How I handle rejection (lessons learned from building a startup & getting rejected on national TV)
By: Vendela Ragnarsson
Tags: Startup Lessons, Founder Stories, Rerobe, Shark Tank, Circular Fashion

How I handle rejection (lessons learned from building a startup & getting rejected on national TV) Vendela Ragnarsson 3 days ago·6 min read

In the latest episode of Draknästet — the Swedish equivalent of Shark Tank — you can see me getting grilled and eventually a no from every shark investor.

The show was recorded in February 2021, and it was my first solid pitch to investors. And to be honest, my worst case scenario was closing only one deal — 0 deals was not an option in my book. You can see in the episode that I’m refusing to leave the room with no money! However, when I finally realized that the pitch was over, it felt like going through 25 floors with no elevator. Damn. This really sucks…!

We now begin the third year of our venture, ReRobe, and the most important lesson we’ve learned thus far is that hardship, defeat, and rejection is more the rule than the exception in the life of a startup. During the past 2 years, I’ve pretty much done nothing else but work; I’ve put my entire being into this venture. It’s not a job I can punch out from at 5pm or take a break from on weekends — this “job” means personal sacrifices, high risk decisions, and endless hours working for the dream. So, when rejections happen, they naturally hit hard. In these low points, one of the best remedies has been to go back to the Startup School from where we began, and see what insights and wisdom we could harness.

The Patron Saint of Startups, Paul Graham, is one of our best sources of inspiration. In his essay, How Not To Die, he shares:

“The low points in a startup are just unbelievably low. I bet even Google had moments where things seemed hopeless. Knowing that should help. If you know it’s going to feel terrible sometimes, then when it feels terrible you won’t think “ouch, this feels terrible, I give up.” It feels that way for everyone. And if you just hang on, things will probably get better.”

For us, the most difficult low points have been getting rejected from investors when we really could’ve used some working capital. When we decided it was time to fundraise, we had already been up and running for a full year, built and launched our mobile app, had growing sales each month, and recruited an amazing, loyal team of 7 people. We’d been frugal with money, were on a path to being “ramen profitable” by year’s end, and are in a market that’s growing like hell — and still we got the “get back with more traction” or “we don’t see how you can scale” cards. (So much for the “We bet on founders” clichés). What more could we prove, we thought? These rejections were particularly tough because every time I’d go to LinkedIn, it seemed as if another startup with no product or traction was getting funding.

But, once the emotions were calmed, we came to realize that each “no” was actually a blessing in disguise. Each “no” forced us to ask ourselves, did we really need to raise money, and could we keep pushing ourselves forward with our own sales? Of course a lack of external capital meant more sacrifice for us as a team, and some honest-to-god prayers, but if we could just survive and continue to attract more customers, then we knew, somewhere deep within, that we’d be ok.

Hardship will come, but the most important thing is that you keep fighting through. And that’s really the essence of it.

So, assuming you’ve launched and have some customers, how do you keep your startup alive when all else seems hopeless? You turn to your most important resource: morale. This is going to be your startup’s backup battery, and it should always be charged for the hard times.

Here are my thoughts and views on what founders should do to keep morale healthy at their young startup:

Get back to sales : in the lowest times, even one sale or order will give you a morale boost that can help you push forward. Sales are ultimately what this is all about anyway. If your sales numbers tell you that not enough people like your product, it might be a good sign to kill your darlings and perhaps reconsider a new startup idea. However, if you have consistent sales, this will fuel your morale. It means you’ve built something people are willing to pay for!

: in the lowest times, even one sale or order will give you a morale boost that can help you push forward. Sales are ultimately what this is all about anyway. If your sales numbers tell you that not enough people like your product, it might be a good sign to kill your darlings and perhaps reconsider a new startup idea. However, if you have consistent sales, this will fuel your morale. It means you’ve built something people are willing to pay for! Be fully committed : This means 100% commitment to the company you’re building. If one of your co-founders is still working another full-time job, you can rest assured that during hard times, he/she/they won’t be jumping in full-time when those hard times rear their pesky lil heads. I think you can be fully committed to your business and have a side hustle to pay your bills, but doing a startup half-ass, with another full-time job? It simply won’t work. You and your co-founders need to be 100% committed.

