April 6, 2026 • 19 mins
Wilman Vergara, MHI is a healthcare innovator and technology entrepreneur redefining how brands connect with audiences through immersive digital experiences.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Joining me today is Wilman Vergar, the founder and CEO
of Nosus. So first, Willman tell me about Nosis and
its mission statement.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Sosis is pretty much a fan engagement technology, right that
the gig's fans in a way that hasn't been done
thus far. The only analogous technology that is out there
is Pokemon Go, So we always use the the the
metaphor of imagine if Pokemon Go and group On had
a baby. That's pretty much what we do in the
fan engagement space, right, and that direct to consumer aspect
(00:28):
that is kind of lacking now in the industry. We're
breaking through at this moment with the World Cup being
right around the corner, So that's pretty much what we
do at this point.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
All right.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
So when you search Nosis online, basically you first thing
comes up is Japanese metal core band. So how do
people find you?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
How do people learn about you?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Sure? So the way they learn about us and find
this is by googling Nosis Engage or going to www.
Dot nosis engage dot com to learn more about our
platform and our technology.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
So tell me a little bit about the technology itself.
You were giving me a little bit a few minutes ago,
but really you know what does this mean?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Definitely. So we started off as a native application, you know,
like one you would download from like the App Store,
Google play Store. Unfortunately, we found a lot of friction
as it relates to people having app fatigue downloading another
app with the thousands that are probably already on their phone.
So now we've evolved into what we call you progressive
web app technology. It is proprietary because we do have
a patent on our methodology and our utility, so our
(01:32):
platform does not require any download whatsoever. The way the
users access our experience is either a scanic QR code,
we could give them a private link, or we can
integrate into any native app using our API connectivity technology.
So that's kind of how our platform works. We use
augmented reality right, which is all the rage at the moment,
(01:53):
where we project digital assets right on a user's phone
and they can engage an interact with them, creating a
digital experience digital plus digital, physical plus digital.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Right.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
So what inspired you to take on the role of
CEO and what's been the most rewarding part so far?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yes, so my true inspiration is my grandmother, right. She
pretty much started very young down in our beloved Columbia
where little to no schooling, helping her mother out in
her pottery making business, right because she is, you know,
half Indigenous and half a white, so she pretty much
(02:29):
grew that into an empire through a restaurants, through buying
property and so on and so forth. So somebody like
that being you know, a woman back in the fifties
and sixties with little to no schooling to pretty much
make it. I mean, that was my inspiration from an
entrepreneurial perspective, right, So me being having all the help,
knowing three languages, living in the United States, it only
(02:49):
made sense that I also pursued the entrepreneurial space to
become a CEO of a company. And you know, once
I graduated from Arizona State University with my master's in
health innovation, this was where Nosis was born. You know,
we did start off as a health and wellness and
centivization platform, where last year we pivoted to the brand
and fan engagement space given the attraction we developed after
(03:12):
piloting this platform in an international basketball tournament. So that's
kind of bringing it full circle from that perspective where
you know, my grandmother has been my inspiration and then
now my ability to want to grow and give back
to the community also inspired me to you know, pretty
much be a part of this entrepreneurial journey, which hasn't
been easy.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
So what's been the most rewarding part?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Then? So, the most rewarding part has been being able
to see the difference that I can make in you know,
people's lives. Right not only with the you know, small
revenue we've generated thus far, we've given back right to schools,
to other communities as well, but also being the kid
out in various BOSL final in San Jose, California, we
did international basketball tournament down to Managing Columbia. Seeing people
(03:56):
scan the QR code and go through the experience, their smiles,
they're you know, they're having fun in an area where
normally they wouldn't have. It's much fun, so to speak. Uh,
that's been the most rewarding part. And creating these innovative
and engaging experiences for these events and for these brands
and having them come back to use us again.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
All right, So how do you personally define success as
a leader in this business environment?
