Friday Forum

Chris Sheldon and Van Gould are a Creative Director team at Maximum Effort. They are also former Shark Tank rejects and co-founders of the world’s most hated fake phone company. On the surface they may seem like two average looking dudes. But make no mistake, Sheldon and Van are industry leading marketing geniuses. After graduating from VCU Brandcenter, Sheldon and Van began working together at the now deceased Barton F. Graf. Before all of the clients and employees left, they worked on Little Caesars, Supercell, Tomcat and Sour Patch Kids. Their fake phone company, NoPhone, has sold over 25,000 units to date and rakes in over $27 in annual profit. What’s the secret to their marginal success? Nobody will ever know. One thing’s for sure, Sheldon and Van don’t know either.