Humiliated

Ken did.

Ken grew up loving to tinker and ended up as an engineer at a consumer electronics company … one day while at home playing a Nintendo video game with his daughter he was impressed with what a video game could do … so when Nintendo needed a new sound chip for their upcoming console .. Ken jumped at the chance to design it … except he did it in secret because the company he worked for had absolutely no interest in video games … and when senior executives eventually found out they were furious … so much so that Ken only kept his job and completed the project because the CEO decided to back Ken.

Well Ken then helped his company create a new machine that would work with the Nintendo console … and just as they were about to announce their joint project at the prestigious Consumer Electronics Show Nintendo backed out … to partner with someone else … leaving Ken, his CEO and their company completely humiliated in front of everyone … well most people would have given up … but not Ken and not the CEO .. together they decided to leverage what they had learned and launch their own machine anyway …. And the rest is history.

Today, 30 years later, the various versions of the machine Ken initially developed after being so very publicly humiliated by Nintendo has sold over 400 million units worldwide .. dominating a space that Nintendo initially once owned … the Sony PlayStation

The Sony PlayStation is a great idea because rejection and humiliation can often spur you on to greatness .. if you just keep playing!