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Well, the obvious one from a success perspective is obviously
generating your revenue and getting to you know, exit in
the near future. Right, obviously, that is every entrepreneur's dream
almost from that perspective, that is the obvious one. Now intrinsically,
my personal success, how I define it is being able
to make a difference and leave the legacy. Right, Did
I impact a community? Did I impact a certain segment
(04:43):
of the population and or even market? That is my
definition of success. When people go out there and say, hey,
this is like Nosis, not the other way around. That
is where we believe we've been successful, that people compare
other products to ours and not our other products. So
that's how we would define success from that aspect.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
You're a South Floridian originally from Hyaliah. So how does
South Florida play a role in shaping Nosis in its mission?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, I mean I grew up in Hialia, Florida. Right,
I mean went to high school at Robert Goldman Senior High. Right,
go Gators, And so that that pretty much shaped me
as as a person, given that all my life I've
played soccer. Right, Soccer has been huge in my or
football as is known in the rest of the world,
in my life and because we're now in the fan
and brand engagement space. I play in a space now
(05:34):
that doesn't feel like work. And so South Florida being
a huge immigrant, immigrant community, right, mostly Latin American. You know,
soccer is ubiquitous, right. We have from soccer clubs to
you know, coaches, to you know, fandom, and we are
seeing with the avage of the World Cup just around
the corner, the amount of traction of the South Florida
has built around the hard rock stadium. So it shaped
(05:57):
me to the extent of being spoiled to be raised
around so many cultures, so many languages, so many just
essentially the melting pot that you know. Being able to
travel the world from Dubai to Columbia to the UK
to France, it's been very easy, almost like a fish
in water so to speak, that everywhere I go, I
(06:17):
can kind of fit in and be able to you know,
engage that culture and have an open mind because I
was raised in an area where you know, lots of
cultures prevailed and there were there were many things that
were happening at the same time. So that kind of
helps me, you know, not only from the time management
perspective juggle a lot of things, but being able to
also get along with a lot of folks from various
cultural backgrounds because of my upbringing in South Florida.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
What's been the biggest challenge you've faced as CEO and
have you been able to overcome it?
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Oh? I mean how long do we have? So so,
the biggest challenge has been, you know, getting over the
hump of us being a novel technology to people actually
wanting to use us and pay for our services. Right
because at the end of the day, if we're not
making money, we're's just a hobby. So so the biggest
challenge has always been, you know, getting people over that
(07:06):
oh this is cool, this is great, but you know,
turning that butt into hey, let's do this. So that's
been to me. The biggest challenge from a business perspective,
from a personal side is being able to balance you know,
work life balance, right my family, because I do have
a nine year old son, a twenty two year old
step son and a wife. So having these late night
(07:27):
meetings with companies and partners out of Dubai or China,
or early morning meetings for that matter as well, you
know kind of takes away from the experience when we're
either on vacation or whatever the case may be. Where
sometimes if I'm in a different country, it turns into
a business trip sometimes because of some of the contacts
that I've developed all over the world. Right, So that's
kind of been the most challenging part where balancing that
(07:50):
where I need to kind of segment, Hey, we're on vacation,
we're having fun, and I need to turn the CEO
mindset off. But at the same time, I can't let
an opportunity go. Given where we're at at this juncture,
that need to kind of jump out every opportunity we
can get.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
You're just talking about making the jump from being a
novelty technology to getting customers to want to pay for
the service. So what innovative strategies have you been able
to implement to keep Nosis going and growing?
