"These days, every billboard and bus shelter in San Francisco seems to be advertising some kind of indecipherable AI startup. They dot Highway 80 as you cross the Bay Bridge and drive into the city, or they line the side of Mission District buildings. Or they're 34-year-old Nikunj Kothari. "Why buy billboards in SF, when you can just send me swag to market your startup" Kothari wrote on X, shortly before dinner on Labor Day. He did it as a lark, but it kicked off something real."
"Kothari's marketing deal: He wears the company T-shirt or hat sent to him, and he walks the city. "I walk 5-7 miles every day and will wear it for the full day," Kothari's post continued. Any interested companies can see their brand marketed - on the move - through one of the most expensive ad markets in the country, all for the low, low price of sending Kothari some swag."
San Francisco streets are saturated with AI startup advertising across billboards and buildings. Nikunj Kothari offered to market startups by wearing company shirts or hats while walking the city and posting availability on a public calendar. He walks 5–7 miles per day and commits to wearing sent swag for the full day. The calendar filled quickly, and Kothari received 305 requests from 202 companies, ranging from pre-seed startups and firms in India to large public companies like Figma. Kothari runs FPV Ventures, manages nearly $1 billion in investments, and estimates about 90 percent of inquiries are from AI firms.
Read at Mission Local
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