If I’m honest, the first rejection wasn’t really a rejection at all. It was me not stepping up when the opportunity showed up.

Sometimes we say we want something.
Sometimes we even get the shot.
And then… we don’t take it.

This is what actually happened.

First attempt: I messaged Tibo about the SuperX cofounder role.

He replied:
“Pretty cool projects 🔥 and thanks for sharing all this.”

He even sent me the assignment.

I didn’t start it.

I was too caught up with internship work and college. I wanted the upside, but I didn’t create space for it.

Second attempt: he was hiring for a marketing role, handling day-to-day operations across his products.

This was exactly what I wanted to learn.

So I sent another Loom video.

He watched it. Replied properly. Rejected me.

He said I seemed more into coding. He was looking for someone with real marketing experience.

That one stung.

But it was accurate.

So I went back to building. Sharpened my coding. Shipped more projects. Kept improving.

Then came the third opportunity.

Support engineer role for Outrank.

This time it was code-based.
This time, the fit made sense.
This time I was ready.

And I finally joined.

Sometimes the door isn’t locked.

You’re just not ready to walk in yet.

January 2026, New Year’s night.

Instead of resolutions, I sent a cold DM to Rob Hoffman with a photo and a Loom video.

Didn’t expect much.

He replied fast.

I interviewed with Cam, worked for a week as a trial period and

Boom. Joined Kleo.

What followed was the best product launch I’ve ever witnessed.

The speed.
The clarity.
The execution.

No endless debates. No over-polishing. Just shipping and iterating in public.

Have a great week ahead and stay healthy! 🏃‍♂️