: This means 100% commitment to the company you’re building. If one of your co-founders is still working another full-time job, you can rest assured that during hard times, he/she/they won’t be jumping in full-time when those hard times rear their pesky lil heads. I think you can be fully committed to your business and have a side hustle to pay your bills, but doing a startup half-ass, with another full-time job? It simply won’t work. You and your co-founders need to be 100% committed. Avoid the projection trap . Don’t buy into the false narrative of thinking that starting a startup is a sexy lifestyle, it’s not. Portraying this type of lifestyle will only widen the gap between expectations and reality, and when the hard times come rolling in, your morale will be crushed. Even if you were successful in acquiring funds early on, try to stay as lean as possible. How do you go from the posh co-working space to your old high school bedroom when it comes to this type of survival decision? You can keep your morale in check by not portraying a fantasy, living below your means, and working your way up. We had no shame in not being perfect from the beginning — you can read more about the first months in this post.

. Don’t buy into the false narrative of thinking that starting a startup is a sexy lifestyle, it’s not. Portraying this type of lifestyle will only widen the gap between expectations and reality, and when the hard times come rolling in, your morale will be crushed. Even if you were successful in acquiring funds early on, try to stay as lean as possible. How do you go from the posh co-working space to your old high school bedroom when it comes to this type of survival decision? You can keep your morale in check by not portraying a fantasy, living below your means, and working your way up. We had no shame in not being perfect from the beginning — you can read more about the first months in this post. Take an extremely low salary, if any : my cofounder and I haven’t taken a salary in over two years. We moved in with our parents and rented out our apartment to save money in order to keep the company alive. We’d take catering/hosting gigs, quick consulting projects, and loans to cover our cost of living. And guess what? Even if you’re not making any money, but your company is growing, your morale can go up! It’s a bit paradoxical, but when you know you’ve put it all on the line, and you see progress with your dream, you realize there might be a victory somewhere in the future.

: my cofounder and I haven’t taken a salary in over two years. We moved in with our parents and rented out our apartment to save money in order to keep the company alive. We’d take catering/hosting gigs, quick consulting projects, and loans to cover our cost of living. And guess what? Even if you’re not making any money, but your company is growing, your morale can go up! It’s a bit paradoxical, but when you know you’ve put it all on the line, and you see progress with your dream, you realize there might be a victory somewhere in the future. Talk to your users. Every time we got a no — from accelerator programs, grants, competitions, loans, investors — we went back to our store and talked to our customers. Fundraising takes time, and it’s time taken away from your vitamins (your customers, your sales, your team). The essence is that people liked our thing, and they kept coming back from more.

Your sales and users are morale fuel — utilize them in productive ways to build a better product and a better company.

Some further thoughts and reflections:

Rejection will happen, and it’s gonna suck. It’s painful, and your rejection emotions will kick in. But, after a few days, and with some R&R, your rational brain will kick in and help you make the necessary decisions going forward.

It’s said that more than half of all startups die — so your true goal is to survive. Every day that you go to bed and your company is still running, you still have a chance. Don’t give up.

Build your company for your customer (!!!) The measure of your success should always be how happy they are.

And, well, what can we say — after 7 popups in various places around Stockholm, and many trials and errors — we kept rejections at bay and fought our way to launching our first permanent, flagship store in Stockholm! We opened our doors at Åsögatan 128 in Södermalm, last week, and it’s truly been a dream on our list to be checked.

Shark tank is already far far behind.

Welcome to visit us, and please connect if you’re interested to follow our journey!

Cheers, Vendela

ReRobe’s IG: @ReRobestockholm

My IG: VendelaRagnarsson

Online store: Rerobe.se