In Pics | Companies that made it big despite rejections

From Google, Netflix to Paytm, here we list famous companies that made it big despite being rejected in early days.

In 1999, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin attempted to sell their company Google to Excite, a popular search engine at the time. The offer was made for $1 million, but Excite rejected the acquisition proposal. This turned out to be a significant miss for Excite as Google went on to become one of the most successful and influential companies in the world. Today, Larry and Brin each worth about $100 billion. Credit: Twitter/@StockMKTN

Netflix had approached Blockbuster, a dominant player in the video rental industry, with a proposal to acquire it for $50 million in 2000. Blockbuster declined the offer, perceiving it as a niche market that wouldn't pose a significant threat to their business. Netflix later shifted its business model to focus on DVD rentals by mail and eventually transitioned into a streaming service, revolutionising the way people consume media. Credit: Reuters Photo

MySpace, a dominant social networking platform, was interested in acquiring Facebook in 2005. Founder Mark Zuckerberg asked for $75 million, which Myspace felt was too high. Ultimately, Facebook's success led to its own dominance in the social media landscape, while MySpace experienced a decline in popularity. Credit: Reuters Photo

Canva, the popular graphic design platform, had indeed approached investors to raise funds but it didn't get a positive feedback from over hundreds of investors. Today, Canva is said to be worth over $30 billion. Credit: Twitter/@canva

In their early days, Airbnb faced challenges in raising funds as no prominent investors showed interest. At that time, they were seeking $150,000 in exchange for 10 per cent of Airbnb but could find no investors. Later, the company attracted significant investment and completed multiple successful funding rounds, allowing the company to grow and expand its operations globally. Today, a 10 per cent stake in Airbnb is worth more than $8 billion. Credit: Twitter/@AirbnbHelp

Paytm, an Indian digital payment and ecommerce platform, faced challenges in raising funds in its earlier days. However, the company shot to fame post-demonetisation with its payments app that made digital transactions ubiquitous. Paytm's gross merchandise value (GMV) is reported to be US $110 billion for the fiscal year 2021–22. Credit: IANS Photo