Kevin Lee-A-Ping’s story was definitely the highlight of Season 1 for us! Kevin, a true gamer at heart, appeared on Planting Seeds to pitch his business idea in front of a panel of investors with the goal of advancing his company, E-Sports Caribbean League (ESCL), to host gaming tournaments throughout T&T and the Caribbean. Pretty cool idea we thought; an idea Kevin believed was worth TT $300,000 and was willing to offer 20% of his company for! But the investors didn’t give; they all gave him the thumbs down, until one made a counter offer of 45% equity stake. And with the money right there in the palm of Kevin’s hands, our boy stuck to his guns and refused the offer. But walking away empty handed didn’t put a damper on his vision of developing the gaming industry in Trinidad. Shortly after, Kevin approached one of the Planting Seeds sponsors to seek assistance for his third annual GamesCon event. Enter Very Exciting Things :)
Isn’t that what it’s all about? Isn’t that the main reason we signed on to Planting Seeds; to connect, support and encourage these brilliant creative minds? So when Kevin came to us with his enthusiasm and passion for his field, we were more than happy to jump on the scene! And jump we did! Right away we put things in motion to get mouse pads and T-shirts printed for the event. The mouse pads in particular were a huge hit; featuring a full colour print with many of the popular gaming characters. The gaming ‘nerds' went crazy for them! But then again who wouldn’t love a mouse pad with Mario on it?! We are still using them here in the office :)
We had an absolute blast at the GamesCon 2016 event; with music pumping and 200 gamers coming in to play and compete with their fellow teammates and 500 spectators fluttering around from room to room to scope out the action! Oh and did we mention the costume contest?? Right in our very midst there was Batman, Zelda and others walking around casually with their weapons and shields ready to fight for their honour!
The whole experience from start to finish was very special to us for many reasons. After all, entrepreneurship is what Very Exciting Things was built on; from the days of our Managing Director, Chris Ferreira, driving around from door to door selling items with nothing but a dream and a vision. A vision that now employs 80 fun-loving members of staff and hosts a 2,500 sq. ft. showroom with over 2,000 items on display. Never underestimate the power of a dream! We commend Kevin for not giving up on his own dream when hitting a snag in the road and staying true to his belief of the value of his company.
So thank you Kevin for reminding us all to think BIG, dream BIG and believe BIG!
From all of your friends here at Very Exciting Things.