Collect your naysayers

I remember showing HelloSign to a family member. He barely took a look before getting distracted and walking away. Of all people, you’d imagine that family would be the easiest sell. Yet, working on a company comes with a lot of rejection, whether it’s apathy, passing on an investment, or a user not signing up (The rejection book). I see a lot of founders resent these people. 

I’ve grown to think of rejection differently: I collect my naysayers.  For some reason, I love these people. The bigger the group, the more I’m energized to prove them wrong.

I treat them well, stay in touch and often become friends (Treat investors well when fundraising). Over the years, some of them have even become investors or signed up as HelloSign users. My favorite naysayers are the ones that articulate why they don't believe. They take the time to call or write an email with their feedback. I often learn the most from these people. Then, if we raise, they’re often the first we talk to. 

Upvote Upvoted 5
8 responses
Garry Tan upvoted this post.
I totally agree. It's tough when someone says something vaguely negative but there is nothing to take away. Sometimes it's tough for people to dig down and understand why they are having a negative reaction...I guess that's ok. But, when someone can articulate why they don't like a product or strategy or whatever, you can actually think about it and figure out what you believe/how to change moving forward. Good, short post!
— Phil Strazzulla
Appreciate it!
— Joseph Walla
This is such a great post Joseph, your perspective could be a great addition to our blog. Would you be interested in writing a guest post for us? We typically share in-depth content on topics like leadership, teams, and productivity, and if you’re interested, I’d be happy to brainstorm topics with you to find one that’s a good fit. :) -Satinder satinder@popforms.com https://popforms.com/
— Satinder Haer
4 visitors upvoted this post.