Failure is an interesting thing. It can make people feel horrible about themselves. Yet, at the same time, it’s a teacher. If people learn from their failures, they can make great things happen. The case with Serena Williams‘ husband Alexis Ohanian is something similar. Today, the world knows him as one of the most successful tech investors and entrepreneurs. However, there was a time when Ohanian experienced failure. Thankfully, he learned from it and went on to do some amazing things. The Reddit co-founder recently shared one of his failure stories on Twitter via a series of tweets.

For budding entrepreneurs who want to be successful, it’s an incredibly informative and valuable read.

Serena Williams’ husband takes a trip down memory lane and shares his story of failure

Alexis Ohanian has rarely failed. After all, if he did fail often, he wouldn’t be where he is today. However, in 2005, one of Ohanian’s concepts ended in rejection. It was the same year he co-founded Reddit, which is worth $10 billion today. It proved to be a bitter pill to swallow for Ohanian. Initially, Ohanian described the idea he came up with. “I had an idea for a service that’d let people skip the line and order takeout from their phone called My Mobile Menu (MMM!)“.

In one of his subsequent tweets, he went into greater detail regarding the incident. “After miraculously landing an interview for the first ever batch of @YCombinator (2005) we showed up for an in-person interview and I gave the pitch of my life”. However, Ohanian added, “That night called to reject us. The main problem wasn’t really the concept itself, it was our timing.”

Additionally, he went on to explain why the timing was problematic. “App stores weren’t around yet, the only way to get on people’s phones at scale was to make deals directly with the mobile carriers themselves”. Also, Ohanian reflected on the rejection and provided encouragement to budding entrepreneurs. “Don’t be discouraged if someone doesn’t see the value in your idea – the market just may not be ready for it.”

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What Ohanian learned from his 2005 failure

Ohanian uses his valuable learnings from 2005 to determine the concepts he invests in through his venture capital firm, Seven Seven Six. In his penultimate tweet, Ohanian stated the importance of timing in business. “TIMING is one of the criteria we use to evaluate whether or not we’ll make an early-stage investment at @SevenSevenSix.”

Furthermore, in his final tweet, Ohanian namedropped entrepreneur Walker Williams. “When the time is right, there’s going to be a dope founding story about timing @FourthwallHQ and the resilience of Walker Williams.”

Are you inspired by Ohanian’s story of failure?

Watch This Story: Alexis Ohanian and Wife Serena Williams Choose Daughter Olympia’s Ballet Recital over Angel City FC Match