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.
I know this is not an easy job. What drives you?
The most important thing that drives me is the impact that my team and I are able to make on a daily basis. The ideals that we explain with the help of our videos are revolutionary and this is definitely a driving force. We always try to innovate and use videos in different ways to create an impact for ourselves and our clients. It is always an amazing feeling and it keeps me excited when at the end of the trial and testing phase, we achieve that sweet success for them
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? What lesson did you learn from them?
Having a mentor has single-handedly changed my business within a period of 6 months. Out of the three mentors I have had so far, Zion Kim was the one who changed the face of my business. The most important thing that he taught me was to niche down my business. This single tip has helped me triple my revenue in just 6 months. Apart from this, he taught me how to be relevant to my market and establish myself as an authority by the simple power of messaging and some small changes in the mindset.
How do you push through your worst times?
One thing I have learned is to create systems and processes for any aspect of my business and test them myself so I know what is working and what isn’t. There may be ups and downs in the business and more often than not, that is because I somehow deviated from the fundamentals.
I make sure to visit these on a weekly basis so when hard times come in terms of lack of leads or sales or some campaigns not running, I have a handbook to go back to and see what is missing.