This story is 16 years old, but I just learned about it tonight while trying to think of something to write for my blog.
I was feeling good because I received an email that announced Dan Pink had released his newest Pinkcast this week. If it was anything like his previous videos, the odds were quite high that I would be able to use it as the basis for a blog post since I’ve been doing so for a few years.
But the current video was on a topic I had already written about several years ago: the idea of a failure resume. Instead of creating the usual resume that focuses on one’s accomplishments, you should create a failure resume that, well, you get the idea. That was an easy post to put together, given my long list of failures.
I didn’t want to write a post about something I had already written about. Fortunately, while reading the background Dan provided in his email, he mentioned Stanford professor of practice Tina Seelig as the inspiration for his Pinkcast on a failure resume.
So I decided to check out Tina’s website, and while there, I discovered that she had written a book titled “What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20“. I was able to read the first chapter online at Amazon, and that chapter mentioned the story of Kyle MacDonald who started with one red paper clip and through a series of trades, owned a house in less than a year.
I couldn’t resist learning more about such a story. As it turns out, Kyle had created a website where he kept track of every single trade and added a story to each one. It’s a fun story to read, but Wikipedia offers the following shortened outline of his trades:
- On July 14, 2005, he went to Vancouver and traded the paperclip for a fish-shaped pen.
- He then traded the pen the same day for a hand-sculpted doorknob from Seattle, Washington.
- On July 25, 2005, he travelled to Amherst, Massachusetts, with a friend to trade the doorknob for a Coleman camp stove (with fuel).
- On September 24, 2005, he went to California, and traded the camp stove for a Honda generator.
- On November 16, 2005, he traveled to Maspeth, Queens and traded the generator for an “instant party”: an empty keg, an IOU for filling the keg with the beer of the bearer’s choice, and a neon Budweiser sign. This was his second attempt to make the trade; his first resulted in the generator being temporarily confiscated by the New York City Fire Department.
- On December 8, 2005, he traded the “instant party” to Quebec comedian and radio personality Michel Barrette for a Ski-Doo snowmobile.
- Within a week of that, he traded the snowmobile for a two-person trip to Yahk, British Columbia, scheduled for February 2006.
- On or about January 7, 2006, he traded the second spot on the Yahk trip for a box truck.
- On or about February 22, 2006, he traded the box truck for a recording contract with Metalworks in Mississauga, Ontario.
- On or about April 11, 2006, he traded the contract to Jody Gnant for a year’s rent in Phoenix, Arizona.
- On or about April 26, 2006, he traded the year’s rent in Phoenix for one afternoon with Alice Cooper.
- On or about May 26, 2006, he traded the afternoon with Cooper for a KISS motorized snow globe.
- On or about June 2, 2006, he traded the snow globe to Corbin Bernsen for a role in the film Donna on Demand.[3]
- On or about July 5, 2006, he traded the movie role for a two-story farmhouse in Kipling, Saskatchewan.
So there you go, from a red paper clip to a house in less than one year, no cash exchanged.
Now there were obviously some travel costs and other incidentals involved here, but that doesn’t take away from such an amazing story.
So my first thought was how could I do something similar.
I’ve been spending the past few minutes looking around my house to see what I could use as a starting point so that within a year I’d own a penthouse overlooking Central Park.
I thought I could start with the pencil I’ve been using to solve crossword puzzles, but then I realized I could probably skip a few steps if I started with something of a bit more value.
I wonder what a student would be willing to trade me for in exchange for the answer key to this semester’s final exam.
I know there are serious ethical issues involved, but come on, we’re talking a penthouse overlooking Central Park… 🙂
*image from One Red Paper Clip
Holy crap! I think I may have a red paper clip I can trade!
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who would have thought that a paper clip could make your wildest dreams come true? 🙂
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I’ll trade you a blue paper clip for a red one just to get the ball rolling.
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thanks for showing that there is demand for a red paper clip.
ok. who’s next. who wants a blue paper clip, and what would you be willing to trade for it?
