The Unlikely Connection Between the Fire Phone and a Cappuccino

Starting your own business can be exhilarating but also very terrifying. You’re stepping into the unknown and leaving your comfort zone behind. But this is something you have to do; otherwise, you will always be on the sidelines. Noah Kagan, author of Million Dollar Weekend, offers some great advice… Just do it! But why is it so hard to just start? It sounds easy, right?

That is because most of the time, we are afraid. Afraid of rejection.

Ehm… No!

In his book, Noah talks about just getting out there and getting used to being rejected. Rejection: nobody really likes it, right? This feeling is also something that I encountered with earlier entrepreneurial ventures: the fear of it being a stupid idea and, therefore, not pursuing it.

But that is not how businesses are built! You need to try, try, try. Take, for example, Jeff Bezos. He launched the Fire Phone with Amazon. Honestly, I had never heard of Fire Phone or even known what it looked like. And that make sense, because it was not popular at all. Apparently, it only sold 35000 phones in its first 20 days. A big failure right? Well, here is what he said about it:

Bezos’ words show that failures are part of the process and, in the end, inevitable when you are trying out new things. The Fire Phone may have been a flop, but the spirit of trying out new things also created Amazon Web Services, Amazon’s most profitable business unit. The key is that if you don’t try, you won’t know. And yes, failure or rejection is hard. But we need to get used to it. You need to step out of your comfort zone.

Well, Noah definitely makes you do exactly that. He lets you do the coffee test: Order a coffee and ask for a 10% discount.

This is where I went. Screaming Beans, a nice little place at the Negen Straatjes in Amsterdam. When I walked in my heartbeat went up fast and I could only think: "I am really going to do this?! First, I thought about saying that it was for a school project. But then again, why make up excuses: Just ask!

And you know what, it was awkward, but I got the 10% off! It felt even weirder to actually get 10% off while I was expecting a rejection. Nevertheless, it still showed me that anything is possible, as long as you ask. Moreover, it also led to a nice conversation with the waitress, which is always a nice bonus.

After the first try, I started to try it more often and got rejected most of the time (no, I do not ask for it every time I go out for a coffee). With this exercise, I trained the muscle to Just ask. This newly trained muscle is honestly helping me in my work and personal life, so whether or not you are pursuing entrepreneurship it is a very helpful tool to have in your toolkit.

So I dare you: Treat yourself to that coffee, but do ask for a discount!

Rejection, resistance and the fear of failure is something we all face. But how we deal with it is what sets us apart. So, get comfortable with rejection and keep trying new things. As Bezos shows, even the biggest failures can be learning experiences for the next big thing.

P.S. Please let me know if you did the coffee challenge and what your experiences were!