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Embracing Rejection: How to Turn No into a Steppingstone for Success

Rejection stinks.


There's no way to sugarcoat it. When a loan application is denied, your product is rejected by a retailer, or you’re not selected for a grant or pitch competition, it’s disappointing.

 

Unfortunately, it's reality. We will all experience rejection at some point, especially as entrepreneurs. The ultimate test of being a successful founder is not whether someone gets rejected, but how you respond to the adversity.

 

Meet Jean Brownhill, founder and CEO of Sweeten, a software company that connects homeowners with certified architects, designers, and general contractors for renovations.

There are less than 400 Black and Hispanic women who have raised more than one million dollars in venture capital funding, and Jean Brownhill is one of them (and so is our 2020 Pitch Competition winner, Arion Long). However, before Jean raised more than seven million dollars, she heard the word "no" 257 times.

 

"It's mostly men in these fields, but the venture partners tend to be mostly older white men," Jean said at a Forbes event. "So, when they'd meet someone like me, they didn't have a lot of pattern recognition. I heard so many nos. I internalize it so differently now. Now when I hear 'no,' I think, 'I am one no closer to my yes.'"

 

Jean and Sweeten have raised almost $10 million in 13 years.

 

So, besides remembering Jean's story, here are additional suggestions for how to handle rejection.

 

  1. Ask for feedback. There's no harm in asking why you weren't chosen for something. However, remember that some organizations or companies might not have the capacity or resources to provide feedback to everyone who has applied.

  2. Try a new approach. Lean into the famous quote: " Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Change your application or pitch deck. Write something different. Try a different tactic and see if the result changes.

  3. Learn from others. Have you applied for a grant or pitch competition? Research who was accepted and see how their business compares with yours. Reach out to them with congratulations and ask if they would be open to sharing insights on their application with you.

  4. Remember your why. When we get rejected, it's common to be hard on ourselves and to question why we are even doing this? This is when your why becomes even more critical. Why is your company important to you? Come back to your why to get grounded and remember your main objective.

  5. Reset mindset. In the book The Reset Mindset: How to Get Unstuck, Focus on What Matters Most, and Reach Your Goals Faster, business strategy coach and international speaker Penny Zenker writes, "The Reset Mindset emphasizes value creation and adaptability to real-time feedback. It helps you learn faster and implement changes more quickly, which is vital in today's fast-paced world where success depends on how swiftly and effectively you can adjust." Sometimes, pausing, and reevaluating priorities is the course of action after a rejection.

  6. Prioritize your time. Applying for certifications, grants, pitch competitions, and funding takes time, resources, and energy. Ask yourself: Which opportunities do I have the BEST chance of securing? The bigger prize opportunities will probably have the most applicants. Is it better to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond?

  7. Network. If you have a particular organization's grant in mind, attend their events. If you want to be accepted for a specific accelerator or incubator program, start building a relationship with the decision-makers now. If they already know you, it's easier for someone to invest in you.

  8. Keep going. All it takes is one yes to erase the nos."Four-out-of-five of the 2024 Pitch Competition applicants were returned applicants. So, you never know what will happen if you put yourself out there again.

 

Bottom line: Rejection comes with being an entrepreneur. Sramana Mitra, founder of One Million by the One Million, wrote in a LinkedIn post – "you've often heard me say that over 99% of the entrepreneurs who seek financing are rejected. This post offers a set of rejection statistics culled from credible sources on some of the key players:

·       Y Combinator: 97.15% [Source: The Economist]

·       AngelList: 98.8% [Source: The Economist]

·       Andreessen Horowitz: 99.3% [Source: Fortune]"

So, you are not alone in this situation. If anything, it makes you normal. However, rejection doesn't have to be the end of the world. A lot of good can come from being told 'no.' The trick is learning to embrace it.

 



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