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I have a staple remover I can trade 😜
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ok, here’a a blue paper clip for you…
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Its sick, but I wonder about the tax implications, if any. He found some great trading partners. I’d probably start with a farmhouse and wind up with a red paperclip. 😄
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well maybe the farmhouse you owned was about to be condemned, and the paperclip you now own is actually made out of solid gold…
and I had not thought of the tax implications, that would be an interesting twist on the story. Maybe that’s why he wrote a book about – use the proceeds to cover his tax bill…
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Or at least I valued the paperclip highly for some reason. Some of his trades didn’t make sense to me but the saying is something like “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
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yes, some of the trades were quite odd, but it all worked out in the end…
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“I wonder what a student would be willing to trade me for in exchange for the answer key to this semester’s final exam.”
No ethical dilemma. “A student” doesn’t imply one in any of your classes. And trading for a paper clip for semester’s final answers does not guarantee said student that the answers will be on any of THEIR finals…
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good point – you are the devious one 🙂
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I can be 😁😁
I was never one to cheat on anything because I could always see the way that someone could cheat you right back.
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when I read about how a bookkeepe will steal millions from a business, my first thought is that I would have no idea how to do that…
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Oh that’s easy. You simply deduct small fractions of amounts – if you’re in an actual till then a few cents here and there, if you’re in the books, a half dollar here and there. If you’re on tech, simply coding it to transfer is all it takes. Smaller businesses, you have 50 cents of every transaction transferred to an account for yourself. Larger businesses, you can literally make it so small no one would even notice…a thousandth of a penny. But over the course of all of the transactions, you’ve now transferred millions to yourself.
However, on the flip side, if you’re smart enough to come up with that, there’s always someone out there that knows how smart you are (especially if they have a similar skill set). They need only code something to take a thousandth of a penny from your account every time you receive an illegal transfer by the same method. You won’t know how much is going in because it’s different every day, and you won’t notice a few hundred dollars being rerouted without ever touching your account. So the getter got got.
Like I said, I would make a horrible cheater – I outclass myself every time and by the time I’m done I’m terrified to even try LOL
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seems like you’ve given this a bit of thought…
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Not really. That was what came to mind based on your comment. Nothing more.
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I would hope a good auditor would catch such schemes…
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In theory. But when you’re talking about thousandths lid a cent missing, it wouldn’t be highly likely. And if you’re smart, you would have an offshore account so they can’t trace the wires that way either so you just collect the money. Of the audit the business, there will be more glaring issues, probably the owner him/her self skimming a bit here and there. If they audit you, your bank accounts would show that your income is all you have because they can’t audit off shore accounts because they can’t even acknowledged you are a customer.
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So I have a purple paperclip, will that work to get my beach house? This could be the most valuable post you ever wrote! 🙂
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I was thinking of you and your beach house the moment I read this story.
I think purple should work just fine… 🙂
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What a wonderful Christmas this will be. Who needs to take a whole year! 😉
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let us know how your trades are going. I saw that Beth is willing to trade you an empty coffee can for your purple paper clip… 🙂
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Thanks for letting me know I accepted her trade and even offered her a bonus.
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now you’ve got a coffee can…
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Do you want a coffee can?
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It seems with each trade, he traded up and got the better end of the deal. I wonder if anyone sued him in small claims court?
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he’d probably trade the lawsuit for something else…
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Yes. I mean, how do you trade something like a movie role, or time with a celebrity? He must be one smooth talker.
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there’s a line begging to be written here that starts with “he could sell…” but I can’t come up with anything clever…
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. . . ice cubes to eskimos. Furnaces to Hawaiians. Dentures to chickens. How about those lines?
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I’ve heard the first one, but not the last two. Not bad…. 🙂
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Some eskimo stole that first one from me.
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well he’s gotten a lot of miles out of it since he stole it…
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Yeah, that one’s been around since prehistoric times.
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Until climate change completely ruins the planet, the joke still works…
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True. This joke’s days may be numbered.
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maybe the Hawaii one will change to Eskimos…
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Meanwhile, Hawaii will be submerged in water.
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I have a coffe can to trade you for something. 🙂
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I’ll give you a glass of tapwater for it.
