Most of the young entrepreneurs let early rejections get to them and this is absolutely normal because when you hear a “no” you start to wonder “what’s wrong with me!?”
However, no’s come early to most of us because it’s super easy to qualify out a deal that is unlikely to make it due to stage, focus, geography etc.
While it is easy to come across Founder success stories in the tech press every day that makes fundraising seem like a walk in the park what most people tend to overlook is that these financings have been a several months’ long series of no’s, compromises, hard terms, heartaches, arguments, self-doubt, followed by a “yes” that saves the day.
Sometimes all you need to do is find creative ways of getting there. This could even go as far as laying off staff, side consulting, taking prepayments from customers, raising a small amount of debt — whatever it takes to sustain you and your dream until you get that one yes.
If you’re willing to be persistent, if you have thick skin and don’t take things personally, if you maintain your confidence, charm, sincerity and grace then you can usually power through the difficult days of knocking on doors.
And once you can channel this energy from “almost have a term sheet” into a feeling of “act now or you’ll miss out” you can get those sitting on the fence to fall off the fence.
Even Amazon was told “no” by many before they built the world’s greatest company. It only takes one yes.