Entrepreneur Loses Startup Funding After Blowing Crowdfunding Money on Pokémon TCG Pocket Cards
For a brief moment, Renaldo Hayes, 32, was on the verge of success. His startup, NeuraSync, aimed to revolutionize how people interacted with smart home devices using an AI-driven automation system. His idea was solid enough to attract $85,000 on Kickstarter, with thousands of backers excited to see his vision come to life.
But instead of investing in development, hiring engineers, or even securing a prototype, Whitman funneled the entire crowdfunding budget into Pokémon TCG Pocket—the latest mobile card game sensation that had just launched.
At first, Hayes told himself he’d just spend a few hundred dollars on the game’s microtransactions—after all, he had loved Pokémon cards since childhood. But soon, he spiraled into what his now-estranged wife, Rachel Egnor, calls “an addiction with no brakes.”
“He started talking about ‘pull rates’ and ‘meta decks’ like it was his full-time job,” Rachel said. “I’d wake up at 3 AM, and he’d be on his phone, screaming about not pulling a Special Illustration Rare.”
Within two months, the entire $85,000 was gone, spent on premium in-game packs and ultra-rare digital collectibles.
While backers were left empty-handed, Hayes’ in-game collection was undeniably impressive. Some of his notable pulls included:
• Charizard EX (Hyper Rare) – A card with a 0.05% pull rate that he allegedly spent over $6,000 chasing.
• Pikachu Illustrator Reprint – A limited-edition card based on the legendary 1998 Illustrator Pikachu, which he proudly posted about on his now-deleted Twitter.
• Garchomp EX – He pulled four of these, even though they were trade-locked and completely useless in duplicates.
• Full Art Trainer Misty – He claimed this was his “good luck charm” and refused to play a match without it.
Once Kickstarter backers started demanding updates, Hayes panicked. In an ill-advised livestream, he attempted to justify his actions.
“You don’t understand,” he said to an audience of furious investors. “If I had pulled the Golden Lugia, I could have flipped my account for six figures. This was a business decision.”
His explanation was met with swift outrage. Backers reported him to Kickstarter for fraud, leading to a permanent ban from the platform.
The Final Blow: His Wife Leaves
Rachel, who had supported him from the beginning, finally had enough.“He sat me down and told me we’d have to sell my car because he ‘miscalculated some investments,’” she recalled. “That’s when I found out he had spent our entire savings on more packs after the Kickstarter money ran out. The day she packed her bags, Hayes was still glued to his phone, trying to trade for a Rainbow Rare Arceus VMAX.
Now bankrupt and abandoned, Hayes has attempted to pivot. He recently launched a YouTube channel called “PokéComeback”, where he documents his attempts to regain his lost wealth through Pokémon card investments. His first video? A PSA submission for his Shiny Charizard EX—the very card that started his downfall.
