Jaden Garza is known for founding Nomad Internet, but not everyone knows the full story behind the company. From humble beginnings, Nomad has experienced dramatic growth over the past few years, leading the company to more than 20,000 customers and a standalone building on 10 acres of land. We’ll look at the overall trajectory of the business and the specifics of how it became such a popular option for consumers today and why CNET endorsed the company for its internet packages.
The Long and Short of It
In 2017, Jaden Garza and his wife Jessica Garza were fed up by the lack of internet access in RV parks. The couple weren’t the only ones to feel like this either. No matter where people are these days, our devices bring far more than entertainment value. People use them to map out directions, book appointments, catch up on local news, and so much more.
Jaden Garza decided that there was something to be done, which was what attracted an RV park in Johnson City, TX to ask for his services. From there, he worked to establish himself in the industry and build his clientele one by one. He truly laid the groundwork for his eventual success from Day One. His company, which now offers up to unlimited service for rural areas, was popular from 2017 – 2020, but his services became downright necessary once the pandemic struck.
The First Park
It’s important to point out that the first park Jaden Garza ever worked on did have internet. So it wasn’t a question of starting from scratch, but of how to improve the bandwidth of the park. Before the Garzas, if people could get onto their devices, they might have spent minutes waiting for pages to load. Often, they were timed out of their requests. If people wanted to use more than one device in the same household, the odds of failure were even higher.
The Garzas didn’t have unlimited resources to throw at the park in Johnson City, but they were excellent problem-solvers. The pair used their creativity and tech skills to puzzle out how to conserve costs without negatively impacting their customers. It was also enough to give him the momentum to take on his next project.
The Second Park
Based on the success of Johnson City, landowners started to see the perks of offering better internet, particularly for people who owned full-time RV parks. In a part-time park, people might only stay a day or two as they pass from one town to the next. For them, a lack of internet might be annoying, but by no means the end of the world. In a full-time park, people have several everyday responsibilities, many of which would be made easier by having a reliable internet connection. If owners could offer better internet, they could charge a little more for lot rent.
The Seguin property presented some unique challenges for Jaden Garza. After careful consideration, he decided to capitalize on LTE technology. This required a purchase of an LTE kit and a base station from BaiCells Technology. Garza, who was always concerned about the bottom line, used his negotiation skills to get the best possible price for his client.
The strategy worked. He was able to up the bandwidth by 40 megabytes per second, which was enough to make a major difference for the people in the park. The 50 full-time RVers at the park could now access everything from medical records to Netflix without having to fear constant time-outs.
GSA in San Jacinto
When the Girl Scouts of America (GSA) contacted the Garzas in 2018, it was something of a turning point for them. It was tangible proof that what they were doing was working, and a vote of confidence in what they had already accomplished. The GSA had an RV park in the city of San Jacinto, and they wanted it to have WiFi for the girls and the counselors alike.
The organization had reached out for quotes, but the costs were truly sky-high. One contractor told them it would be no less than 6 figures to do the installation and complete the job. Jaden Garza knew immediately that there was a much more affordable way to get GSA the internet access they needed. After completing the job for a much lower price, the company really started getting more attention. Over the course of the next two years, the Garzas would continue working largely for full-timers and digital nomads alike in the RV parks. Then, Jaden Garza Nomad Internet decided to switch gears to another segment of the population.
Changing the Business Model
In early 2020, Nomad Internet pivoted away from working with RV parks. Jaden Garza decided that his company would be better off working with households directly. The actual services were largely the same but scaled to service individuals instead of whole parks covering larger areas. There were two types of routers offered. One was a larger appliance, made for those who lived in their home full-time. While bigger, it also had the ability to provide a superior signal. The other was a smaller router, built for those who might be hopping around on new adventures. The options proved to be extremely useful to his prospective customer base.
The technology relies on the quality of Nomad’s routers. Rural households can add antennas to the router to boost their signal, allowing them the means to stay connected to the world. During the height of the pandemic, you can imagine the value the Garzas were providing. As remote workers started to explore their options outside the city, their decisions were heavily influenced by what amenities they could expect upon arrival. Knowing that they could get away from the crowds without having to give up WiFi was more than just a nice perk.
Constant Growth
The employees at Nomad Internet found themselves able to move from shared office space to a private office space in fall 2020. Then, they moved again in 2021 to a stand-alone building on 10 acres of land. This was thanks to the jump from 5,000 to 20,000 customers in a very condensed period. The word of their services was getting out, and Jaden Garza wasn’t afraid to expand.
Today, the company encourages creativity and freedom for their employees, creating a culture that leaves people feeling connected to their job for more than just the salary. In fact, Jaden Garza and Nomad Internet took a lot of pride in having the ability to design the office in a way that helped their company feel unique. The work at Nomad Internet isn’t just about turning a profit, it’s about getting WiFi to people who need it most.
Another component of the growth had to do with the endorsements the company was receiving. After proving their worth time and time again, CNET wrote about their services in a review about the best ways for rural communities to get better internet access. This unbiased platform is known for providing people with real information that they can use to make better decisions before spending their hard-earned money. Now, you can find the CNET logo on Nomad’s website, a shorthand way to show people the quality they’re getting.
About Jaden Garza
Jaden Garza, feature founder of Nomad, built his company from scratch after experiencing the lack of WiFi in RV parks. Even as his company grew, he was known for being as economical as possible about his resources. This saved both his company and his customers money, time, and energy. After successfully giving RV parks better internet, he would eventually pivot to work with rural households and digital nomads.
