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What’s your backstory?
Growing up as an engineering student in India, I made some bad decisions in my 20’s and ended up gambling. I was dissatisfied with my job. Disillusioned with the way things worked. So, to distract myself, I hung out with some people I really shouldn’t have who were obsessed with betting.
I lost a lot of money. €25,000+, to be exact.
Luckily, I had the support of my incredible family and friends who never gave up on me and who helped me get back on my feet. Anyone who’s been through this kind of thing always says, ‘I don’t know where I’d be without them’, but I know where I’d be.
On the streets. Penniless. Harbouring a possibly even more dangerous addiction…
But even though they helped me get out of debt, I didn’t come out without a scratch. Getting into so much debt when you’re still just maturing, and in so short a time (this all happened over 6-8 months) leaves you mentally and physically drained. There’s no way I was taking care of myself – I needed to heal.
What’s that saying – a change is as good as a rest?
I decided to go for one final gamble. My biggest play.
I took out an education loan and traveled 6,700km to Germany to pursue my MBA and forge a career, away from home and all my old temptations.
I worked hard – and it paid off. I won a job in Daimler’s Sales and Marketing Department, and within a short amount of time I was able to pay off all my debts – including my education loan, and the money given to me by my parents.
Not only that, I could afford the good life most entrepreneurs dream of.
But the biggest difference was that inside, I was a totally new person. I realized that if you put your mind and your grit to a plan, live consciously and take responsibility for everything in your life, success is automatically yours (comforting, huh?).
I spent three years at Daimler before the realization crept upon me that it was time, once again, to move on. I wasn’t meant for a 9-5 desk job – it was simply a transition period.
I wanted to make a direct difference in people’s lives by working with their businesses.
(And enjoy the freedom and flexible working hours of being an entrepreneur, of course.)
Fun fact about me: I loved cartoons. What kid doesn’t?
Before my crappy first jobs, before I got into debt, sitting watching cartoons was my favorite memory. I could go on for hours about my favourite shows.
And videos were booming in every marketing sector.
I had began to explore different possibilities, and it wasn’t long before I realized there was a gap in the market for professional-looking animations that could solve every problem from explaining how to use a piece of software in telling a brand’s story.
Not only that, but there were others who were wondering the same. Now, I’m lucky enough to call those awesome pros – sound designers, video editors, artists and animators – my team.
That’s how Rohan Kale came into existence.
Together, we help global brands across industries like software, financial services, web development, app companies, non-profits, retail and more to present their brand stories in a way that resonates with their target audience – and entertains as well as informs.
In late 2017, having made hundreds of videos for companies across all industries, I became crypto curious and soon found myself swept up in crypto histeria.
I wanted to begin investing in myself but struggled initially to understand the brilliant technical genius of founders on their website and whitepapers.
As a communications specialist, I’m used to simplifying complex ideas, so it didn’t take me long to educate myself and decipher what ICO projects were trying to say.
Unfortunately, for founders of ICO projects, few people are engaged communications experts. Fewer yet are technically minded enough to understand what they’re trying to say – and a confused investor is reluctant to part with their money.
That’s how the idea and implementation of ICO Videos came into existence.
A Problem To Be Solved
Good communication, like good blockchain projects, is an exercise in solving problems.
In my experience as the founder of rkale.com, I’ve created the Behavioral Lead Journey (BLJ) system.
Its very purpose was to create a series of videos designed to appeal to multiple audiences, taking even the least sophisticated customer on a journey from unaware to purchase in the shortest time possible.
I knew the BLJ could bridge the gap between the technical genius of project founders and curious investors.
It didn’t take long to bring the first blockchain clients on board and the results are clear for anyone to see from our numerous case studies and testimonials.
We’d solved a problem for blockchain project founders that could be the difference between wild success and valiant-but-miserable failure.
Can you tell me the story of your prior successes, challenges, and major responsibilities?
Self-doubt and uncertainty were the initial challenges because I had a well-paying job, leaving it to pursue my dream seemed silly for some people around me, and I almost bought into their reality. I still decided to stick with my decision and fulfill my dream of owning a business. I had to take this risk because worst case, I could have found a new job again. I had my huge win when I got my first client. I gained confidence and built upon the momentum.
This was a great benchmark and I learned the ups and downs of the internet marketing world and built up a solid foundation. Being new in the online marketing world, and wanting to learn it all, I started as a project manager, sales person, as well as a copywriter. It might sound a bit too much but it was necessary for me to get that initial hands-on experience. Therefore, I was able to delegate these things systematically and skillfully to the people who work with me.
Can you tell me about a time when you almost gave up, how you felt about that, and what you did instead of giving up?
One year in the business, I remember a time when there were no sales for a couple of months. It was a tough time because my personal life was also very unbalanced. I thought that I am not meant for this business, that video marketing is dying and all the kind of excuses which didn’t help me. It was a big inner struggle because all the things around me seemed to be falling apart and I literally had no life.
I decided to take a step back and realized that in the process of growing my business and trying different things, I had completely diverted myself from the very thing that worked exceptionally for me and that is mastering one marketing channel (in my case it was LinkedIn in the initial days). I followed the process for my lead generation again and in no time, I had pipeline up and running. This was a reminder for me to not divert too much from what is working!
A good lesson indeed
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