From Berkeley to Paris: TOPPAN, SuperApps, and a Truly Heroic Amount of Bread
Project Country: France / IBD Client: TOPPAN Security
Abridged version of the TOPPAN Security blog post – Spring 2026
Written By: Jonathan Kocks, Angel Ade-Oduntan, Bill Tsai, and Elana Klein
Some IBD teams fly across the world with a clean agenda, a polished workplan, and maybe one or two fun weekend ideas. Our team arrived in Paris with all of that, plus two engagements, one accidental carb-loading incident, a gym membership, a growing obsession with the TOPPAN SuperApp, and a shared understanding that if a city offers this much bread, cheese, wine, and opportunity for side quests, we were morally obligated to participate.
Before we even made it to France, Bill had already gotten engaged in Taiwan and then proceeded to make like Magellan and circumnavigate the globe (SF→ Taiwan→ Paris → Amsterdam → New York → SF). By the time we all gathered at the hotel on Sunday, May 17, the trip already felt like it had a prequel. We celebrated our official arrival with dinner at Bouillon Pigalle, where Angel and Bill tried escargot because, as we all reminded ourselves approximately 800 times throughout the trip: when in France! It was the perfect first night: a little chaotic, very Parisian, and full of the kind of team bonding that only happens when everyone is jet-lagged but trying to seem normal.
Monday, May 18: First Day on the Job
Our first day at the TOPPAN office felt like a very chic first day of school, mostly because the office was located in the Emporio Armani building right on the Champs Elysees in Paris’ famous 8th arrondissement. Nothing says ‘student consulting project’ quite like walking into a luxury fashion building with your backpack, laptop, and several half-formed questions about digital identity verification.
We met with Chad, had a great team lunch, and walked through the plan for the next two weeks. We also tested the TOPPAN SuperApp, which quickly became one of the main anchors of our work. It was exciting to move from months of desk research and Zoom calls into actually seeing, touching, and discussing the product in person. It also immediately clarified how much more productive in-person collaboration can be, especially when working through a complex and fast-moving market like European Digital Identity Wallets.
Thursday, May 21: Client Meeting, Seine Picnic, and Ricard – A Cautionary Tale
Thursday was a big client day. We had a two-hour meeting with the broader TOPPAN team, where we presented our early thinking on product archetypes, pricing considerations, and partnership analysis. It was a productive conversation and helped us pressure-test what was resonating, what needed sharpening, and where the client wanted us to go deeper.
After a full week of intense work compressed into four days, we decided to celebrate the warm weather with a picnic by the Seine. The division of labor was flawless: Elana got two baguettes, Jon got meats and cheeses, Bill got wine (!!!), and Angel got pastries. This is what Professor Pyke would call operational excellence.
The Seine picnic was one of those perfect Paris moments that makes you briefly forget your Google Slides, your revenue model, and the fact that you still need to make 47 decisions before the final presentation.
Weekend, May 22-24: Four People, Four Very Different French Adventures
For the weekend, the team split up to explore France in our own ways. Elana went to Beaune and got engaged, which was obviously the highlight of my trip and also raised the team’s already strangely high engagement count to two. Bill went to Lyon, Jon went to Nice, and Angel toured Paris from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in what can only be described as a true death march. Some people relax on weekends. Angel apparently becomes a professionally certified urban explorer.
It was a great reset before the final push. Everyone came back with stories, photos, and just enough rest to pretend we were ready for the most important week of work.
Tuesday, May 26: Workshop Day
Tuesday was one of the most important days of the project. We led a full-day workshop designed to address open questions head-on and encourage the client team to share more insight on their goals, priorities, and constraints in a discussion-based setting. Instead of simply presenting at the client, we wanted to use the day to co-create clarity: What product architecture made the most sense? Which target verticals should TOPPAN prioritize? How should pricing be structured? Who was the buyer? What channels could realistically get the product into market?
The workshop was extremely helpful. Fabrice asked thoughtful questions, Chad helped clarify context, and the team was able to have a more open conversation about where the opportunity was strongest and where the remaining uncertainty lived.
After lunch, we briefly continued the workshop to discuss open source considerations and came away with a much clearer path for Thursday’s final presentation.
Wednesday, May 27: Sticky Notes, No AC, and Days-at-Haas Energy
Wednesday was our final heavy working day before the presentation, and Paris chose to support us with a 90-degree-every-day heat wave, every day this week. The office had no functioning AC, so we relocated to a new room that was marginally cooler but had no whiteboard and no projector. Naturally, this meant we entered our sticky note era.
We used sticky notes to storyboard our final presentation. Once we had all of our ideas on the wall, I suggested we Days-at-Haas our stickies and cluster the ones with overlapping themes. #StudentsAlways. Somehow, through the heat, the lack of projection, and our collective desire to melt into the floor, the sticky note chaos became a cohesive 8-10 slide outline for the final presentation.
We called Fabrice in to briefly review the direction and confirm that he wanted final recommendations focused on product architecture, target verticals, pricing structure, buyer archetype, and sales channel. He was aligned with the focused approach, which gave us exactly what we needed to move into final slide-building mode.
And because balance is important, Elana went to Roland Garros that evening. Market sizing by day, tennis by night. No notes.
Thursday, May 28: Final Presentation Day
Thursday was the day: final presentation day, and also our last day in the 90-degree office. The team worked diligently in the morning to tighten the story, clean up the slides, and make sure the recommendations were clear, focused, and actually useful for the client. By this point, we had moved from broad market scan to a much sharper set of recommendations on how TOPPAN could think about its verification opportunity in the EUDI ecosystem.
Our final presentation ran from 2-3 p.m., and the timing was perfect. We walked the client through our recommendations, the rationale behind them, and the implementation considerations that would matter most as TOPPAN explored go-to-market options. The client was happy, we said our goodbyes, promised to stay in touch, and committed to helping Chad visit the Bay Area. All was good in the world.
Once the final loose ends were wrapped, the team went out to celebrate. We started at a bistro near the office, and then Jon took us to an absinthe bar for reasons still misunderstood. He made more claims about in country cultural discovery. It turned into a great final exploratory evening in Montmartre and a fitting way to close out two intense, hilarious, and genuinely meaningful weeks together.
One of the best parts of this project was getting to work with such a diverse, kind, intelligent, and dedicated group of people. We each brought different strengths to the work, and by the end of the trip, we had become the kind of team that could debate pricing strategy, cluster sticky notes in a heat wave, source baguettes with urgency, and survive Ricard together. That feels like the real IBD experience.
Friday, May 29 – Final Goodbyes
Friday was technically a work-from-home day, but mostly it was a final-slide-creation, revenue-model-cleanup, WhatsApp-goodbye kind of day. We sent the final slides and revenue model to the client, submitted everything to IBD, and wrapped up our last pieces of work from France.
It was bittersweet to say goodbye to TOPPAN, to Paris, and to the very specific routine we had built over two weeks: office, SuperApp, client conversations, food adventure, slide edits, repeat. The project gave us a front-row seat to a fascinating market at a pivotal moment, but it also gave us the kind of shared memories that are impossible to capture fully in a deck. We left Paris with a stronger understanding of digital identity, a deep appreciation for our client team, several excellent meals, at least one questionable drink recommendation, and proof that Haas teams can, in fact, turn jet lag, heat waves, and sticky notes into a final deliverable.
Merci, TOPPAN and IBD, for an unforgettable two weeks in Paris. We came for the project, stayed for the baguettes, and left with new friendships, stronger consulting muscles, and a truly unreasonable number of photos to add to this blog.