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Make it a large glass please.
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You drive a hard bargain. Our tapwater is considered some of the best in the country. But it’s a deal. Here you go: 🥤
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Thanks! Just like your dates are the “best in the country”??
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Our dates are the best, every day on the calendar.
And our tapwater comes from deep wells, drilled down a thousand feet. Way down there, little water fairies piss in it, giving it a sweet taste. It’s delicious!
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..mmm…!!
Jim, do you want a glass of tapwater for a trade?
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not now…
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😛
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I’m just glad Jim didn’t intercept it.
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This is one thing that he should bave intercepted!
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it’s all yours…
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😛
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I would have dropped it…
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what kind of dates are you talking about?
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The edible kind! Ask Tippy, he is an expert! 😂
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dates were a rare thing for me in high school… 🙂
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Hmmm…Well, I searched my desk very diligently and could not find a red paper clip anywhere. So I will have to be content.
Sounds very Tom Sawyer-ish.
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well it sounds like you could really use one then. what you would like to trade me for so that you can have a red paper clip? 🙂
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🤣😂 A normal paper clip. 🤣😂
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👍👍
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A great post generating some great comments too. I’m not sure I’ve ever even seen a red paper clip! I’ve got some red post it notes though, hmmm.
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those red post it notes have got to be worth something!
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It all depends on market forces, and my wife thinks they are more pink than red! So, that opens a different market😂😂
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there’s a market for everything…
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i’ve got an empty coffee can i’m willing to trade for the purple paper clip
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I’m sure Carolyn will take you up on the offer… 🙂
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Ok, I will trade that, after all its bigger than the paper clip! Though if you could throw some coffee in it that would be great! I could give you a green paperclip as well for that.. 🙂
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Deal!
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👍
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Yay! Thanks. 🙂
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let the trading begin…
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Now I picture him sitting is his Saskatchewan home rifling through a bunch of important papers wishing he had a paperclip.
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for want of a nail… 🙂
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I clearly don’t travel in the same circles. I don’t know anyone who would trade me anything for a paperclip, red or otherwise. (I know a lot of people who would just take that paperclip and never think twice about it.) And I certainly don’t know anyone with the money or connections to trade for the big-ticket items. I’d have to find a different group of friends before I could make such a thing work. (And we all know it wouldn’t work, anyway.)
I don’t know if this guy is super lucky or the best salesman on the planet. Either way, I wish he’d handle my marketing.
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he must be a rgeat salesman – and caught a bit of luck along the way…
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Fun read!!
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thanks, Val!
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I remember that story. It got a lot of news at the time.
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I missed it the first time, but I can see why it would have been a popular news story…
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Is this guy a politician? They have plenty of experience in trading worthless promises for votes from fools…
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but unlike most politiicans, he accomplished his goal…
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I’d have said that many politicians have achieved their goal: getting rich at the expense of the suckers who voted for them…
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that’s true; I should have said they likely have not achieved the goals and promises they ran on…
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Like a Groucho Marx character once said: “his verbal promises aren’t worth the paper they’re written on” …
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funny how his joke is still relevant…
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Some things never lose their relevance!
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I did, about 20 years ago…
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😂
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I have a draw full of paperclips. Real Estate mogul here I come!
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I don’t think the plain gray/silver ones have much value… 🙂
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I need to read up more on how this all happened! What in the hairy heck?!
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it is a crazy story…
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This sounds too far fetched. But if it works, great concept.
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it is a crazy story, and it seems like it was a series of fortunate events that made it happen…
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Wow – just wow! And I thought I knew the trade!!
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What a great story, Jim!
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it is quite amazing…
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Yes, indeed!
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This was brilliant! Thanks for sharing the inspiration. 🙂
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it is an amazing story…
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I remember reading this like years ago and seeing a picture of him! I wonder what happened to him.
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I guess I should have included a follow up to see what he is up to these days. Maybe he’s traded his house for a luxury yacht 🙂
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I hadn’t realized he documented the whole thing. I think that helps it work as well, like a geocache.
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he did do a nice job of documenting everything. it was well done…
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