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Gastón Corbala | Concept Developer

@gastoncorbala

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Father. Builder. Concept Developer. Tech Junky.
Founded The Backpackster.
This is the life, the work, the failures and what comes next. Dive Deeper ↯

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The Beginning
San Francisco. 1999/2000.

I was 19, studying International Business and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.

But my entrepreneurial journey started much earlier.

When I was 10, I started my first “business” in the garage of my parents’ house: a candy stand for the neighborhood kids.

I ate all the inventory.

Not exactly my first successful venture.

By 13, I was already grinding alongside my father. Storing inventory, counting, loading and unloading 16 foot trucks, sometimes working until the early morning hours.

That was my real introduction to business.

Years later, my father became my biggest teacher, advisor and mentor. He taught me the grind, how to negotiate, how to sell, how to create something from nothing and that there is no substitute for showing up.

My first serious venture was a wholesale T-shirt business. I designed the shirts, built the branding and sold them into tourist destinations throughout Baja.

And then it failed.

I was young. I had success too early and it went to my head. I lost my feet from the ground.

Looking back, I realize my father was teaching me something much bigger than business.

Wisdom is crystallized pain.

Endurance.
Resilience.
Determination.

A lot has changed since this picture.

Some things haven’t. taken in San Francisco, California by @gastoncorbala

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2 months ago

As a founder, your vision is everything. Ideas live in your mind, then they come to life. How do you conjure them? #FounderVision #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #StartupMindset #CreativeProcess #BusinessGrowth #Visionary

LINK IN BIO by @gastoncorbala

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2 months ago

The Culinary Journey
México 2008.

I was 28, halfway through my second Bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts and Administrative Services.

This picture means more to me than a degree.

My Grandma is beside me. I’ve never met anyone who enjoyed cooking more than she did. Her passion for the kitchen was contagious and she supported me through my early culinary journey. A lot of my connection to food came from her.

At the time, the culinary world was obsessed with innovation. Molecular cuisine was everywhere. Everyone was following Ferran Adrià’s incredible path. Food was being deconstructed, transformed and reimagined.

While many were focused on the next technique, I was thinking about something different.

Scale.

One well executed dish.
A clear niche.
Something people understood.
Something that could move volume and grow.

Tacos were everywhere. Fast food was massive. While everyone was looking at what food could become, I was looking at how big a simple idea could become.

I was also preparing to leave for Argentina for a culinary journey, ready to immerse myself in another food culture and continue learning.

But there was another fight happening behind the scenes at the same time.

A family inheritance. Six lawyers. The Governors office in México. And a decision that would eventually change the trajectory of my life.

That story comes next.

At the time, I had just gotten married, had a five year old, was living in my parents’ house and struggling. But I also had a lot of support behind me.

My Grandma gave me my passion for the kitchen.

My Father gave me an early understanding of business, resilience, determination and consistency; his optimism paved my path.

And somewhere between culinary school, a young family, financial struggle, food, Mexico and an uncertain future, the foundation was already being built.

I was never going to follow just one lane. taken in Mexico by @gastoncorbala

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2 months ago

THE NEGOTIATION
2010

The market had just crashed.

I had just graduated from Culinary School. I was 29, married, had a six year old, living in my parents’ house and trying to figure out what came next.

Then I found myself sitting across the table from the State Governor’s Secretary in Mexico, discussing my family’s inheritance.

Most people thought I was crazy. It cant be done, you are wasting your time, you have a Family.

The government had taken land from my grandfather and distributed pieces of it in exchange for political support and votes.

I asked the Secretary one question:

Where is my Families money?

His answer:

“In a safe place.”

That was the moment I knew this was going to be a very different kind of education.

I had been working on it for years. In 2010, I finally closed the deal.

Six lawyers.
Documents.
Negotiations.
Dead ends.
Pressure.

And eventually, an ultimatum that changed everything.

We recovered more than $350,000.

But here’s the part that makes this period even stranger.

While I was fighting to recover my family’s inheritance, I was also preparing for my next life in business and food.

And somewhere in the middle of all of this, I discovered something I barely understood at the time.

Bitcoin.

I had no idea what it would become.

I just knew there was something happening.

Looking back, 2010 was one of the most consequential years of my life.

I had graduated from Culinary School.

I had a family.

I was out of my parents.

I was no longer broke.

My Brother had just gotten married.

I was negotiating with the government.

I had six lawyers behind me.

I was recovering $350K that everyone told me was gone.

And I was discovering Bitcoin before almost anyone I knew had even heard of it.

What happened to that $350K?

That’s another story.

And what happened after I discovered Bitcoin?

That’s another one. taken in SoCal by @gastoncorbala

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2 months ago

This one is going to male some real damage.
Not because of what it is.
Because of what it can become.
For years, I've been building businesses, failing, rebuilding, changing industries, learning new skills and figuring things out one problem at a time.
From International Business to Culinary Arts.
From food trucks and restaurants to ghost kitchens.
And now, hardware, software, advertising, data and The Backpackster.
This is the first time I'm going to start sharing the full path.
The wins.
The mistakes.
The pivots.
The things that worked.
The things that absolutely didn't.
And what we're building now.
Don't chase pennies !

LINK IN BIO taken in Planet Earth by @gastoncorbala

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2 months ago

THE BREAKTHROUGH
2013

Had a blast with Brian Malarkey at the Thrillist event at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Good food. Good people. Good times.

But behind the scenes, something much bigger was happening.

Greengo Grilled Cheese had started with a food truck, $300 weeks and almost no customers.

We kept showing up.

Craft breweries gave us our first real crowds. Then came tech companies, Hollywood sets, weddings and bigger events.

And suddenly, the little food truck we’d built was getting noticed.

After two years of grinding, an investor approached us.

That conversation changed everything.

The next chapter was about to begin. taken in San Diego, California by @gastoncorbala

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a month ago

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a month ago

Bridging the digital and physical divide. Our tech moves beyond static ads, capturing dynamic movement and human behavior for precise ad retargeting. Imagine the World Cup, but with ads on the move. #AdvertisingTech #DigitalOutofHome #MarketingInnovation #AdTech #FutureOfAdvertising by @gastoncorbala

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a month ago