Embrace Rejection

2014 was a great year for me and PC Pitstop. Profits flew as we established that we had the best security software in the marketplace. At the end of that year, full of confidence from our market validation, I thought wouldn’t it be great if we were in Best Buy? I had some contacts that got me in contact with the exact right person at Best Buy. I was stoked and I made what I thought to be a killer presentation. I sent it on, and then a week later we had the teleconference where I would walk them through why we were a great fit.

When I got on the teleconference, I was almost antsy to start, but the head guy didn’t want to hear it. He told me that he had already looked at the presentation, therefore there was no need for me to review it. He then took control of the meeting and asked a few questions, and then explained that Best Buy already had a strategy and their partners were set. Worse yet, he almost seemed to take pleasure in popping my bubble. Best Buy had rejected me.

It was a horrible feeling I definitely was sad. It didn’t seem fair that I never had the chance to present the PowerPoint presentation. But then I figured something out. This horrible feeling that I was experiencing was so bad that I realized that many people spend their entire lives trying to avoid this feeling.

I realized that my whole life I have been rejected. But for some reason, I have been able to get back up so that I can be rejected time again, until that magic moment when you are not. And then it makes it all worthwhile. The problem is that most people never get that far. Sure, there are probably some successful people that have not faced rejection. My belief is that the path to success is full of rejection. To the extent that one can embrace rejection, ultimately you will be successful. It is the people that avoid rejection at all costs that will never reach their full potential.