The Story of Crazy D Lane - Perseverance Through Self-acceptance
In today’s post, I’m going to discuss the problems that entrepreneurs face (which I’m sure, if you’re reading this post, you’re already well aware of) and, more importantly — how to overcome those problems. Today’s story is about an independent filmmaker named AD Lane.
You may be wondering what you and an independent filmmaker (whose nickname is Crazy D Lane) have in common — but his story is a fascinating one — and there are tons of great takeaways for all entreprenerus, whether or not you’re writing the next Sundance film.
Filmmakers like Crazy D Lane face more than the usual entreprenurial problems — as you may guess, it’s extremely difficult to raise money for a film. And it’s even more difficult to convince investors that your film is the next independent success. Cue the story of Crazy D Lane.
His story begins 10 years ago, when he wanted to create an independent film — a horror film (fun fact: I happen to be a huge fan of the genre). The horror film would be considered “simple” to the 21st century audience — there would be no special CGI effects, and makeup and costumes would be the only special effects. Keep in mind, dear reader, that we are currently about 30 years or so past the period where CGI was considered to be the “best,” most innovative technology — so, as a result, many of the “old-fashioned” techniques were ignored.
D Lane called his non-CGI film the “Invasion of the Not Quite Dead” — a new take on the zombie horror movie. When creating his film, he took advice from Ken Russell — a filmmaker who came to speak to his film class. Ken Russell is known for controverial film projects, such as “Altered States” and “The Lair of the White Worm.”
Russell’s advice to D Lane and his fellow classmates?
“The more money you raise, the more you become beholden to others, and the less control you have over the project.”
Of course, it’s a catch-22: the more money you raise, the more you are beholden to your investors. However, the more money you have, the more opportunity you have to scale your project. But, what about other options — ways of raising money that wouldn’t entail selling your soul to investors who are just trying to generate a high return? There is, of course, bootstrapping. The more that you boostrap, the greater your ability to find money from non-traditional investors — and in turn, the more control you have over your project. Interestingly enough, D Lane didn’t want to totally bootsrap his film — so he decided to raise money from adoring fans. Although he was transparent about his intentions, remember — it was back in the “old” days (also known as 10 years ago), when many crowdfunding websites were not yet launched. There was no Indiegogo or GoFundMe!
As an independent filmmaker, it was difficult for AD Lane to connect with his fans, but he didn’t let that obstacle stop him. Instead, he reached out to potential funders directly through social media, using Twitter to start up incredible “Tweetathons,” where he would Tweet for 50 hours at a time (and more!) in order to raise the neessary money for his project. And, with such a penchant for tweeting, AD Lane naturally attracted both admirers and naysayers. Not everyone agreed with his view that money could be raised on a social media platform, and then spent on a film. Others disagreed with the limited amount of information they were provided, and felt that as investors, they were entitled to more. Regardless, AD Lane persevered and continued to raise money through his own, innovative method.
The craziest part? The creation of this film is still in progress — it took over 10 years. Yes, it took 10 years for AD Lane to come close to finishing. But, he’s now nearing the finish line, with a fundraiser on Indiegogo that includes a great video explainer. You can also check out the Facebook page for his film. They’re still trying to raise a small amount of of money to ensure that the film can be both finished an distributed. Unsurprisingly, AD Lane prefers to distribute the film to movie theaters, rather than Netflix.
So, why am I telling you this story? Because in between the end of the marathon and the beginning of AD Lane’s fundraising race, I actually encountered him. About 5 years ago, AD Lane was raising money — and I donated — and began receiving updates — and then silence. To be honest, I forgot about AD Lane and his horror film ambitions. And, I assumed that he met the fate that awaits many independently-backed entrepreneurs.
As I routinely opened my e-mail last week, imagine my surprise when I saw an e-mail from none other than AD Lane in my inbox! I excitedly opened it, and found a full break-down from AD Lane on every component of his work — and more. AD Lane outlined that his movie efforts led him to a dark place — and even led to a breakdown that caused him enter a phase of deep self-reflection. He questioned whether he could continue onward with his project, and if so, how he could do so in a sustainable way that wouldn’t lead to his financial demise.
AD Lane then found the resilience to continue with the project, and even made a short film about his feelings, which I highly recommend.
The most powerful part about this story, to me, is that AD Lane admitted his failure. And he does so openly. For example, in his book, he discusses the controversy surrounding his Twitter fundraising efforts. He discusses his own difficulties. He talks freely about his personal issues, such as his struggle with mental health. I strongly believe that as entrepreneurs, we often feel the need to portray the perfect picture of ourselves to the outside world, in fear that investors or the public may see any imperfection as a reason to not believe in our ideas. AD Lane did what many of us do — he internalized his failure, and let it become a reflection of his own self-worth.
As entrepreneurs, we’re guilty of making the same false equivalancies — we treat our business failues as our own, personal failures. While I’m certainly guilty of it myself, it’s important to remember that internalizing one’s external failures (or success) is setting yourself up for a roller coaster of emotions — and eventually, self-destruction. I say self-destruction because we can’t control the extent to which success is in our hands. Of course, we can work hard — or perfect our products — or our crafts, whether it be filmmaking or programming. However, hard work often falls short to external circumstances.
Whether we create the perfect business plan or bootstrap carefully, this does not guarantee our success. Whether we bootstrap or raise funds from traditional investors, we are still relinquishing our power over the process. There are no guarantees in the game of entrepreneurship — maybe you’ll get great advice from investors — or maybe you’ll get forced out of your own company. It is, at times, a coin toss. The ultimate lesson? You simply cannot internalize failure or success. In fact, remaining level-headed is one of the keys to entrepreneurial success.
AD Lane was able to analyze his situation, and move forward towards a place where he could complete his project. In his e-mail, he said: “some how I managed to get the courage to fight on, to put my problems into the film, putting my real life fears & anxieties into the film characters lives” — fueling his creativity and not giving up.
As his film tethers on the point of completion, I am personally looking forward to seeing it in theaters. AD Lane should teach every entrepreneur a lesson — to learn to analyze external factors we can influence (such as improving our technology or user-testing). And in some cases, this means learning how to let go of parts of a project that just aren’t working — or even dropping the project altogether, even if it feels unnatural to do so (see: definition of loss aversion).
On that very note, I want to share that one of our main projects at KISSPatent is revamping the patent preparaton process altogether. While we’ve made good strides, we’re still not where we’d like to be in terms of usability.
So, where does that leave us? We’re going back right now to re-examine some of our assumptions that we based on earlier interviews. We want to make the patent process as user-friendly as possible — which is why we’re inviting our users to check out some of our solutions. One solution that we’re working on is the PKC (Patent Knowledge Center) where you can get up-to-date information on patents. This information will aid you in better understanding the patent process (even before you contact us), so that you’re as well-informed as you can be.
We’re also working on a revised verson of the patent intake process — like creating intake questionnaires to make it easier for users to automatically receive information. We’re also looking at automating the patent drawing process for our software, because we believe that a good patent starts with a good set of patent drawings. We also want to help entrepreneurs diagram out their ideas — it helps the patent process in the end. Just like AD Lane, we’re constantly trying to achieve our project goals — despite setbacks throughout the process. And, just like AD Lane, we’re committed to remaining transparent with you throughout the process — so no one is ever left in the dark.
If you’e interested in participating in our invitation-only, alpha testing of some of our projects mentioend above, just drop us a line! We’re always happy to talk!
KISSPatent puts the power of patent protection for your unique software idea in your hands. We help startups increase their valuation, keep from getting blocked, and protect their ideas and their communities. Contact us to get started here.
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