The idea started with a neighbour, a French software developer. We talked about homes in nature and a coworking community for entrepreneurs. He had a daughter called Koko, so we named it after her, Koko Village. But our talks never turned into work. I wrote him a letter to end the partnership and offered him a small stake. He was upset, and felt I had taken the idea.
During a seven-day water fast, sitting high on a mountain, I pictured a Japanese woman walking in the forest. I thought of my best friend's wife, Yoko. Yoko Village felt right.
In the evenings, after the big operation, the village grew. An architect I had known since Buenos Aires designed the brand, the 3D drawings and the homes, with a small team she hired. I paid for it with my contract work and my life savings. A high school friend, a yoga teacher, came up with the name Sangha. I always brought my friends with me.
A colleague sent about 5,000 LinkedIn messages to test the idea. Thousands of people answered, mostly in the US and Canada.
I'm a little ashamed I was part of the Santa Teresa hype. Our renderings drew millions of views, and Yoko spent more on social media than anyone, so for a while Instagram favoured us.
Rendering
This is also where "fake it till you make it" came in. I told people in town I had bought the mountain before I had. I believed so strongly that it would happen that I spoke of the future as fact.
Conviction and ownership are different things.
Around mid-2020, I signed a purchase option on the land.