rest of us — the idea that the quality of your representation should not be determined by the size of your balance sheet.
By combining AI-powered systems with experienced human advisors, we deliver the same process that a $500M seller receives — buyer identification, professional materials, structured outreach, negotiation support — at a fraction of the traditional cost.
How the Platform Enables Any Deal Type
The Napkin Deals platform is not limited to a single transaction type. While M&A advisory is the core offering, the infrastructure supports any structured transaction between willing parties:
- Full acquisitions — traditional buy-sell transactions where ownership transfers completely
- Minority investments — growth equity, venture capital, or strategic minority stakes
- Joint ventures and partnerships — structured collaborations between operating businesses
- Cross-border transactions — deals that span jurisdictions, currencies, and regulatory frameworks
- Real estate and asset transactions — property, equipment, and IP transfers tied to operating businesses
- Recapitalizations and liquidity events — partial exits, dividend recaps, and balance sheet restructuring
Operating from Canada and the U.S. with reach worldwide, the platform is designed for the reality of modern deal-making: global, multi-jurisdictional, and increasingly cross-cultural. The common thread is not the deal type — it is the principle that every transaction deserves professional execution.
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Real Examples of Napkin Deals in Action
The beauty of the napkin deal philosophy is its universality. Consider these scenarios that represent the range of opportunities the platform handles:
A SaaS founder in Toronto with $3M ARR wants to explore strategic options but does not know whether a full sale, a growth equity round, or a strategic partnership is the right path. Traditional bankers would not take the call. At Napkin, the founder receives a full landscape analysis and advisory on the optimal path forward.
A family-owned manufacturing business in Germany has been approached by a competitor about a potential acquisition. The family has never been through an M&A process and needs guidance on valuation, negotiation strategy, and deal structure. Napkin provides the full advisory stack — from initial valuation through closing.
A portfolio company in the Gulf is looking to acquire complementary businesses in Southeast Asia as part of a regional expansion strategy. They need buy-side deal sourcing, screening, and due diligence support across multiple jurisdictions. Napkin's global network and AI-powered screening tools make this feasible at a scale that would require a team of 20 at a traditional advisory firm.
Each of these is a napkin deal — an opportunity that started as an idea and was brought to life through structured professional execution. You can submit your own deal to start the process.
The Napkin Deals Difference
What separates Napkin from traditional advisory firms is not a single feature — it is a fundamentally different operating model built on three principles:
Technology-first execution. AI handles the high-volume, repetitive tasks that traditionally consumed 70% of an advisory team's time: buyer sourcing, outreach, follow-up, pipeline management, and document preparation. This frees human advisors to focus entirely on strategy, relationships, and negotiation. Deloitte's Technology in M&A report projects that AI-augmented advisory firms will process 5x the deal volume of traditional firms by 2028.
Global-native infrastructure. Most advisory firms are regional. They know their local market but lack the relationships, regulatory knowledge, or operational capability to execute cross-border transactions efficiently. Napkin was built global from day one — operating globally, with buyer networks spanning every major market.
No deal too small. Because technology collapses the cost of execution, Napkin can profitably serve deal sizes that traditional firms cannot. A $2M business receives the same process quality as a $200M business — structured outreach, professional materials, competitive buyer engagement, and experienced advisory. This is the democratization thesis in practice.
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From Napkin to Close
The journey from idea to closed transaction involves many steps — preparation, valuation, marketing, negotiation, due diligence, and closing. Each step has its own complexity and its own risks. But every journey begins with the same thing: a decision to explore.
Whether you are a founder considering your first exit, an operator looking to acquire, a family office seeking direct investments, or an entrepreneur with a thesis and a napkin — the platform is built for you. Explore our comprehensive M&A guide to understand the full process, or dive into specific topics like submitting an off-market deal or understanding how AI and humans work together to deliver better outcomes.
A napkin deal is not a small deal. It is any deal. And every deal deserves to be done right.