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Insignificant. Unknown. Rejected. Despite a Lot of Money
You are not someone unless there is undeniable proof
Kevin Ham
July 18, 2024
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
You are insignificant
“You are never too small to make a difference.”
I was interviewing a software engineer in the early days of my company, 2006. We were in a big boardroom. He seemed impressed. He asked me, “How many people are there in the company?”
8.
8? His jaw dropped and he started writing the number 8 on the table. 8 or 80?
8.
I could tell he was frazzled. The interview ended rather quickly after that. He had lost interest.
You are not worth my time
“Not all those who wander are lost.”
I was attending the Harvard Advanced Management Program in the fall of 2008, just when the financial crisis hit.
I was the youngest student in the program at age 37. I was surrounded by Fortune 500 executives or soon to be executives.
I was speaking to a top executive at Goldman Sachs Hong Kong. He asked me how many people I had in my company. 60.
He looked at me and then just walked away.
I told this to my mentor, Dr. Christopher Hartnett, also a Director of my company. The next day, the Goldman executive came up to me at lunch and apologized to me, saying he respects me and to ask him for anything at all. I wondered what had happened. My Director had told him about my accomplishments in business.
You are rejected
“I take rejection as someone blowing a bugle in my ear to wake me up and get going, rather than retreat.”
We wanted to move to a building with a view of the Pacific ocean, the sunrise and the sunset. We had our eye on Harbour Centre. We applied for a small 2600 square foot office. We got rejected. We asked why. The landlord wasn’t confident in our ability to pay. We were doing tens of millions of dollars. We sent them our financials. They begrudgingly agreed. We would later rent out almost an entire floor. Plenty of Fish, the free dating site and Markus Frind would take our 2600 sq ft office as we moved out. They sold for $600m USD to IAC.
Establish undeniable proof
"Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself."
After the 8 incident, I had this thought that I should get our company in some media article so that our company would have credibility.
I considered contacting our local papers, The Vancouver Sun and The Province. They were a stone’s throw away. My heart said no. Wait. God will direct. Hmmm, ok, I shall wait.
I was set to go to a Domain conference in Las Vegas in March 2007.
On welcoming night, I had a gentleman come up to me and ask, “Are you the man behind Cameroon?” That question took me by surprise. I had tried to keep my association with that secret. I replied, “I had help.”
Read the rest of my story at Ham.com along with my life lessons then and now (only a few minutes more but I hope will help you in your life)