From Pokémon Go to Astronaut: How One African Wants to Raise $1 Billion

in travel •  8 years ago  (edited)


1. My Childhood Dreams

I was 5 years old when my father was called to serve his country as a diplomat in the 70s by the foreign office. Canada was his first post for the next 8 years before moving to Europe in the 80s. Growing up in North America in the 70s was a lot of fun; very nice people and a great culture. I still bear great memories of my childhood. I had a ton of friends both in and out of school.


Me and my siblings in 1977. I’m the guy in the middle.

Growing up I was hooked up to Sci-Fi TV shows like Space 1999, Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek and of course the Saturday morning shows. Captain Marvel aka Shazam, Ark II, Rocket Robin Hood, Space Ghost, and many others were my favorite shows.

Back then I wanted to fly those fancy spaceships too. I knew space was the future and I wanted to become an astronaut!

I was super excited by the space adventures and those fantastical worlds on television. For me this was the ultimate journey, one that was to start sooner rather than later. Imagine the civilizations out there we could discover one day. How many were they?


Old Zenith TV set & Saturday morning shows


2. Growing Up in The 80s

In the summer of 1981 we moved to Germany where my father was stationed for the next 9 years.

My dreams of becoming an astronaut followed me and when I was 15 I began to correspond with NASA to learn what it took to become an astronaut. They answered every letter I sent them. I was getting a ton of mail and this got my father’s attention to the point he decided to read my mail.

One day he asked me what this NASA "business" was about and I told him I wanted to become an astronaut. He was surprised by my answer; he looked me in the eyes and said with a big smile: “Not gonna happen…” I was so disappointed by his response because I knew he was dead serious. Next at school my tech and mechanics teacher noticed my drawing skills and my passion for automotive design.

At school I could draw automobiles, spaceships and cartoons all day, every day. I was one of his best students and he told me about Patrick le Quément, aka Mr. Ford Sierra, who was the head of Ford Automotive Design headquarters in Cologne and a personal friend of him. He gave me his address and I sent him a few designs I had made in a big envelope. He was impressed with my skills for a little guy of my age and we exchanged a few pieces of mail back and forth.

He gave me some advice and sent me an Open House invitation to visit the Headquarters of Ford Design in Cologne. I never made it because leaving a boarding school in the middle of the week needed parental consent and for some job skills that were not needed back home, this was a waste of time, he said. So this is how each one of these career paths were discouraged by my father. Patrick le Quément worked for Ford till 1987 before leading the Renault Design Center in France until his retirement in 2009.


Patrick le Quément

I still draw cars in my spare time but nowadays it has become a luxury I can’t afford anymore. My last design was the Rolls Royce Competition of 2010, some 6 years ago! Here you can find a slideshow I created.



The Rolls Royce Competition

BTW if you are an enthusiast hobby car designer like me I’d like to hear from you. The Rolls Royce Competition model was created entirely with MS Paint. Can you believe what this program is capable of? I was shocked when I started experimenting with it.

3. The Internet, the Third Path

This is how I became an App Developer.

I first discovered the Internet back in 1996 from an ad I read in a trade magazine that taught how to run ads online. No one knew back then what the Internet was. I was one of the lucky few who did.

I pedaled many years before I figured out how money was made on the Internet. I did make a few bucks but not on a regular basis.

When mobile came I decided to ride the next big wave head on. I became a business consultant for local businesses and app developers. I helped them with marketing and development.

4. My Business

I’m the owner of Ecommerce Maurice Victor; I consult, develop and market apps for local business and app developers. Businesses often don’t know what it takes to market their business successfully in the app stores and how to make repeat sales on Smartphones. And so I help them achieve their goals this way.

I’m the author of “How to Sell Products and Services with Mobile Apps,” which is a blueprint for small businesses I wrote to market their businesses profitably on mobile devices. I also help them with local SEO, Google Maps, video marketing, reputation marketing, and all kinds of stuffs. Need help? I can solve your problem. You can find my contact information below:

• Website: http://www.appsolutemarketingx.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AppMarketingX/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AppMarketingX
• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C007EUM/

5. Space Travel, the Next Frontier

The Internet emerged in the 90s; social media and mobile app followed second and third and the next big thing to hit the streets will be the internet of things. If you can build a powerful antenna capable of connecting earth with the Milky Way and beyond like Vint Cerf one of the founders of the Internet envisioned it, space exploration will become inevitable.

The need for conquering unknown territories is so ingrained in the human DNA that this will spark a race for space exploration with a flourishing trillion dollars space industry in the private sector.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic are pioneers and forerunners. They have opened the doors for an industry that’s poised to fuel the growth of the global economy for the next 100 years.


6. Raising $1 Billion Dollars

I want to raise $1 Billion dollars for my childhood dream. This fundraising campaign can be broken down into multiple payment plans as follows:

  1. 10 million app downloads X$100 (X1PAYMENT*) =$1 Billion
  2. 10 million app downloads X$50 (X2PAYMENTS*) =$1 Billion
  3. 10 million app downloads X$5 (X20PAYMENTS*) =$1 Billion

 *depending on what the app has to offer   

Getting 10 million downloads is not hard, this is what I do, but rather what you’ll give in exchange for receiving payment.

If you have an app that’s collecting dust in the app stores and could become the next Pokemon Go, I’d like to hear from you. I can help you out with any concept you have and create a win-win situation that will benefit both of us.

This app can be anything, a product, service, a game, with a recurring payment plan or with a very simplistic fundraising concept. If that’s you please get in touch with me ASAP.

With the success of this campaign I can fund my project and literally take it to the stars!

This would be a dream come true. Imagine designing spaceships like the Millennium Falcon for airliners and private individuals capable of hovering off the ground (and it’s feasible). I get goose bumps just by the thought of it.

If you’re interested in this offer, please read of my book to grasp the concept of app marketing prior to contacting me. I want to make sure we’re on the same page before talking business. Again, here’s the link.

7. Follow Me

If you like this idea, please respond. I welcome any input that will advance this cause. You are welcome to share your thoughts, ask questions and share this link with others.

I will answer all your questions and post updates on the project, how far it’s gotten the contacts I made, the money that was raised and tips and tricks I learned along the way.

If you like this idea please steem it, and make this post go viral! Thanks for reading.

Maurice (@AppMarketingX

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