Thread by @AbhishekPonia

The incredible story of a 10-time Harvard REJECT, who went from failure to failure till he found success & became one of the richest in the world (A THREAD):

Few people have had a tryst with Failure as often as this gentleman did, and yet, he retired as one of the best success stories of the Internet era! Let’s get to know him better.......

He experienced failure very early in life. He failed Primary school TWICE & Middle School THRICE.
But never doubted himself.

Resident of a non-English speaking nation, he was keen to learn English at a young age. But had no money or resources.
So he came up with an ingenious idea

He decided to find foreign tourists at an intl hotel, & become their guide for free... In return, they had to teach him English!
So he cycled 17kms everyday at 5 am to the nearest international hotel & made his offer to the tourists

He did this everyday for years. Not only did he learn good English, he also made some life-long friendships

He experienced failure again - it took him 3 years to clear the University Entrance Test. He finally got into the LEAST reputed college in his city to pursue Bachelors in English

He applied to Harvard University 10 times... and was REJECTED EVERY SINGLE TIME.

During & after his degree he applied for jobs & was rejected 30 times....Yes you read that right

When KFC came to his country, 24 people applied for a job. 23 were accepted & he was the only one rejected.
For a job in the Police, he was the only one declined from 5 applicants

He finally became an English teacher earning $12 per month

On a trip to America, he came across in the internet & was instantly fascinated by it. He found that there was nothing on the Internet about his country. He wanted to change this

He launched an online yellow pages. This was optimistic, as most people in his country didn’t know what the Internet was. He achieved some success but had to eventually leave the company

After two failed startup attempts, he decided to launch an online marketplace.
With no knowledge of tech, having never written a line of code & never having sold anything, launching a marketplace was not just optimistic but WILD!

He convinced 17 of his friends to invest & come together for the venture.
But like always, it wasn’t smooth sailing.

He tried raising money from American investors but was declined since he didn’t have a Business plan.

Many called his business unprofitable & unsustainable.

The startup didn’t make much in the first 3 years & even came close to bankruptcy. Some of his partners left..

But he kept going!

He didn’t stop... he innovated, pivoted, focused on his customers & worked relentlessly...
He grew the marketplace & it became one of the world’s biggest brands

Few lessons & quotes by the person who, despite numerous failures, created his own destiny:

“NEVER GIVE UP. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine”

“I think almost everybody can be successful, if you try really hard”

“I know nothing about technology, I know nothing about marketing, I know nothing about (legal) stuff. I only know about people”

Use the skills you have

“Spend time on your customers, spend time on your people your own team. Don’t spend time on investors, don’t spend time on competitors. When you look at the people you serve, when you look at the people you work together, if they are happy you will win”

“You should learn from your competitor but never copy.”

He retired in 2019 a billionaire & now spends more of his time in philanthropy.
For a short while in 2020, he had gone missing from the public eye.

He is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time. Hope you were able to learn a thing or two from his story, especially about overcoming failure & rejection.

I certainly did.

Have you guessed whose story this is?