“This is going to sound silly I suppose, but I am a cancer survivor and that has a lot to do with why I signed up,” she says. She and her husband had two young children, and the price tag certainly gave her pause. It was a friend of Papaioannou’s who was already working for LaVoie who reached out to say, “Niki, this will be perfect for you,” she recalls.Īt the time, Papaioannou was just recovering from stage three thyroid cancer. They were looking for individuals who described themselves as socially minded, were entrepreneurs, and described themselves as “CEO” or “principal” or “founder.” For example, Papaioannou’s profile lists her as “founder” of her firm, Niki Inc., which “works with superstars and entrepreneurs who want to improve the state of the planet and tell their unique story.” They’ll invest because they want to change the world.” “We have to find the best people,” one of LaVoie’s assistants said on a planning call leading up to Miami. For a promised commission of five to 10 per cent of what each contestant paid, his assistants trolled websites and social media looking for just the right people. To find contestants, LaVoie relied heavily on the business platform LinkedIn, along with Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook.
Pay more (between $5,000 and $25,000 more) and they would be a Team Captain “with more time on camera and one on ones with Christopher LaVoie.” To join up, he offers them a payment plan for the $25,000 fee. Ten million people will watch this show, he says. This is a mission, a cause, a fight for humanity.” Then he offers contestants the chance to become part of his “global ecosystem” of investors and celebrities.
LaVoie, in a “pitch deck” he sent to all prospective contestants, tells them: “This is much more than just a TV series. “People will see you differently and your bottom line will explode,” one of his assistants said in her pitch. “We’ll invest millions in your business,” he told another. “Your face is going to be on a billboard in Times Square,” he told one.
The more contestants questioned whether this was a good idea, the richer the promises. Second, in addition to being on an internationally streamed television show, he said they would each get 12 “media assets” - mini-documentaries chronicling their time on the show, which they could add to their social media feed. He provided his assistants with a similar script when they were speaking on his behalf.įirst, if their team was selected the winner, their business would be funded by what he described as the “TSM Billion Dollar Innovation Fund.” Each winner would get “four per cent” equity. “We will capture you in the process of problem solving a social issue that everyone has an emotional connection with,” he said to prospective contestants. LaVoie began his pitch to prospective contestants by telling them they were signing on with a show that would help solve problems like hunger, poverty, racism and cancer. The thinking is, the more people are aware of what you do, the more business you attract. LaVoie, who bills himself as “The Producer,” tapped into the desire of many modern entrepreneurs to harness the power of social media.