Rejections → success · Ref BRK-07
The light at the end.
Every no here eventually turned into a yes. How many it took, and what it became — proof, for anyone still counting, that the map really does lead somewhere. Add yours, and give someone hope.
Nos, then a yes
10 breakthroughs- 2nos, then
“Real estate”
· Anonymous - 217nos, then
“Pitched 242 investors to build Starbucks. 217 said no. He kept knocking, and the yeses changed how the world drinks coffee.”
· Howard Schultz, Starbucks - 12nos, then
“Twelve publishers passed on a story about a boy wizard. A small London house said yes and printed 500 copies.”
· J.K. Rowling - 30nos, then
“Thirty rejections for his first novel. He threw it in the bin; his wife pulled it back out. It became Carrie.”
· Stephen King - 5,126nos, then
“5,126 failed prototypes over fifteen years. Number 5,127 became the vacuum that built his company.”
· James Dyson - 27nos, then
“Twenty-seven publishers rejected his first children's book. The 28th said yes, and he went on to sell 600 million.”
· Dr. Seuss - 7nos, then
“Seven investors turned down a site for renting air mattresses. He later posted their emails, from Airbnb.”
· Brian Chesky, Airbnb - 2nos, then
“Rejected for jobs at both Twitter and Facebook. Five years later, Facebook bought his app, WhatsApp.”
· Brian Acton, WhatsApp - 30nos, then
“Rejected from thirty jobs, including a KFC that hired 23 of its 24 applicants. He went on to build Alibaba.”
· Jack Ma, Alibaba - 60nos, then
“Sixty literary agents said no to her manuscript. The Help then spent over 100 weeks on the bestseller list.”
· Kathryn Stockett