How To Survive 150 Straight Rejections

And come away smarter, tougher, and more successful.

- Joe Keohane

Sam Sisakhti had an idea for an e-commerce company called UsTrendy. It would sell clothing made by talented, unknown fashion designers from around the world—acting as a marketplace for great styles that could be found nowhere else. It didn’t matter that he had no experience in fashion or building a brand. It didn’t matter that he had just quit his first job out of college after only four days. What mattered was that he believed that this idea could be huge. And to get it there, he figured, he needed to raise money. A lot of money.

Initially, it seemed easy. On their very first pitch, Sisakhti and his associate landed a $500,000 offer. “Crazy,” he says. But there was a catch: The VC required them to move to Silicon Valley to receive the money. Sisakhti’s right-hand man didn’t want to move. Sisakhti decided he’d just go do it himself.

So he moved, failing to understand that investors buy into a team, not just an idea. He promptly lost the funding.

No matter, he thought. He’d just go get more money.