Brian Acton turned rejection letters from tech giants into a $19 billion triumph with WhatsApp, showing that a “no” can sometimes be the first step toward massive success.
From Rejection To Opportunity
In 2009, after 11 years at Yahoo, Acton was seeking his next move. He applied to Twitter, now rebranded as X, only to be turned down.
“Got denied by Twitter HQ. That’s ok. Would have been a long commute,” he tweeted at the time.
Not long after, he applied at Facebook—and faced another rejection.
“Facebook turned me down. It was a great opportunity to connect with some fantastic people. Looking forward to life’s next adventure,” Acton shared on the microblogging site.
However, these setbacks didn’t slow him down. Instead, they sparked a bold move: teaming up with former Yahoo colleague Jan Koum to create WhatsApp.
The WhatsApp Phenomenon
Launched in 2009, WhatsApp quickly gained traction. Within just over four years, the messaging app amassed 450 million users, catching the attention of Facebook—now Meta Platforms, Inc.
In 2014, Meta acquired WhatsApp for a staggering $19 billion, citing the need to prevent rivals from gaining a foothold in the messaging space.
Last month, Meta announced that WhatsApp Paid Messaging surpassed a $2 billion annual run rate in the fourth-quarter. Revenue from the family of apps reached $801 million, up 54%, fueled by growth in WhatsApp paid services and MetaVerified subscriptions.
Looking ahead on WhatsApp, Meta plans to complete the rollout of ads and status updates over the course of the year.
This year, Meta also intends to expand the availability of its business AI tools to more markets. These tools will go beyond answering basic questions, such as product availability, to actively helping users accomplish tasks directly within WhatsApp.
Not Just An Acton Story
Acton’s experience is far from unique. Tech history is filled with founders who turned “no” into extraordinary success.
Jack Ma faced ten rejections from Harvard University before founding Alibaba, now valued at over $370 billion. He also faced rejection from Kentucky Fried Chicken and the Police Department.
A recent example would be Zach Yadegari, the 18-year-old founder of Cal AI, generating $30 million in annual revenue and was rejected by 15 top universities, TechCrunch reported.
This includes Harvard, Stanford, MIT and Yale—despite a 4.0 GPA and a 34 ACT. He was only accepted by Georgia Tech, the University of Texas and the University of Miami.
According to Forbes, Acton currently has a net worth of $3.6 billion. In 2018, he donated $50 million to the Signal Foundation, the nonprofit organization behind the Signal app, dedicated to protecting private communication.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo Courtesy: Aday zaza ph69 on Shutterstock.com
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