One Million Frogs Launches on Kickstarter
to Fund Entertaining Book Sharing Entrepreneurial Success and Life Lessons
Myrtle Beach, SC (May 15,
2013)
Successful “frog entrepreneurs” RhettPower’s and Peter Gasca’s new Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign aims to raise funds for
their new book titled, One Million Frogs.
The book is an entertaining twist on start-up entrepreneurialism as it
chronicles the challenging and often comical journey and personal
transformations of two businessmen and one very
unlikely frog company. The campaign needs to raise $15,000 by June 12, 2013, in
order to fund publication of the book and the employment of an editor. After
the book is published, many of the proceeds will go to promote entrepreneurship in
youth.
After meeting as business and
economic development consultants overseas, Power and Gasca discovered that they
shared a passion for entrepreneurship. In the summer of 2005, at a pizza shop
in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the two began hatching a plan to start their own
business. After several failed attempts at getting started, the two were
introduced to a small business that assembled and sold miniature desktop
ecosystems with frogs. The business showed great promise but had tremendous
distribution challenges. “It was the atypical business school case study, but
we were ready for the challenge,” said Power.
The pair started their company,
Wild Creations, and purchased the business concept. With an extensive business
plan and strategy for growth, Wild Creations, was to be the first of many
successful businesses in their promising portfolio. But when Lehman Brothers
filed bankruptcy and the financial industry collapsed, Wild Creations’ lines of
credit dried up. Power and Gasca persevered and took to the roads, driving over
a hundred thousand miles each, to attend trade shows for one year.
Fast forward eight years. Wild
Creations’ EcoAquariums™ has grown from a modest 50 retail outlets to more than
1,500 stores. Frog sales are still strong, but even more impressive - many of
Wild Creations’ products are invented by kids.
The company has won numerous
industry awards, including a nomination as Toy Industry Association Toy of the
Year. Wild Creations was recognized by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce
as the #1 fastest growing company in South Carolina, and by the Inc 500 twice
as one of the fastest growing private companies in America.
So much for traditional tips,
Power and Gasca have first-hand experience on what it takes to win in business.
“Forget the MBA study guides and DIY entrepreneur books, with One Million Frogs, we are giving you an
inspirational road map through our experiences, and real-life antidotes that
are at times troubling and emotional, often comical and unbelievable, but
always lesson filled,” said Gasca. “The book is not just directed at
entrepreneurs, but at anyone who has grand aspirations to achieve something
bigger in life, who feels held back by uncertainty or societal peer pressure.”
Pledging to the campaign secures
a pre-order of the book, in addition to other perks that coincide with varying
pledge levels. For example, a $10.00 pledge will get backers an electronic copy
of the book, while a $200.00 pledge receives an electronic version of the book,
two signed hardcopies with handwritten messages from the authors, a shout out
to the backer on the dedication page, a t-shirt, a personal phone call from the
authors, and the best part: a Tootsie Roll. Backers can pledge $5,000.00 or
more, and will receive perks including a two-day business coaching class put on
by the authors and home entertainment by Power and Gasca, who promise to bring
their Southern charm, entertainment and “frosty beverages” along to the
backer’s personalized get-together. And with all KickStarter campaigns, there
is no risk to anyone who pledges if the funding goal is not met as they will
not be charged their backing amount.
With chapter titles such as, “My
Hair is on Fire”, “Swimming with the Sharks,” and “Dead Body Removal,” One Million Frogs is sure to be an
entertaining read. The team also hopes that the book can be shared by parents
and mentors with teen and kid entrepreneurs, looking to start businesses at a
young age. For more information, or to make a pledge to the Kickstarter
campaign, please visit http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2129986596/one-million-frogs?ref=search.
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Wild Creations was founded in
2005 by Rhett Powers and Peter Gasca when they realized that they shared a
passion for entrepreneurialism. The company weathered the greatest economic
recession of our time and has recently won numerous industry awards, including
a nomination as Toy Industry Association Toy of the Year. Wild Creations was
recognized by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce as the #1 fastest growing
company in South Carolina, and by the Inc500 twice, as one of the fastest
growing private companies in America. The company is known for the sale of over
one million frog EcoAquariums™, and also sells products created by kid
inventors. They hope to raise funds to sell their tell-all business book, One Million Frogs, to support anyone
with dreams to achieve something bigger in life, who feel held back by uncertainty
or societal peer pressures. They hope to use proceeds from the book to promote
entrepreneurship in youth.