I moved to Astoria from Manhattan on a recommendation from a former business competitor in Williamsburg | Brooklyn. I say competitor because I owned and operated 11211 Magazine and he owned the website 11211.com.

He is the nephew of the three brothers that owned the Kellogg’s Diner (who was an advertiser in 11211 Magazine).

In 2001, I offered to buy the domain. He wanted $500. I wasn’t buying it at that price. No way, no how. Two years later, I was ready to buy the domain again but this time he wanted $20,000. 😳

I jokingly said: “You bastid, last time you told me it was $500. This time it’s $20,000?“

He said: “Yes.“

I then said: “The only reason why it is worth anything at all is because of me, my staff and the magazine.”

He said: “I know.” He paused and continued with a smirk under his nose: “Thank you.”

We both laughed. Inside I was saying: “Phuck!“

If you know me, I’ll stay for hours and hours yammering on and on to get what I want. A lot of the time this perseverance works in my favor. This man wouldn’t budge. He said: “If you keep asking, it’s going up to $25,000.” Shit.

Yep, he‘s in sales too. He knows the drill.

Half a decade later, in 2012, he recognized the added business value of my early Neurochemical e-mails. This is where I spend years reading white papers from prestigious research institutes and universities. It was a lonely time, reading, yet very gratifying.

He had the leads and monied people. I needed leads and monied people to step and repeat the same (or similar) show I did in Brooklyn for Queens. He would be handling the introductions and sales and I would be primarily executing brands, ad, and design work, teaching him The Process of the Neurochemical as we went along. He’d then set me up with an apartment on Steinway Street in Astoria and our goal was to make $3,000,000 the first year.

      Within the first month, we formed a company called: Breuk Iversen and Nikos Katsanavakis (BINK) and soon added the familiar NYC to the anagram completing the domain; BinkNyc.com

Also within the first month of working together we landed a pretty substantial client. The project would coast us through the first quarter of 2013, with a five-figured gig.

The client was a credit card (CC) merchant service, and they needed to rebuild (rebrand) their company. We billed them over $30,000. for the entire scope of the project. Life, for us, was pretty good.

     The early stages of the research we did showed that the parent (CC) company had over 500 complaints on a website called RipoffReport.com. The job was a reputation management nightmare. The client agreed with us and we needed to rebrand their company.

     Shortly after we got the deposit, my business partner disappeared. Yes, you read that right. He disappeared. Not completely but didn’t return my calls, e-mails, etc…

     He stopped showing up to the office we had on Steinway. His aunt said he was alive so, there was that. He went back to being a counterperson, making minimum wage, and playing the maître d at his uncle’s diner in Williamsburg called Kellogg’s Diner. This was baffling to me. It was baffling to aunt too.

Pirate: Nikos

I ended up attending all the meetings alone with the client CC merchant and fulfilling the project and workload to completion. He still got his 15% commission, in cash, and to the cent. He apologized for disappearing but, wouldn’t return to work at BinkNyc. It was easier to work at Kellogg’s Diner for minimum wage plus tips. A full-time job is dependable income and he is married with a wife and daughter. So… that, and now then I was in Queens. I lived between Little Egypt and renting from the Greeks.

Months later he called and wanted to meet. He was mysterious, allusive and wouldn’t speak about the project over the telephone. We met at a Greek diner. In Astoria, Queens there are Greek diners on nearly every block (and they compete with one another just like the historic, ancient times of Sparta vs. Athens).

At this meeting, one Sunday morning, a young, striking Greek man was there with a milk crate of files which he placed on the table in the quiet, back room of (Igloo) the diner. My business partner turned to me and said: “How much did we say we were going to make this year?“

“$3 Million.” I replied.

“We will make ten times that amount. Look at these contracts.”

I did. The minimum contract was $700,000,000. We get a 15% commission.

He began to ask me about the Pentagon and the the White House. Not any white house, THE WHITE HOUSE. The contents of the box were filled with weapons’ contracts already signed and delivered to the Pentagon.

These are on public record. It’s “We the People” money.

The gentleman we met from Greece was the son of the owner of the weapons defense company (BSK Defense). He spoke no English whatsoever. Through Niko’s translation I learned that they wanted me to use the Neurochemical techniques I have to get a new product line by this Greek drone manufacturer sold to the US Pentagon. For our effort, we would get a 15% commission.

Um, I went through a little ethical struggle processing this scenario. Actually, the ethical issue were larger than little. If you want to read the rest of this Pirate story go here:

Or continue on to Case Study: PIRATE #2