One Red Paperclip
In 2006, Kyle MacDonald from Montreal was by no means homeless, but he was “between jobs” and staying at his girlfriend's place. Today, Kyle lives in the town of Kipling, Saskatchewan in a two-story house. Starting with a single red paperclip, he traded for something “bigger and better” until he had his new home.
Kyle had been working on a resume, stuck in the endless loop of disappointment and rejection that comes with job hunting. He thought back to a childhood game called Bigger and Better, where you traded what you had for something more valuable. He saw a discarded paperclip and decided to play the game for real.
Using Craig's List, he traded the paperclip to two women in Vancouver for a pen shaped like a fish. The pen then went for a doorknob, which went for a camping stove, and so on. It took 14 trades and 1 year for him to finally achieve his goal, with a final trade of a role in a movie for a house.
Kyle succeeded by combining a novel idea that captured people's imagination and the smart use of social media and publicity. He was discovered by a trending blog that talked about everything new and cool, and suddenly, everyone was paying attention. He was featured on CBC and CNN, and many of his later trades were with well-known stars like Alice Cooper.
Kyle wrote a book about his experiences, speaking thoroughly about self-motivation and not giving up. It is titled One Red Paperclip.