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah, so pretty much we've we've kind of used AI
in that perspective, right where you know, AI has kind
of helped in being able to find some innovative strategies
UH to to penetrate the market. We've also just launched
our new UH our newest animated video where we have
like this Pixar esque theme going on, which has been
a hit with a lot of the folks that we've
(08:35):
shared it with you know, and and also learning you know,
new languages right. I'm currently learning Arabic because of the
interest that we've had in the Middle East as a
relate to our technology in Saudi Arabia, in Dubai as
well as in in Jordan. And so that that's pretty
much been the key to where some of these folks
(08:55):
in the business world appreciate the fact that you're trying
right and just and just because you go back extra mile,
you know, taking a page out of Dale Carnegie's How
to Win friends and influence people. That usually leads to
either a great business relationship or a great personal relationship,
which either or is a win for me, right. And
so we've kind of, you know, shifted from being very
salesy and trying to push our product onto people more
(09:19):
to building these relationships and having our businesses closed in
a more natural or or fluid aspect of things right
during the conversation as opposed to a business meeting for
that matter. So that's kind of how we shifted and
began and been innovative in this respect, especially with the
World Cup around the corner. We've developed some tools and
(09:39):
some assets and some media that we've been able to
throw out there and promote where we've gained some traction
and some interest, where our technology wants to be or
is sought out to be used in the World Cup,
and the fan engagement space you.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Were talking about earlier.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
You mentioned philanthropy and how important it is to be
giving back. Talk to me why community engagement is important
to you as a leader.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Sure so, I mean I'm of the philosophy of if
you took the elevator up to reach the top, you
have an obligation to send it back down, right. I
mean I understand that not everyone has the same opportunities
I did, or perhaps they do and are just one
chance or one person believing them away to getting over
that hump, right and understanding that dynamic exists, I always
(10:25):
try to always give back, be a mentor when people
you know either write me on LinkedIn or send me
a direct message asking me for guidance on some way,
shape or form, I try to at least point them
in the right direction, and if I'm not the right person,
or help them as much as I can. Right now,
that's saying much where unfortunately I've reached out to people
via LinkedIn or other methods and they just leave me
on red. Right. I know the feeling, I know how
(10:47):
I know how horrible that feels. So I try not
to do that to the folks who reach out to me,
either cold calling or whatever the case may be. Right,
I try to be of service in some way, shape
or form. So giving back either through mentoring, through financial donation,
or through resources and or materials, you know, to me
is just a small piece that I can contribute at
(11:08):
least right now. So when hopefully, when we do blow up,
be able to kind of give back on a grander
scale to the community, especially down in South Florida who
holds near and dear to my heart, and more importantly
down in places like Columbia where you know there there
are in need of some you know, resources and aspects
of kind of you know, help and get that next
generation of either leaders and or innovators you know off
(11:30):
off the ground.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
What advice do you give to somebody who wants to
become a CEO like you don't.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Do it now, I'm just kidding well, to know that
their discipline and dedication will be talent one hundred percent
of the time, right, you know, some folks who are talented,
you know, may they may, you know, get over that
hump and break into the scene, right, but that may
be short lived. The person who is disciplined, the person
(11:59):
who is dedicated to what they do, be it time management,
be a person of your word, stick to your guns,
never compromise your integrity. It may take a little longer
for you to be successful, but in the end that's
going to mean more than just that short term satisfaction,
satisfaction of that success that you may have received earlier
with just the talent you've had. Right. Obviously, talent plus
(12:21):
dedication at discipline is the perfect storm and perfect combination
to be successful. But you've seen the quotes and whatnot
from either athletes or other entrepreneurs that dedication at discipline
will always beat out talent. So as long as you're dedicated,
love what you do, stay disciplined, stay of the course,
and you know, things will fall into place if you,
you know, never give up on what you're trying to do,
(12:42):
and obviously progress on a day to day and have
those little wins to keep you going.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
You were talking just briefly about the World Cup, how
important it is for the company in the near future.
So where do you see nosis going over the next
five years, well.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Over the next five years, given how technology evolves very quickly, right,
especially with the advent of AI, and how that's being
more leveraged more and more as it relates to technology, right,
you know, we see us evolving into the you know,
blockchain space, you know, as well as the digital collectible space,
even though that that kind of fizzled out, you know,
(13:19):
the whole NFT craze. However, you know, the way we
envision that is a way for folks to engage in
this sports realm in a way that has been done
in real life, but now in digital form. Right, so
that only not only cops, but.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
It seems like we lost you so.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Right now, the average customer acquisition costs for traditional engagement
is roughly around seventeen dollars, right, using a platform like ours,
with the technology we're trying to implement, that brings that
cost down drastically to about seventy cents per user or
per customer engagement. So that's where we see ourselves and
being that cheaper, way, more affordable way or cost saving
(13:59):
aspect of engaging fans and activating brands so that way
companies can increase their revenue but also engage fans in
a way that is novel, that is fun, and that
could give them the opportunity to explore these this digital
collectible space, uh a more more robust blockchain technology as
we evolve and hopefully you know, in the next five
to six years potentially you know exit allah Pokemon Go
(14:21):
where they sold for about three point five million to
the Saudi Public Investment Fund, and that kind of gives
us some inspiration to where to where where to aspire
to in the next couple of years from an acquisition perspective.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Right, let's transition a little bit over to well next
and what problem was it created to help solve?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
So Wellness brands obviously have their their mo right wherebeit
is the physical activation where they go out and do
either yoga, running marathons, ice bucket you know, or or
ice plunge, whatever the case may be. But now we're
offering them a way to you know, engage their their
their their their customers and an exposure brand from a
(15:01):
director consumer perspective that has not been done thus far.
The only analogous technology right now that exists is a
Pokemon Go and another company you know out of Minnesota
does something something similar but not quite what we do right,
So we're starving the problem in being able to have
people and drive folks to their stands, to their booths,
to their events, and incentivize them to do so, you know,
(15:24):
the brand can offer either discount or a free prize
or what have you. We've seen an extreme success rate
where about ninety four percent engagement increase in these types
of campaigns that we've had, and AR based campaigns have
about almost a two hundred percent engagement rate to those
that are non AR based campaigns. So that's a solution
that we're bringing of the lack of engagement with these
(15:46):
attendees at these conferences or at these events. And so
that's where well Next has partnered with us where we'll
hopefully start off with Miami and move on with them
to New Orleans and other cities that they're applying to
go into in the future.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
We're beginning with MYA, So, why is Miami the right
home for this festival?
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Well, I mean Miami is synonymous with you know, beauty,
with health, with wellness, with all that. I mean, we've
seen all the conferences, we've seen every everything, you know,
moving down to your offices down in the Coral Gables
area and to the Brickell area and into the wind
Wood area where growing up, I mean, it wasn't a
place you wanted to go. Right now it's been you know,
revitalized and it's in a huge business hub for the
(16:27):
health and wellness community, right, which is why well NIXT
chose Winwood for the spot to launched the very first event.
So Miami is is pretty much a place where when
you go out there, you're at the beach, you're you
see people running, you see people you know, always looking
their best. And so this is the best place to
kind of go out there and be able to showcase
(16:48):
a a an event like well next to kind of
kick things off and start off on the right foot.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
So how do you and your customers balance and wellness
trends and what's real and then ends up having that
lasting impact on buddy.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah. So one of the things to go back to
the whole you know Pokemon go analogy or precedent, right,
was that what the technology of ar brand activation or
engagement showed was that that actually increased or decreased a
sedentary lifestyle, right and increased what we call you know,
active physical activity where folks saw an increase of about
(17:22):
ten to fifteen thousand more steps per day because the
technology was so engaging and so fun. Now, when you
take that with with what we're trying to do, health
and wellness becomes almost like a byproduct of our technology offering. Right,
people have to actually have to walk and physically go
up to our digital assets using their phone. So think
of this as a scavenger hunt, going around a mall
(17:44):
or going around a park, going around the whole wellness festival,
collecting the digital assets, then coming back to our booth
or even the brand partners booth to collect their prize. Right.
So that's how we kind of make that connection between
our technology and health and wellness where it only makes
sense because we did start off a health and wellness
incantivization app, and we only recently pivoted to the brand
engagement having health and wellness become a secondary or even
(18:06):
a byproduct of our services and our offerings.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
So what does success look like for well Next beyond
ticket sales?
Speaker 2 (18:16):
So I think well Next UH should be that that
UH festival or that is synonymous to what is innovative
and what is a forthcoming in the wellness A health
and wellness space. Right, I see it almost like a
CES for health and wellness. You know that that that
that event that's always invading, Yeah, the career, the consumer
(18:37):
electronics show that you see in Vegas for the latest
and greatest technology. So I see well next being that
in the health and wellness space. Now seeing them and
some of the partners that they're bringing on board, right,
I believe one of them that they've announced is is
a company that that creates water out of air. Right,
That to me is you know, he has huge implications,
especially in places where water is is a luxury. Right.
(18:58):
We think of you know, my beloved Umbia in La Bohita,
the Northern Peninsula where they actually have these type of
machines that capture moisture from the air, create potable water
and people able to drink here. Right. So partnering with
companies that do that kind of stuff wellness is I
believe in, and the cutting edge of the health and
wellness industry advanced space, and so I kind of see
them evolving into the equivalent to a cs BE in
(19:20):
the health and wellness space.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Thank you for joining me today, Willman.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
That was Willman Forgara, the founder and CEO of Gnoss,
Joining me today is Wilman Vergar, the founder and CEO
of Nosus. So first, Willman tell me about Nosis and
its mission statement.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Sosis is pretty much a fan engagement technology, right that
the gig's fans in a way that hasn't been done
thus far. The only analogous technology that is out there
is Pokemon Go, So we always use the the the
metaphor of imagine if Pokemon Go and group On had
a baby. That's pretty much what we do in the
fan engagement space, right, and that direct to consumer aspect
(00:28):
that is kind of lacking now in the industry. We're
breaking through at this moment with the World Cup being
right around the corner, So that's pretty much what we
do at this point.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
All right.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
So when you search Nosis online, basically you first thing
comes up is Japanese metal core band. So how do
people find you?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
How do people learn about you?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Sure? So the way they learn about us and find
this is by googling Nosis Engage or going to www.
Dot nosis engage dot com to learn more about our
platform and our technology.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
So tell me a little bit about the technology itself.
You were giving me a little bit a few minutes ago,
but really you know what does this mean?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Definitely. So we started off as a native application, you know,
like one you would download from like the App Store,
Google play Store. Unfortunately, we found a lot of friction
as it relates to people having app fatigue downloading another
app with the thousands that are probably already on their phone.
So now we've evolved into what we call you progressive
web app technology. It is proprietary because we do have
a patent on our methodology and our utility, so our
(01:32):
platform does not require any download whatsoever. The way the
users access our experience is either a scanic QR code,
we could give them a private link, or we can
integrate into any native app using our API connectivity technology.
So that's kind of how our platform works. We use
augmented reality right, which is all the rage at the moment,
(01:53):
where we project digital assets right on a user's phone
and they can engage an interact with them, creating a
digital experience digital plus digital, physical plus digital.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Right.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
So what inspired you to take on the role of
CEO and what's been the most rewarding part so far?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yes, so my true inspiration is my grandmother, right. She
pretty much started very young down in our beloved Columbia
where little to no schooling, helping her mother out in
her pottery making business, right because she is, you know,
half Indigenous and half a white, so she pretty much
(02:29):
grew that into an empire through a restaurants, through buying
property and so on and so forth. So somebody like
that being you know, a woman back in the fifties
and sixties with little to no schooling to pretty much
make it. I mean, that was my inspiration from an
entrepreneurial perspective, right, So me being having all the help,
knowing three languages, living in the United States, it only
(02:49):
made sense that I also pursued the entrepreneurial space to
become a CEO of a company. And you know, once
I graduated from Arizona State University with my master's in
health innovation, this was where Nosis was born. You know,
we did start off as a health and wellness and
centivization platform, where last year we pivoted to the brand
and fan engagement space given the attraction we developed after
(03:12):
piloting this platform in an international basketball tournament. So that's
kind of bringing it full circle from that perspective where
you know, my grandmother has been my inspiration and then
now my ability to want to grow and give back
to the community also inspired me to you know, pretty
much be a part of this entrepreneurial journey, which hasn't
been easy.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
So what's been the most rewarding part?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Then? So, the most rewarding part has been being able
to see the difference that I can make in you know,
people's lives. Right not only with the you know, small
revenue we've generated thus far, we've given back right to schools,
to other communities as well, but also being the kid
out in various BOSL final in San Jose, California, we
did international basketball tournament down to Managing Columbia. Seeing people
(03:56):
scan the QR code and go through the experience, their smiles,
they're you know, they're having fun in an area where
normally they wouldn't have. It's much fun, so to speak. Uh,
that's been the most rewarding part. And creating these innovative
and engaging experiences for these events and for these brands
and having them come back to use us again.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
All right, So how do you personally define success as
a leader in this business environment?
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Well, the obvious one from a success perspective is obviously
generating your revenue and getting to you know, exit in
the near future. Right, obviously, that is every entrepreneur's dream
almost from that perspective, that is the obvious one. Now intrinsically,
my personal success, how I define it is being able
to make a difference and leave the legacy. Right, Did
I impact a community? Did I impact a certain segment
(04:43):
of the population and or even market? That is my
definition of success. When people go out there and say, hey,
this is like Nosis, not the other way around. That
is where we believe we've been successful, that people compare
other products to ours and not our other products. So
that's how we would define success from that aspect.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
You're a South Floridian originally from Hyaliah. So how does
South Florida play a role in shaping Nosis in its mission?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, I mean I grew up in Hialia, Florida. Right,
I mean went to high school at Robert Goldman Senior High. Right,
go Gators, And so that that pretty much shaped me
as as a person, given that all my life I've
played soccer. Right, Soccer has been huge in my or
football as is known in the rest of the world,
in my life and because we're now in the fan
and brand engagement space. I play in a space now
(05:34):
that doesn't feel like work. And so South Florida being
a huge immigrant, immigrant community, right, mostly Latin American. You know,
soccer is ubiquitous, right. We have from soccer clubs to
you know, coaches, to you know, fandom, and we are
seeing with the avage of the World Cup just around
the corner, the amount of traction of the South Florida
has built around the hard rock stadium. So it shaped
(05:57):
me to the extent of being spoiled to be raised
around so many cultures, so many languages, so many just
essentially the melting pot that you know. Being able to
travel the world from Dubai to Columbia to the UK
to France, it's been very easy, almost like a fish
in water so to speak, that everywhere I go, I
(06:17):
can kind of fit in and be able to you know,
engage that culture and have an open mind because I
was raised in an area where you know, lots of
cultures prevailed and there were there were many things that
were happening at the same time. So that kind of
helps me, you know, not only from the time management
perspective juggle a lot of things, but being able to
also get along with a lot of folks from various
cultural backgrounds because of my upbringing in South Florida.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
What's been the biggest challenge you've faced as CEO and
have you been able to overcome it?
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Oh? I mean how long do we have? So so,
the biggest challenge has been, you know, getting over the
hump of us being a novel technology to people actually
wanting to use us and pay for our services. Right
because at the end of the day, if we're not
making money, we're's just a hobby. So so the biggest
challenge has always been, you know, getting people over that
(07:06):
oh this is cool, this is great, but you know,
turning that butt into hey, let's do this. So that's
been to me. The biggest challenge from a business perspective,
from a personal side is being able to balance you know,
work life balance, right my family, because I do have
a nine year old son, a twenty two year old
step son and a wife. So having these late night
(07:27):
meetings with companies and partners out of Dubai or China,
or early morning meetings for that matter as well, you
know kind of takes away from the experience when we're
either on vacation or whatever the case may be. Where
sometimes if I'm in a different country, it turns into
a business trip sometimes because of some of the contacts
that I've developed all over the world. Right, So that's
kind of been the most challenging part where balancing that
(07:50):
where I need to kind of segment, Hey, we're on vacation,
we're having fun, and I need to turn the CEO
mindset off. But at the same time, I can't let
an opportunity go. Given where we're at at this juncture,
that need to kind of jump out every opportunity we
can get.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
You're just talking about making the jump from being a
novelty technology to getting customers to want to pay for
the service. So what innovative strategies have you been able
to implement to keep Nosis going and growing?
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah, so pretty much we've we've kind of used AI
in that perspective, right where you know, AI has kind
of helped in being able to find some innovative strategies
UH to to penetrate the market. We've also just launched
our new UH our newest animated video where we have
like this Pixar esque theme going on, which has been
a hit with a lot of the folks that we've
(08:35):
shared it with you know, and and also learning you know,
new languages right. I'm currently learning Arabic because of the
interest that we've had in the Middle East as a
relate to our technology in Saudi Arabia, in Dubai as
well as in in Jordan. And so that that's pretty
much been the key to where some of these folks
(08:55):
in the business world appreciate the fact that you're trying
right and just and just because you go back extra mile,
you know, taking a page out of Dale Carnegie's How
to Win friends and influence people. That usually leads to
either a great business relationship or a great personal relationship,
which either or is a win for me, right. And
so we've kind of, you know, shifted from being very
salesy and trying to push our product onto people more
(09:19):
to building these relationships and having our businesses closed in
a more natural or or fluid aspect of things right
during the conversation as opposed to a business meeting for
that matter. So that's kind of how we shifted and
began and been innovative in this respect, especially with the
World Cup around the corner. We've developed some tools and
(09:39):
some assets and some media that we've been able to
throw out there and promote where we've gained some traction
and some interest, where our technology wants to be or
is sought out to be used in the World Cup,
and the fan engagement space you.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Were talking about earlier.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
You mentioned philanthropy and how important it is to be
giving back. Talk to me why community engagement is important
to you as a leader.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Sure so, I mean I'm of the philosophy of if
you took the elevator up to reach the top, you
have an obligation to send it back down, right. I
mean I understand that not everyone has the same opportunities
I did, or perhaps they do and are just one
chance or one person believing them away to getting over
that hump, right and understanding that dynamic exists, I always
(10:25):
try to always give back, be a mentor when people
you know either write me on LinkedIn or send me
a direct message asking me for guidance on some way,
shape or form, I try to at least point them
in the right direction, and if I'm not the right person,
or help them as much as I can. Right now,
that's saying much where unfortunately I've reached out to people
via LinkedIn or other methods and they just leave me
on red. Right. I know the feeling, I know how
(10:47):
I know how horrible that feels. So I try not
to do that to the folks who reach out to me,
either cold calling or whatever the case may be. Right,
I try to be of service in some way, shape
or form. So giving back either through mentoring, through financial donation,
or through resources and or materials, you know, to me
is just a small piece that I can contribute at
(11:08):
least right now. So when hopefully, when we do blow up,
be able to kind of give back on a grander
scale to the community, especially down in South Florida who
holds near and dear to my heart, and more importantly
down in places like Columbia where you know there there
are in need of some you know, resources and aspects
of kind of you know, help and get that next
generation of either leaders and or innovators you know off
(11:30):
off the ground.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
What advice do you give to somebody who wants to
become a CEO like you don't.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Do it now, I'm just kidding well, to know that
their discipline and dedication will be talent one hundred percent
of the time, right, you know, some folks who are talented,
you know, may they may, you know, get over that
hump and break into the scene, right, but that may
be short lived. The person who is disciplined, the person
(11:59):
who is dedicated to what they do, be it time management,
be a person of your word, stick to your guns,
never compromise your integrity. It may take a little longer
for you to be successful, but in the end that's
going to mean more than just that short term satisfaction,
satisfaction of that success that you may have received earlier
with just the talent you've had. Right. Obviously, talent plus
(12:21):
dedication at discipline is the perfect storm and perfect combination
to be successful. But you've seen the quotes and whatnot
from either athletes or other entrepreneurs that dedication at discipline
will always beat out talent. So as long as you're dedicated,
love what you do, stay disciplined, stay of the course,
and you know, things will fall into place if you,
you know, never give up on what you're trying to do,
(12:42):
and obviously progress on a day to day and have
those little wins to keep you going.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
You were talking just briefly about the World Cup, how
important it is for the company in the near future.
So where do you see nosis going over the next
five years, well.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Over the next five years, given how technology evolves very quickly, right,
especially with the advent of AI, and how that's being
more leveraged more and more as it relates to technology, right,
you know, we see us evolving into the you know,
blockchain space, you know, as well as the digital collectible space,
even though that that kind of fizzled out, you know,
(13:19):
the whole NFT craze. However, you know, the way we
envision that is a way for folks to engage in
this sports realm in a way that has been done
in real life, but now in digital form. Right, so
that only not only cops, but.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
It seems like we lost you so.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Right now, the average customer acquisition costs for traditional engagement
is roughly around seventeen dollars, right, using a platform like ours,
with the technology we're trying to implement, that brings that
cost down drastically to about seventy cents per user or
per customer engagement. So that's where we see ourselves and
being that cheaper, way, more affordable way or cost saving
(13:59):
aspect of engaging fans and activating brands so that way
companies can increase their revenue but also engage fans in
a way that is novel, that is fun, and that
could give them the opportunity to explore these this digital
collectible space, uh a more more robust blockchain technology as
we evolve and hopefully you know, in the next five
to six years potentially you know exit allah Pokemon Go
(14:21):
where they sold for about three point five million to
the Saudi Public Investment Fund, and that kind of gives
us some inspiration to where to where where to aspire
to in the next couple of years from an acquisition perspective.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Right, let's transition a little bit over to well next
and what problem was it created to help solve?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
So Wellness brands obviously have their their mo right wherebeit
is the physical activation where they go out and do
either yoga, running marathons, ice bucket you know, or or
ice plunge, whatever the case may be. But now we're
offering them a way to you know, engage their their
their their their customers and an exposure brand from a
(15:01):
director consumer perspective that has not been done thus far.
The only analogous technology right now that exists is a
Pokemon Go and another company you know out of Minnesota
does something something similar but not quite what we do right,
So we're starving the problem in being able to have
people and drive folks to their stands, to their booths,
to their events, and incentivize them to do so, you know,
(15:24):
the brand can offer either discount or a free prize
or what have you. We've seen an extreme success rate
where about ninety four percent engagement increase in these types
of campaigns that we've had, and AR based campaigns have
about almost a two hundred percent engagement rate to those
that are non AR based campaigns. So that's a solution
that we're bringing of the lack of engagement with these
(15:46):
attendees at these conferences or at these events. And so
that's where well Next has partnered with us where we'll
hopefully start off with Miami and move on with them
to New Orleans and other cities that they're applying to
go into in the future.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
We're beginning with MYA, So, why is Miami the right
home for this festival?
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Well, I mean Miami is synonymous with you know, beauty,
with health, with wellness, with all that. I mean, we've
seen all the conferences, we've seen every everything, you know,
moving down to your offices down in the Coral Gables
area and to the Brickell area and into the wind
Wood area where growing up, I mean, it wasn't a
place you wanted to go. Right now it's been you know,
revitalized and it's in a huge business hub for the
(16:27):
health and wellness community, right, which is why well NIXT
chose Winwood for the spot to launched the very first event.
So Miami is is pretty much a place where when
you go out there, you're at the beach, you're you
see people running, you see people you know, always looking
their best. And so this is the best place to
kind of go out there and be able to showcase
(16:48):
a a an event like well next to kind of
kick things off and start off on the right foot.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
So how do you and your customers balance and wellness
trends and what's real and then ends up having that
lasting impact on buddy.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah. So one of the things to go back to
the whole you know Pokemon go analogy or precedent, right,
was that what the technology of ar brand activation or
engagement showed was that that actually increased or decreased a
sedentary lifestyle, right and increased what we call you know,
active physical activity where folks saw an increase of about
(17:22):
ten to fifteen thousand more steps per day because the
technology was so engaging and so fun. Now, when you
take that with with what we're trying to do, health
and wellness becomes almost like a byproduct of our technology offering. Right,
people have to actually have to walk and physically go
up to our digital assets using their phone. So think
of this as a scavenger hunt, going around a mall
(17:44):
or going around a park, going around the whole wellness festival,
collecting the digital assets, then coming back to our booth
or even the brand partners booth to collect their prize. Right.
So that's how we kind of make that connection between
our technology and health and wellness where it only makes
sense because we did start off a health and wellness
incantivization app, and we only recently pivoted to the brand
engagement having health and wellness become a secondary or even
(18:06):
a byproduct of our services and our offerings.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
So what does success look like for well Next beyond
ticket sales?
Speaker 2 (18:16):
So I think well Next UH should be that that
UH festival or that is synonymous to what is innovative
and what is a forthcoming in the wellness A health
and wellness space. Right, I see it almost like a
CES for health and wellness. You know that that that
that event that's always invading, Yeah, the career, the consumer
(18:37):
electronics show that you see in Vegas for the latest
and greatest technology. So I see well next being that
in the health and wellness space. Now seeing them and
some of the partners that they're bringing on board, right,
I believe one of them that they've announced is is
a company that that creates water out of air. Right,
That to me is you know, he has huge implications,
especially in places where water is is a luxury. Right.
(18:58):
We think of you know, my beloved Umbia in La Bohita,
the Northern Peninsula where they actually have these type of
machines that capture moisture from the air, create potable water
and people able to drink here. Right. So partnering with
companies that do that kind of stuff wellness is I
believe in, and the cutting edge of the health and
wellness industry advanced space, and so I kind of see
them evolving into the equivalent to a cs BE in
(19:20):
the health and wellness space.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Thank you for joining me today, Willman.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
That was Willman Forgara, the founder and CEO of Gnoss,
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