Here’s a quick story to inspire you.

Brian Acton was a software engineer who graduated from Stanford. Acton worked first at Apple and then at Yahoo for around a dozen years, until in 2007, he decided to travel to South America for a year with his friend and colleague Jan Koum.

On their return, both of them applied to Facebook and Twitter for jobs but both were rejected. Acton tweeted in May 2009, ‘Got denied by Twitter HQ. That’s okay. Would have been a long commute.’

A few months later, in August 2009, he followed it up with another tweet, ‘Facebook turned me down. It was a great opportunity to connect with some fantastic people. Looking forward to life’s next adventure.’

And his next adventure changed the world. In the same year that he got rejected, on his birthday, he co-founded Whatsapp along with his friend Jan Koum in Silicon Valley, California.

The app grew exponentially, its success unparalleled. So much so that in 2014, Facebook decided to buy it, for a staggering $19 billion. (That’s Rs 13,18,36,25,00,000 or Rs 1.3 LAKH CRORES!) By December 2017, Whatsapp had 1.5 billion active users!

You’ve perhaps heard this time and again, that every rejection, every failure is a stepping stone for success. Failure is not a destination in itself but a stop that comes on the route to success. Next time you get rejected for a job interview, remember this story. And bring out the Brian Acton in you.

The world is waiting!