What if I told you that you could raise over a million dollars while spending only $200 upfront? Would you believe me?
Today I want to share with you the story about a guy named Doros Kyriakoulis, the founder of the GOKey project, as well as the events that led him to raise an amazing $1,215,280 on Indiegogo
Here’s a typical story, you have an idea that you are incredibly passionate about, you’ve spent countless hours day-dreaming about it, but you've told no one yet, just you and the ceiling of your living room.
Later you introduce the idea to your friends and they love it, they encourage you to pursue it, to follow your dreams, after all, you owe it to yourself.
But you don’t have the time, or maybe you do have the time but you don’t have the money, or maybe you have both but you don’t have.... God! This could be a long night.
Bottom line, you avoid addressing those issues at the present time so you just keep postponing them time and time again. You get intimate and comfy with postponement so you open a new folder in your brain and you export your dream project to that folder.
That folder represents an unidentified date in the near (near-ish?) future titled: ‘Later’.
Ok, that feels good! At least I didn’t give up on my dream. I’ll get back to it when those issues get resolved, meanwhile why don’t I spend some more time reading, and watching videos?
For one, all that over-intellectualization is not going to help you get any closer to your goal, all that it’s going to achieve is helping you get better at avoiding your concerns and emotional problems.
You tune in to YouTube anyways, you search for motivational videos, something to remind you to stay positive and focused on your goals, something to remind you to not give up on your dreams, something to remind you that those obstacles you see before you, they’re nothing but a bump in the road…oh, oh Tony Robbins!
“The only thing keeping you from getting what you want is the story you keep telling yourself about why you can’t have it” - Tony Robbins
Then you go to your favorite self help blogs, you read more and more, you stumble upon something like this “You miss the hundred percent of chances that you don’t take” Or something like this: “The only thing standing between and your dreams is a bullshit story that you keep telling yourself”
That is so true! You say to yourself.
You fall asleep with your laptop on your bed and an epiphany in your head.
It’s nothing but a bullshit story.
The next day, the alarm rings, you press your clothes, comb your hair, present yourself, and clock in.
At the coffee break your friend Tommy from the office asks you this: So, any updates on your project?
-No man, I don’t think I can do it, at least not now. I don’t have the money.
The hell happened to that epiphany? Wasn't it all just a bullshit story that you keep telling yourself?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not judging at all. Hell, I’ve dealt with similar issues myself a couple of times, and all kinds of different issues as well.
After all, the old Chinese saying remains true: You are your biggest enemy.
And the reason behind that is because you are also the hero of your own journey.
The sad part however, is that we’re humans, and humans are so messed up. And I say that with love but we’re strange on so many levels.
Sometimes it seems like everything inside you fights improvement. Funny thing the human brain, it just wishes to stay comfortable in the same situation no matter the danger or the reward.
And we’re funny because all I need to say is ‘According to the old Chinese saying’ for you to have the impression that I’m about to share some profound timeless wisdom.
Guys, I’m a writer, I make this stuff up.
Now, I may or may not have taken that particular quote from a Jackie Chan movie, but the point stands. You are your worst enemy, and all these annoying obstacles you find on you path, these are the obstacles that the hero faces in the movie.
Only this movie is about you, and this journey is yours, and the struggle is… Well, the struggle is unfortunately real, but you already knew that.
Now, dear reader, if you are not asking yourself: When the hell is the million Dollar part is gonna come in?! Then there is something seriously wrong with you!
I’m just kidding of course, but let’s go back to our subject.
Doros, as a living member of the human species had contracted ‘the struggle’ too, he had his dream, his vision and he was trying to solve an actual problem by providing a tangible solution to a problem that millions of people have encountered.
Furthermore, he knew that ideas are cool and all, but are not really worth much if you do not act on them, so Doros had his prototype made and its functionality tested.
After that he did his due diligence and spent countless nights studying similar crowdfunding campaigns. He identified his target audience studied it, analyze it, and now they were all waiting for him to present them to his exciting product.
But here’s the thing, he had no money.
So what did he do?
Remember that bullshit story we talked about in the beginning of this post? Well, Doros refused to repeat it to himself, instead he chose not to believe it.
No Country For Old Men
You see, Doros managed to get his video crew, his marketing guy, and even the graphic designs, all done on deferred payment. It was only after the campaign succeeded that he paid everybody.
I know, this sound easy and simple, but it really isn’t.
Most of us will cringe at the thought of contacting employees on the premise of paying them only if or when the project succeeds.
I for one, think I would be swallow by shame, even though I am fully aware that there is nothing to be ashamed for.
If I were in his shoes, the first thought that would probably cross my mind is to peel my eyes on Fiverr looking for the best value possible with the least amount of money possible, which is not a bad idea at all, in fact many prominent entrepreneurs bootstrapped their companies into a massive success.
That being said, a $10 dollar video will not give you the same results as a $2000 chef d’oeuvre, not by a long stretch.
And the same goes with the copywriter who’s going to write your presentation and prepare your press release, this is without talking about the marketing guy. Don’t get me started on the marketing guy.
If there is something you need to get right, it’s the marketing guy.
Doros, not only got that right but he successfully managed to convince Chris Olenik, whom he calls ‘the best marketing guy on the planet’ to work with him on his project. No money down.
That being said, after the campaign ended , he had to issue him the biggest cheque he wrote in his life.
His biggest struggle however was finding cinematographers willing to do the same because it’s extremely difficult to find a filming crew that accepts differed payments.
Again, what is he gonna do? Give up?
Of course not, that bullshit story ship had sailed long time ago, so he just kept contacting people one by one by one, accepting rejection after rejection until one day someone said: Oh, what the hell! Why not?
Yada, yada, yada.. One million Dollars!
All achieved through admirable levels of perseverance and a tiny $200 budget that was spent on paying lunch for the crew during the two consecutive days of shooting.
Moral of the story: Actually, I would love to hear your take on it, please do tell me in the comments below.
Closing Thoughts
Funny species we are the human race, we let fear drive us away from our goals and dreams, fear of success, fear of failure, or in this particular case, fear of embarrassment.
Funny because embarrassment vanishes over time, it appears silly when we look back at it from the future. Regret on the other hand, is a constant presence looming over people’s death beds.
And those brave ones who manage to surpass their fears and become the heroes of their own journey?
Well, they blow your mind by raising over a million dollars with almost no money down, inspiring some idiot like me to write about them in a post like this, hoping to inspire someone like you to do the same.
“We are living in a world that is better than your parent’s, your grandparent’s, and your great-grandparent’s generation, because assholes like me can make videos when I’m 30-fucking-feet in the air, and because of that, because of those opportunities, because we’re networked in a way that we’ve never seen before, and because sending an email to a hundred people and one of them answering would give you a shot, because of that opportunity, I beg you, I beg you to take a shot!” - Gary Vaynerchuk
I hope this little story gives some hope to any fellow steemian who may be starting out with little cash, little time, or little energy… I hope this gives you a some courage and inspiration.
I wish you all a nice weekend, and remember: