Countdown to Millions

What other face so appropriately says, "I've lied?"

Well, I was hoping to keep this site going for a little more than 10 days (As the countdown on the right indicates), but recent events have forced my hand in this situation, and I must tell you that I am not who I say I am.

Those who read this blog, undoubtedly know me as “Nick Fox,” but truth be told he is simply some guy I found on Facebook, I just ripped off his profile image and plugged him in as a character in this whole “Countdown to Millions” thing.  The concept itself was hatched, as most great ideas are, a few weeks ago at a bar.  I was talking with a friend who said that what people really need right now is an “everyman” someone they can follow and relate too when everything else in the world seems to be going wrong.  So, I just randomly searched Facebook, until I found a suitably ambitious-looking young man; that was Nick.

Nick probably has no clue that I did any of this, and if he does, he seems to be a good sport about the whole thing, because I haven’t heard from him yet.

So, why, if Nick doesn’t know about this do I have to unmask myself?  The truth is I happen to be quite a successful entrepreneur, and by some accounts a multi-millionaire already.  Those who spend any amount of time on the web will know my name: Kevin Rose.

You might know me from some of my ventures such as Digg, Revision 3, Pownce, or the beer-laden podcast known as Diggnation.  If it isn’t obvious by now, my hand was forced for legal reasons.  When Jay, the CEO of Digg, found out about my little site here, I got hell for it…not just from him, but from our legal team as well.  Clearly this little blog of mine could not survive.  It was stupid of me to think that my deception wouldn’t be uncovered and there wouldn’t be any repercussions from it, but given the potentially libelous nature of the material here, the legal team told me I only had one option: Shut down the blog.

I have to say, it was fun being anonymous for a while, to have to work for every set of eyes that came across this site.  It really made me appreciate how far I’ve really come in my own life.  And although Nick doesn’t realize it, that is a gift that he gave to me.

To anyone, including Nick, that I’ve hurt in any way, I’m sincerely sorry.  I can only say that I only had the best of intentions, I only wanted to give people hope, something to aspire to, and with the economy the way it is, hope is something that we will always need…even us millionaires.

-Kevin

Update (April 1, 2009 - 7:12PM):  What’s that?  It’s April Fools day, you say?  Well, I guess I’m not Kevin Rose then…damn looks like I’m going to have to keep working if I ever want to get millions and a BusinessWeek cover like K. Rose.  Hope you all enjoyed my little diversion, but now I must get back to work.

-Nick “I’m a Real Boy” Fox

From now on, this is the only crazy thing on this blog.

I often joke that I must be crazy, or at the very least daft, to attempt to start a business in the current economic climate.  But just today, I found an article that has my back in my endeavor to start a business and make millions.

And this isn’t just any article; no.  It comes straight from the land of fancy accents, queens, Mary Poppins, and Sting: England.  And as we all know, England is without fault (Unless you count bad teeth, the enigma of beefeaters, and all the people they’ve killed in the pursuit of an empire that has since fallen), so such an article is always welcome around these parts…especially when it makes me seem nearly sane.

In the article it discusses many of the reasons that I decided to start this mission, including the simple idea of trying to overcome a challenge, and even goes so far as to say that a new golden age of entrepreneurship is on the horizon.  Now, I’m not saying that I will in any way contribute to this golden age, but it’s comforting to know that there are others like me who see this time not as a cause for fear, but rather as a prime opportunity to create and change the world around us.  Whether the world is simply limited to our own personal life, or whether it reaches into other spheres of influence, there’s no denying that there is great potential for the entrepreneurs in all of us.

So, with that in mind, over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting some thoughts of mine on how to foster that creative, entrepreneurial spirit.  Who knows, with some training maybe you too could become part of the coming entrepreneurial revolution.  And just as with any revolution, it’s always the crazy ones that seem to lead the way.

-Nick

Since a first post is more about getting the blog started than anything else (Read: essentially pointless), I figure I’ll get the ball rolling with a little homage to William Carlos Williams and his red wheelbarrow:

So much depends
upon

a blog’s first
posting

spattered with naïve
hope

glowing on the
screen

Well, that was pretty painless.  If you want any more information about my little mission here, or want to know the types of things I’ll be discussing when not waxing poetic, check out the About page.

Keep checking back…who knows when I’ll make those millions.

-Nick