Weekly Olio #58

Salutations, Olio aficionados! 👋

Happy Hump Day and welcome to the 58th edition of Weekly Olio - your trusty source for giggles, wisdom, and a dash of intrigue courtesy of our tantalizing thought piece (yes, buckle up for Publisher's Parmesan). 🧀

In today's discussion, we cover a revolutionary digital advertising medium in the ad tech industry - The Backpackster.

For context, it is focused on bringing together the walking gig economy in America with advertisers to deliver a real-time interactive advertisement to consumers while making a social economic impact in people’s lives.

Exciting, right? 👏

Will come to that, but let’s first start with the curation.

The Quote󠀢 💭

The Tweet 🐦

Here are some interesting facts about football kits and crests: AFC Ajax got their name from a Greek warrior, Barcelona got their club colours from an English school, and have you ever wondered about Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr?

This edition of Weekly Olio is brought to you by Bay Area Times.

The Infographic 💹

India’s stock market just passed the $4T valuation mark for the first time, edging closer to both Hong Kong ($4.7T) and Japan ($5.5T). China still sits comfortably in 2nd place with $11T in market capitalisation, behind the US at $45T.

The Short Read 📝

Why credit on UPI holds the potential to transform Retail Lending in India - by Nexus Venture Partners

Founded in 2006, Nexus Venture Partners is a venture capital firm that takes a high-conviction approach, serving as inception, seed, or series-A stage partner to founders, actively engaging with them throughout the company lifecycle. With $2.6 billion capital under management, Nexus focuses on two primary investment areas: enterprise software companies globally and technology-powered businesses within India.

The new and innovative concept of 'Credit on UPI' is poised to revolutionize the borrowing landscape in India. With the increasing adoption of digital payments, experts predict a staggering threefold surge in the number of credit cards within the upcoming five years. This remarkable development is set to enhance the convenience, security, and adaptability of payments for all stakeholders involved, including customers, merchants, and financial institutions.

The Long Read 📜

How Jensen Huang’s Nvidia is powering the AI revolution - by Stephen Witt

Stephen Witt is a Los Angeles-based writer, television producer, and investigative journalist. His first book, a narrative history of music piracy entitled How Music Got Free, was excerpted in The New Yorker and nominated for numerous awards.

The company’s Chief Executive Officer took a bold and daring gamble by investing everything in the development of a revolutionary new kind of chip. This audacious move paid off tremendously, propelling Nvidia to become one of the most prominent and influential companies on a global scale. With this remarkable achievement under his belt, the question arises: what groundbreaking ventures will the visionary CEO embark upon next? As the world eagerly awaits his next move, his strategic decisions will certainly continue to shape the future of technology and redefine the boundaries of innovation.

Publisher’s Parmesan 🧀

The Backpackster

What if there was a groundbreaking way to transform digital advertising in the ad tech industry? Imagine harnessing the power of America's gig economy, combining it with advertisers' strategies, to create real-time, interactive advertisements for consumers. What if this innovative approach not only revolutionized advertising but also made a significant social and economic impact on people's lives?

Well, there is one company which is trying to do the same.

Today, we cover a recent interaction with Gastón Corbala, Founder of The Backpackster, with the Weekly Olio team on his entrepreneurial journey so far and his motivation and vision behind starting The Backpackster. So, here we go!

Peeyush: Hi Gaston! Welcome to Weekly Olio! Before we cover all the Wh questions (How? What? When? etc.) on The Backpackster, would be great if you could introduce yourself to our audience. I reckon that you have been associated with a lot of ventures in the past, so some colour on your entrepreneurial journey will be really nice.

Gaston: Hello everyone, thank you for taking the time, I appreciate the opportunity to share my entrepreneurial journey with you. I'm Gaston Corbala, a concept developer in the restaurant and tech industry venturing since 1992.

In 2011, I founded Greengo Grilled Cheese, a gourmet food concept that became a pioneer in the Gourmet Food Truck movement. Scaling from a single food truck to a chain of locations with seven-figure revenue in less than two years, this venture set the stage for my ongoing entrepreneurial endeavours.

Following this success, I introduced Rolling Taco Truck, an Asian/Mexican fusion concept specializing in rolled tacos. In 2014, I launched Grater Grilled Cheese, the first gourmet grilled cheese restaurant in San Diego with multiple locations throughout Southern California.

