I used to think that getting rejected was the worst thing that could happen. Then I realized it was the best filter for what was actually worth doing.
We pitched buy now, pay later at a startup competition in 2005 and got laughed at. The judges said it would never work.
I was rejected by over 100 investors. One literally fell asleep during my pitch. You just keep going. The hundred-and-first meeting is the one that changes everything.
Joel and I tried to get a loan for our previous business. We had revenue, profits, and real customers. The bank said no. That rejection created a $2.8 billion company. Thanks, Barclays.
We applied to Y Combinator and got rejected. Then we applied again and got in. The product was the same. The traction was different. YC doesn't bet on ideas. They bet on numbers.
Survivor was rejected by every network before CBS said yes. The best ideas always get rejected first.
Uber said no. That was the best thing that ever happened to Grab. We had to build it ourselves, which meant we built it right for Southeast Asia.
I got rejected by QVC seven times. Seven. And then they finally said yes — and I cried on live television and sold out in ten minutes.
I was rejected so many times that rejection became normal. It stopped scaring me. That is when everything changed.
For every 100 doors that you knock on, 98 get shut in your face.