July 12, 2005.
Kyle MacDonald sat at his desk in Montreal, bored, unemployed, staring at a small red paperclip.
He was 26 years old. No job. No money. No house.
Just a paperclip.
And then he remembered a game from childhood called "Bigger and Better"—where kids would knock on doors with a small object and try to trade up for something bigger. Usually ended with a toy car or something equally modest.
But Kyle thought: What if I don't stop?
What if I trade this paperclip... and keep trading... until I get a house?
His heart raced. The idea was absurd. Impossible. Ridiculous.
So he decided to try it anyway.
That same day, Kyle posted a photo of the red paperclip on his blog and in the barter section of Craigslist. His message was simple: "I want to trade this paperclip for something bigger or better."
He added a note at the bottom: "PS I'm going to make a continuous chain of 'up trades' until I get a house. Or an island. Or a house on an island. You get the idea."
Then he waited.
Two days later, someone responded.
A fish-shaped pen.
Not exactly a mansion. But it was bigger. Better. Different.
Kyle accepted.
Trade #1: Complete.
On July 14, 2005, Kyle traveled to Vancouver and made the exchange. Red paperclip for fish-shaped pen.
That same day—that same day—he traded the pen for a hand-sculpted doorknob made by a potter in Seattle.
Kyle was hooked.
Over the next year, Kyle MacDonald became a traveling trader. Each exchange took him somewhere new. Each item was stranger than the last.
Trade #3: He went to Amherst, Massachusetts, and traded the doorknob to a man who needed it for his stovetop espresso maker. Got a Coleman camp stove in return.
Trade #4: California. Traded the camp stove to a U.S. Marine sergeant named David who was preparing to move. Got a Honda generator.
Trade #5: Queens, New York. Traded the generator for an "instant party"—an empty beer keg, an IOU to fill it with any beer, and an illuminated Budweiser sign.
(The New York City Fire Department temporarily confiscated the generator during the first attempt. Kyle had to try twice.)
Trade #6: December 2005. Traded the "instant party" to Quebec comedian Michel Barrette for a Ski-Doo snowmobile.
By now, the trades were getting media attention. People were following Kyle's blog. The internet was watching.
Trade #7: Traded the snowmobile for a two-person trip to Yahk, British Columbia.
Trade #8: Traded the trip for a 1987 Mazda pickup truck (some sources call it a "cube van").
Trade #9: Traded the truck for a recording contract with a music producer.
This is where things got interesting.
Trade #10: Kyle traded the recording contract for a year's rent-free apartment in Phoenix, Arizona.
Trade #11: He traded the year in Phoenix for an afternoon with rock legend Alice Cooper.
On the day of the trade, Kyle stood onstage with Alice Cooper, holding a giant 10-foot red paperclip above his head.
Then came the controversial decision.
Trade #12: Kyle traded the afternoon with Alice Cooper for a KISS snow globe.
The online community exploded. "This is probably the dumbest decision I have ever seen anyone make… ever."
People thought Kyle had lost his mind. An afternoon with a rock icon for a snow globe?
But Kyle knew something they didn't.
Two months earlier, he'd been contacted by Corbin Bernsen—Hollywood actor best known for L.A. Law, and also a film director.
Corbin collected snow globes. Over 6,500 of them. The world's largest collection.
And he wanted that KISS snow globe.
Trade #13: Kyle gave Corbin the KISS snow globe. In exchange, Corbin gave Kyle a speaking role in his upcoming film, Donna on Demand.
A movie role. An actual Hollywood movie role.
Kyle now had exactly one year's worth of trading under his belt. Twelve months. Thirteen trades. From a paperclip to a film contract.
But he still didn't have a house.
Then his phone rang.
It was Bert Roach, the economic development officer for Kipling, Saskatchewan—a small agricultural town about two hours east of Regina, population 1,100.
The town owned a house. A two-story farmhouse at 503 Main Street. Built in the 1920s, recently renovated. 1,100 square feet, three bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms.
Bert had a proposal: "Give us the movie role, and we'll give you the house."
The town wanted publicity. They wanted to put Kipling on the map. They'd hold a talent competition called "Kipling Idol" where locals could audition for the movie role.
Kyle and his girlfriend flew to Kipling to see the house.
On July 12, 2006—exactly one year to the day after he'd posted that red paperclip—Kyle made Trade #14.
Movie role for a house.
The mayor of Kipling, Pat Jackson, handed Kyle the keys.
The town also gave him:

A key to the town
$200 in "Kipling Cash" to spend at local businesses
Honorary citizenship
The title "Honorary Mayor of Kipling" for one day
A commemorative day where everyone in town wore a red paperclip

And one more thing: Kipling built the World's Largest Red Paperclip—unveiled July 12, 2007—and installed it in Bell Park.
Kyle MacDonald had traded a paperclip for a house.
Kyle and his girlfriend Dominique moved to Kipling. Population 1,100. Everyone knew who they were.
"We were pretty big in Kipling," Kyle said later. "It was like living in The Truman Show."
But over time, something shifted.
People kept asking him: "What's the house like? Do you love the house?"
And Kyle realized: It was never about the house.
It was about the trades. The people. The adventure. The possibility.
"I realized it wasn't really about the house," Kyle said. "It was about the idea. Trading. Meeting people. Making things happen. I wanted more of that."
So after a few years, Kyle gave the house back to the town.
The house was converted into a café and tourist attraction called Paperclip Cottage.
Kyle wrote a book about his journey—One Red Paperclip—published by Random House in 2007 in the United States, Canada, and a dozen other countries.
He gave a TED Talk that's been viewed over 12 million times.
And he inspired millions of people around the world.
Because here's what Kyle proved:
You don't need money to create value. You don't need connections. You don't need permission.
You just need creativity. Persistence. The willingness to take a ridiculous idea seriously.
Kyle MacDonald looked at a paperclip and saw possibility.
Most people would have thrown it away. Or used it to hold papers together. Or ignored it completely.
Kyle asked: What if?
What if this paperclip could become something else? What if I kept going? What if I refused to stop until I reached something impossible?
And the answer turned out to be: A house. In Saskatchewan. With the world's largest red paperclip out front.
Today, people keep red paperclips on their desks as reminders. Clipped to their computers. Pinned to their shirts.
Because Kyle MacDonald proved that anything is possible.
You just have to be willing to make the first trade.