Square Peg In A Round Hole
Despite being very clever Jan was, by his own admission, a trouble maker at school and quickly dropped out of college.
He managed to get a job as a software engineer at Yahoo, but got bored and left before he was asked to leave. On his bio Jan writes "Did time at Yahoo."
Disillusioned with life, Jan decided to go travelling for a year.
When he returned, Facebook and Twitter were two of the biggest gigs in town. Jan sent his CV, but was turned down by both companies.
So Jan decided to start a business himself. After a bin full of scrapped ideas, he decided to run with the very big idea of creating a hassle free instant messaging service.
WhatsApp was born, and in February 2014 Jan Koum sold WhatsApp to Facebook for $19Billion.
Jan Koum says he realises it was true what his school teachers and naysayers had said about him, that he lacked common sense. Koum says that it was uncommon sense that had prevented him from following the normal, common sense path to mediocority.
Remember, if you're a misfit in one place, you'll be a great fit in another.
Recent Comments
4
Thanks for sharing his story. His is a true testament about believing in oneself. People might not see the big picture but by sheer determination, you can turn your ideas into a success story as he did.
Jerome
Thanks Rich.
EJ