Nov 26, 2017

I Met My Girlfriend Through Kickstarter and She Blew Up My Campaign.



After years of fruitless sessions of speed dating and empty conversations with Tinder, I kinda of gave up on dating for a while. My personal life also underwent major changes which makes it almost impossible for me to focus on dating. First and foremost, my grandma was diagnosis with vascular dementia and she was transformed from a sweet lady, into an irrational angry person, constantly cursing in 4 different languages and accusing me and my dad sleeping and impregnating my helper. None of this is true of course as her delusions were the result of dementia play tricks on her mind. The stress on the caregivers was tremendous as we adapted.


The game publishing business also picked up pace as sales of Wongamania: Banana Economy improved and there were more requests for us to conduct training using the game as a financial literacy tool. Meanwhile, I was gearing up for the Kickstarter for Debtzilla and we were rushing to finish up the artwork, prototypes and other assets needed to launch a Kickstarter. I was losing quite a bit of hair than due to a scalp infection, stress at both at home and at work. That's where I took the plunge and shaved my head.


Really not the best of time to get hitched.

And I was not expecting to, as I played with Coffee Meets Bagel, expecting nothing to go beyond casual online chat. I mean, who will want to date a nerdy game designer (that's what I put on my profile!) when there are a bunch of more eligible bankers and engineers.

I normally start the conversation telling them that I am starting a Kickstarter campaign, and many a times I get disinterested replies, after finding out that I am a gaming geek with little interest in korean dramas.

So came along this girl, who was  hooked by the word "Kickstarter". I told her that I am designing a new board game and she was excited by the thought that she is talking to a game designer as she was an avid board gamer herself.

Our conversation after that flows quickly and the chemistry was evident and some of my dates took place in gaming conventions. A couple of dates and many hours of online conversation later, I asked her to be my girlfriend, only to be rejected.... 3 times. She finally agreed on my 4th try after my relentless attacks with flowers and honey words. After that, we kept our relationship under wraps until she was ready to tell her friends. She proclaimed that "she is shyyy" (She has more friends than me on facebook....) and she will find the best time to tell her friends and family.

And she did tell the world in an astonishing way... by openly declaring our relationship while asking her friends to back my Kickstarter project...


I immediately messaged her, "I thought you mentioned that you are shy?"

"Oh well, since I am going to tell the world, might as well help to promote your campaign! People will be very curious about the guy I dating and will check out your Kickstarter!"

She had put her marketing knowledge from her MBA to good use!

After the first failed launch, the Debtzilla Kickstarter goal was quickly funded within 30 hours and while I wasn't quite sure how much funding our "celebrity gossip" managed to garner, but it did create a considerable buzz on both sides, as our phones kept ringing with friends demanding to know more juicy details. Other than the help from my girlfriend, my team at Capital Gains Studio and the effort they put in was probably the reason for the newly launched successful campaign (Thank you guys!)

And that's the story of how I met my girlfriend through kickstarter and how she (somewhat) helped the campaign to blow up on its goal.

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