Matei Psatta, Blindspot, on the age old story of having a problem and building a business to fix your own problem

Find out the story of a digital native that grew up with the tech ecosystem in Romania from Romanian Startups: Roaring Tigers of Europe - The Extended Series, following the documentary launched at the end of 2023.

The documentary "Romanian Startups: Roaring Tigers of Europe", made by the start-up.ro team, spans across 33 years of history, from the first entrepreneurs in the transitional years to the initial technology company transactions that brought Romania into the international spotlight.

Romanian Startups: Roaring Tigers of Europe - The Extended Series will present the people who built the Romanian ecosystem and who discussed with the VideoCorp and start-up.ro team for this documentary. In this series you will find the extensive interviews and find out the stories of those who built entrepreneurship in Romania.

Matei Psatta is the co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Blindspot, with over 14 years of experience in online marketing and advertising, working for companies like GMP, Leo Burnett, Vola.ro, from social media junior to marketing director.

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Blindspot is a Romanian startup that offers a digital platform connected to thousands of digital screens around the world where companies of any level or ordinary people can purchase advertising space on street signs or in buildings for a few hours or 30 days.

"It's the age old story of having a problem and building a business to fix your own problem", Matei mentions.

"My co-founder and I were working on a totally different project. It was something pretty similar with Flipboard and we wanted to promote it on a billboard. So we talked to the landlord and the landlord told us "oh you can't just buy a few hours". Then we started researching the market and we realized this is an actual huge opportunity. For me it was very similar to what Google did with Google Adsense back in the day", Matei told us.

The startup was founded in 2018 and offers the possibility for advertising agencies and brands to run various campaigns on digital billboards in cities all around the world.

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Blindspot is a platform making digital billboards ads accessible, dynamic and efficient for over 20.000 advertisers, including brands like Airbnb, Snoop Dogg, Rihanna, Universal Music, Samsung, P&G, Coca-Cola, Uber, Jaguar, Foodpanda, Deutsche Telekom.

In recent years, the startup stood out through viral campaigns alongside big artists or using the online trends of the moment on billboards in the United States.

They were first launched under the name TPS Engage, went to Techstars, got investments and, in 2022, the cofounding team, with includes Matei Psatta and Bogdan Savonea, rebranded their business as Blindspot, making their way to Times Square and putting advertisers on billboards all over the world.

For the Romanian Startups: Roaring Tigers of Europe, Matei told us how he got from playing Doom on a family PC at a young age to a lifelong journey with tech.

From basic tech to an opportunity too good to pass up

• Matei transitioned from basic tech like pseudo Nokia smartphones in high school to engaging with modern devices and eventually entering the workforce, unexpectedly landing in advertising and marketing due to convenience rather than passion.
• The decision to become an entrepreneur was not driven by dissatisfaction but rather by curiosity and an opportunity that was too good to pass up. Working at Vola.ro, Matei had a pivotal conversation with a mentor who encouraged him to pursue his business idea to avoid future regret.
• The entrepreneurial journey began with a concept formed in 2012, revolving around standardizing the purchase of billboard advertising, inspired by the inefficiencies they encountered.
• However, it took several years for the idea to mature into a business, finally gaining traction as the market evolved to embrace technological innovation.
• The initial venture, initially called The Pole Society, aimed to create a community-driven platform but faced branding challenges due to the name's connotations.
• After much deliberation and realizing a better name wasn't forthcoming, the founding team adopted the name TPS Engage, eventually rebranding to Blindspot for a more consumer-friendly approach.

Structure and focus

• Participating in accelerator programs like Techstars provided structure and focus, although it wasn't the immediate path to success some might expect.
• The experience emphasized that the real hard work begins upon entering such programs, underscoring the importance of commitment and the value of first-time entrepreneurs gaining clarity.

• The global expansion journey presented diverse challenges, from pitching an international business in Dubai to overcoming stereotypes in South Korea, which required resilience and adaptability.
• Cultural differences, such as being straightforward versus politically correct, played a role in adapting to different international markets.

Room for growth

• Matei Psatta highlights the importance of maintaining authenticity and confidence despite cultural differences and industry biases.
• The market dynamics in Romania are evolving, with local investors becoming more informed post-UiPath's success.
• However, Matei thinks that there's still room for growth and a need for more strategic support from VCs, contrasting with the more hands-off, trust-based approach of US investors.
• Establishing in the US emerged as a strategic choice due to the mature market for self-service and programmatic digital out-of-home services, offering greater scalability than what's currently feasible in Romania.
• The shift from scrappy growth to aggressive expansion remains a key focus, aiming to leverage US success for increased demand even back home.
• Reflecting on the entrepreneurial experience, Matei emphasizes the unpredictability of business, recognizing the need to remain adaptable and passionate when navigating new ventures.
• He finds motivation in constant learning, sport, and staying curious, which keeps the entrepreneurial spirit alive even amidst challenges.

Roaring Tigers of Europe is a production by start-up.ro and Videocorp, part of the Romanian publishing company InternetCorp, active for almost 20 years on the market. The documentary was made with the support of partners BCR, Orange, and 2Performant. Community partners included Guran Consulting Global, How to Web, Launch, Impact Hub Bucharest, Flaviu Simihaian, Rubik Hub, SoftServe, and the Romanian-American University.

Watch the entire documentary in the video below: