This is a unusual billboard ad for an underfunded AI company that turned into an effective marketing campaign. You can click on the image below for the full video.
San Francisco billboard challenge puts AI engineers to the test https://t.co/rje4C0VRHL via @KPIXTV
— John Weller (@JohnWel04552317) September 21, 2025
Alfred Wahlforss, cofounder and CEO of a small startup called Listen Labs, had a big problem: how to compete for artificial intelligence engineers against Silicon Valley giants. So they did something off the wall, spending a fifth of their marketing budget, about $5,000, on a billboard.
To most, it looked like gibberish. To the right eyes, a coding challenge. Solve it and you land on a website and face the real test, build an algorithm to gain access into an exclusive German night club, famed for its nearly impossible door policy.
They expected a few engineers might notice. Then someone posted it online and the puzzle went viral.
In the end, 60 people made the cut, including the winner who scored a night at Berghain, all expenses paid. “It’s a reminder to take risks and do something unique and different and extra extraordinary things happen,” Wahlforss said.
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