Free Pizza for Tattoos

Food truck trades tattoos for free pizza: Houston's most unusual food promotion returns

On November 22, get one of these tattoos in exchange for free pizza.

Houston's most unusual food promotion returns for its fourth year on November 22. Once again, Pi Pizza Truck owner Anthony Calleo will celebrate his business's birthday with a compelling offer: Pay approximately $200 for a Pi Pizza Truck-themed tattoo and earn one free slice of pizza every day Pi is open.

So many people are interested in the deal that Calleo has moved to a raffle for the 12 available slots. Winners, who will be drawn at Pi's anniversary party at Johnny's Gold Brick, will immediately proceed to a station set up by artist Gabriel Massey of Scorpion Studios. Those interested in taking the plunge may acquire a raffle ticket either from Pi or related local businesses like Blacksmith, Bernie's Burger Bus and Fat Cat Creamery.

Even people who don't want a tattoo should plan to attend to witness a pizza throwing contest, eat free pies prepared by a guest chef and try their luck in raffle that will benefit local LGBTQIA charity HATCH. FYHA will be selling some of their signature designs, too.

"I think that’s funny," Calleo says of the contest. "I just want to be impressed by someone who’s really awesome at it."

For 2015, Massey has created three new designs: A classic tear out-style tattoo featuring an eagle claw holding a pizza slice, a pizza wearing corpse paint and two pizza peels crossed behind an all-seeing eye. Returning designs include the popular "this pizza kills fascists" slice and last year's "Cheezus."

While the promotion has proven to be a successful means of attracting attention, Calleo says he only gives away a few slices per week to people who've taken the plunge. The party and the tattoos are more than just marketing; they're Calleo's way of saying thanks to his customers for their support.

"It’s just insane to me that this is my job," Calleo says. "At the end of the day, I’m really grateful for that. The party is my way to say thanks for that to everybody that comes and eats at the truck or said something about it in a positive fashion to someone they know."

Although he's still working on finding the right location for a brick and mortar location, Calleo's truck has gotten a boost from its post at Johnny's Gold Brick, the Treadsack Group's "bar ass bar" in the former Boom Boom Room space on Yale.

"We’ve been there almost eight months now, and I really enjoy the relationship that I’ve built with the bar staff there," Calleo says. "It’s a lot different than what I’ve done in the past as far as where I’ve been and who I’ve been exposed to. It’s given me access to a new customer base."

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Honor Roll

2 top Texas universities rank among world's best for entrepreneurs

UT Austin/Facebook

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The Lone Star State’s two biggest universities — the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University — also rank among the world’s best schools for entrepreneurs, according to private market database PitchBook.

PitchBook’s annual list of the world’s top 100 universities for entrepreneurs takes into account both undergraduate and graduate programs. PitchBook analyzed more than 222,000 startup founders whose startups are VC-backed.

UT’s “unique” advantage
UT Austin landed at No. 10 on the list, down from No. 8 last year. PitchBook identified 1,002 UT alumni founders at 948 startups. Collectively, those startups have raised $34.7 billion, according to PitchBook.

Among the 948 UT Austin-affiliated startups, these five have raised the most capital:

No. 1 Tucson, Arizona-based World View, $2.8 billion
No. 2 Austin-based Apptronik, $966 million
No. 3 Mountain View, California-based Lightmatter, $821 million
No. 4 Austin-based Function Health, $807 million
No. 5. San Francisco-based Niantic, $779 million

“The unique UT Austin advantage is the alignment between the university and the city,” Foundra.ai says. “Unlike schools where the campus ecosystem and the local startup scene are disconnected, Austin’s startup community actively recruits UT students and alumni, and UT programs actively send students into the local ecosystem.”

Texas A&M’s “living laboratory”
UT Austin’s biggest in-state rival, Texas A&M, appeared at No. 79 on the list, down from No. 76 last year. PitchBook tallied 317 A&M-alumni founders at 295 startups. Collectively, those startups have raised $9.8 billion, according to PitchBook.

Among the 317 A&M-affiliated startups, these five have raised the most capital:

No. 1 Austin-based RigUp, $817 million
No. 2 Austin-based ICON, $543 million
No. 3 Scottsdale, Arizona-based HomeLight, $413 million
No. 4 Everett, Washington-based Zap Energy, $326 million
No. 5 San Diego-based Splice Therapeutics, $320 million

A cornerstone of Texas A&M’s entrepreneurship offerings is the Center for Applied Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Mays School of Business. The business school says the center “helps students explore, test, build, buy, and transform businesses in real markets.”

“Grounded in Texas as a living laboratory and guided by the Aggie core values, the center advances applied learning through industry engagement, AI-enabled experimentation, and collaboration across Mays and Texas A&M,” the business school says.

The most “exceptional” schools on PitchBook’s list
In announcing its rankings, PitchBook said: “Great entrepreneurs can come from anywhere, but some universities have a truly exceptional track record of attracting and producing future founders.”

The most exceptional universities, based on PitchBook’s criteria, are:

No. 1 University of California, Berkeley
No. 2 Stanford University
No. 3 Harvard University
No. 4 Cornell University
No. 5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

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This story was originally published on our sister site, InnovationMap.

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