In 2019, I embarked on the innovative journey of Son of a Toast, introducing the first Toast and Cold Brew Bar concept. This establishment brought a unique culinary experience to the region. Expanding globally, Ghost Kitchen TJ was founded in 2021, introducing the first Ghost Kitchen concept in Mexico, offering a diverse range of eight food concepts and cuisines to meet the evolving demands of the market.

Continuing my entrepreneurial journey in 2022, I founded The Backpackster, a revolutionary digital advertising medium in the ad tech industry.

Focused on uniting the walking gig economy in America with advertisers, this venture delivers data-driven interactive advertisements to consumers while creating a sustainably profitable channel.

Peeyush: That’s quite a feat, I would say! Now, moving on to The Backpackster. What was your thought process behind it? What are you trying to solve? How do you think it will make a difference in the world that we live in?

Gaston: In this concept specifically, my biggest motivator is the hardware integration into the ad tech ecosystem. This integration would allow walkers in the US to make an extra income inside the gig economy, and allow advertisers to fulfil their marketing needs through data-driven technology, thus creating a sustainably profitable channel, bridging advertisement from the web and onto the busiest streets in the USA.

Our tech solution will not only financially empower the socio-demographics without a car, but it will allow brands to bridge their advertisement online directly to consumers, thus helping communities unable to enter the rideshare gig economy and advertisers who want to stand out from the expensive overcrowded online digital advertisement congestion.

Mohit: Okay, that’s quite clear. So, bringing together the walking population in America with advertisers, correct?

Gatson: Not only that, our network of walkers will allow e-brands to market themselves on the busiest streets in the US. Imagine walking in Times Square and bumping into a backpack that's advertising a product you want from Amazon with an exclusive discount code. This is just an example of the creative and interactive capacities that we have planned in the present moment.

Mohit: But why would companies engage with you? What are the advantages for them?

Gaston: The Backpackster addresses several critical challenges in the advertising industry. The saturation of online digital channels makes it increasingly difficult to capture and retain consumer attention. The costs for digital marketing have significantly increased, making it difficult to understand the effectiveness and return on investment

The Backpackster provides a unique solution for hyper-local targeting to reach consumers through an innovative and engaging medium. Our digital OOH technologies allow brands to stand out in the crowded digital space by creating a personalized and rich consumer experience.

We’re basically allowing early adaptors to stand out outside the matrix with data-driven technology.

Mohit: I see. That’s clever and impressive, I would say. I run my own startup in this space and I know the amount of value-add you can do if you could optimize the ad spend of your clients.

Peeyush: While we understand what you are trying to do with the venture, let’s deep dive into the segment itself. How is this space evolving? Do you already have competitors?

Gaston: The ad tech industry is currently in its early stages of merging with digital out-of-home advertising which harnesses a service addressable market of $20 billion and a total addressable market of $793 billion. Not only that, the digital out-of-home advertising industry has a five-year forecasted CAGR of 39%.

Although we have competitors, our focus is not on the top or backseat of rideshare cars, we depend solely on the two legs, our integration capabilities and the right investor.

Peeyush: Mmhmm… And I assume it's a high-margin business. How does the cost stack up?

Gaston: I can say this, our business model has the potential to increase the Valuation Cap Table substantially with this integration in a short amount of time, the cost of doing so is relevant to infrastructure capacities and scalability of walkers.

Peeyush: Cool! I think that’s a good perspective on the business model that you are trying to build. Before we end this, a lot of founders, startup operators and investors read Weekly Olio. Would you like to leave a message for them?

Gaston: Hi everyone, happy holidays. I appreciate the time you took to read. Through the years in my journey, I’ve realized that the foundation of any successful Startup should be rooted in integrity, for the level of focus we have is determined by the intention behind our actions, basic karma really.

Keep hustling, keep dreaming, focus and never lose awareness of how powerful determination is, if virtuously applied.

Chase the phoenix 𖤍

P.S. The Backpackster is currently raising its pre-seed funding round. The capital will be used for the integration of its hardware with various ad networks allowing them to deliver across the additional streams of revenue.

Want to feature your venture in a similar fashion? Just reply to this email with your thoughts and we will circle back to you! :)

Oilo Jobs 💼

• Moderne Ventures | Chicago - Head of Investor Relations

• HelloFresh | Berlin - Director of Product

• Patch | UK - Product Lead

That’s all for this week. If you enjoyed this edition, we’d really appreciate if you shared it with a friend, family member or colleague.

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We’ll be back in your inbox 2 PM IST next Wednesday. Till then, have a productive week!

Peeyush and Mohit

Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author's employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.