The Facebook rejection letter that turned into a $4 billion cheque

After 11 years of being an employee at Yahoo!, and another two years after of bouncing from job to job in Silicon Valley's start-up land, Brian was on the verge of giving up.

Being turned down from both Facebook and Twitter, Brian's prospects seemed bleak at 40. However, Brian's optimism and good grace with which he handled his rejection, is a lesson for us all.



“It was a great opportunity to connect with some fantastic people. Looking forward to life’s next adventure," he said.

https://twitter.com/brianacton/status/3109544383

Brian's optimism and the strength of his character were projected through the 140 characters of his tweet. So he stuck with it and landed a job with an old colleague from Yahoo! - somebody he had hired.

Although it wasn't much at the time, Brian was made co-founder with no salary for his efforts, which eventually paid off.

A few years later, Brian and his co-founder at WhatsApp sold their company to Facebook for a staggering $19 billion making Brian's stake worth around $4 billion.



Which reiterates the importance of never giving up, even if you're 'too old', or 'past your prime', or 'worn out'. You never know what can happen to you, unless you quit trying.

The point being that if you keep trying, good things can happen and something good will come your way. Sooner or later, your efforts will pay off and the odds will pile up in your favour.

This article originally appeared on Independent.