Have you ever been told that you’re not good enough? That maybe you should give up what you’re doing and accept the reality that you’ll never be a success? Al Pacino was right in “The Devil’s Advocate”, when he said that the worst vice was “ad-vice”. That doesn’t change the fact that the often unsolicited advice hurts. You do have some good company though:
1. The Beatles
The Beatles [Source]
After auditioning at Decca records, the Fab 4 were rejected with a quote that will live in music infamy, “We don’t like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out”. Lucky for the Beatles and music lovers all over the world, they didn’t let the rejection and harsh words stop them.
With 15 number ones, a total of 175 weeks at number one and more than 2.3 billion (not a typo) albums sold, The Beatles have certainly proved Decca records wrong.
2. Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire in You'll Never Get Rich [Source]
"Can't act. Slightly bald. Also dances". This was supposedly Fred Astaire's screen test result after auditioning a the now defunct RKO Radio Pictures. Unlike The Beatles and Decca Records, Fred was allowed to prove his talent at RKO and boy did he!
3 Emmy's, 3 Golden Globes, 1 Oscar nomination - not too bad for someone who can't act.
I suppose i made it look easy, but gee whiz, did I work and worry. - Fred Astaire
3. Dr. Seuss
The Cat in the Hat [Source]
When we encounter something fresh and different from what we're used to seeing, our first reaction is often to reject it and attempt to impose our sense of conformity on it. Dr. Seuss, the legendary children's book author received a rejection letter from his publisher that his book was “too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant selling.” 300 million sales and the ninth best selling fiction author of all time - looks like quirky was just what the readers wanted.
4. Michael J.Fox
Michael J.Fox in Family Ties [Source]
Family Ties was Michael J. Fox's big break into Hollywood. But he very nearly didn't get the part - While the show's executive producer, Gary David Goldberg believed in Michael J.Fox, NBC Entertainment's president, Brandon Tartikoff, was unimpressed by what he had seen of the young actor. In a story that has been confirmed by all three parties involved, Tartikoff told Goldberg, "but I'm telling you, this is not the kind of face you'll ever see on a lunch box."
With Family Ties becoming an undoubted success and Michael J. Fox a household name, Michael J. Fox had a present for Tartikoff. Can you guess what it was? It was a lunch box with Fox's picture on it. In it, he enclosed a note: "To Brandon: This is for you to put your crow in. Love and Kisses, Michael J. Fox."
5. Alexander Graham Bell
The Bell Telephone Company Logo [Source]
In 1879, when the Bell Telephone Company was struggling, Bell and his partners offered all their rights to Western Union for $100,000. The president of Western Union rejected the offer, saying "what use could this company make of an electric toy?" Well, two years later, that very same president said that $25 million would be a steal for Bell's patents.
6. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
Jobs and Woz...the early days [Source]
"So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.'" - Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and H-P interested in his and Steve Wozniak's personal computer.
Here's a snapshot of Apple in 2016 from the Forbes site:
Apple [Source]
Sales of $173.76 Billion in 2013 and the largest company in the world by market capitalization - not bad for someone who "didn't go to college". Just for fun, we looked HP up - #142 by market value in 2013. And what about Atari? They filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2013. Ouch!
7. Arthur Fry and Spencer Silver
Arthur Fry and Spencer Silver [Source]
"If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this." - Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3M "Post-It" Notepads.
Fry was honored with the company's top technical title, corporate researcher. "My biggest reward," he said, "is to see so many people use and appreciate my product." And if you ever wondered why Post-It Notes are yellow in color, well it just so happened that the lab next door only had a scrap of yellow paper on hand.
Final Thoughts
Whether it's business, music, literature or sports, many of the greatest success stories and legends were doubted or even ridiculed when they were starting out. There are many more, from Michael Jordan to Thomas Edison who have had to prove their doubters wrong. So don't let other people's negativity get you down! You could send them an e-card to let them know what you think!
Don't have the stats, but most advice is probably unsolicited.
Title image credit: Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate [source]