I Got Humiliated at 20 Years Old

It’s January of 2022 and I’m 20 years old and Closify is just starting to hit hockey stick growth

a lot of people were starting to hear about us and we were close to becoming the “go to” solution for hiring sales reps

a very big figure in the online make money online space tweeted out that he was looking for closers and tons of people started tagging me under his tweet and saying to use Closify

and so I replied and said something like “hey I’d love to show you how the platform works and help you hire some guys”

and to which he responded “you should sell this company to me, DM me” and he tweeted that publicly, all my friends were texting me freaking out

I send him a DM, and asked if he wanted to hop on a zoom, but he suggested that I fly out to their office

I asked my business partners what they think I should do and they said I should go because regardless he’s a good guy to meet

so I book my flight and I was going to get there in the afternoon and then leave in the morning

I get to the office, an assistant takes me up the elevator to their floor, and then gets me a coffee and points to a big glass room and goes “they’re all in there”

I walk into this giant glass room, with a long, rectangular table with about 8 guys sitting around it all in suits and rolex’s and AP’s

and I walk in as this 20 year old kid, in jeans and a flannel trying to remember all of the information to the questions I anticipated they’d ask me

I was excited and nervous, they were very nice to me, and then they grilled me about the business model for 2 hours

how we get customers, what channels, what all the metrics are, the scripts, how the platform works, why I built it how I did, how I got the idea

I felt I answered everything pretty well, and we started to get down to negotiations - and while I certainly wasn’t a pro negotiator, I could tell they thought I knew less than I did

They kept asking me “what does a perfect scenario look like for me” and kept trying to get me to show my cards first

again, not an expert but I knew exactly what they were doing, and my business partner had warned me that “guys like him are sharks in business, don’t show blood”

and so I said I came here just to see what you guys have in mind so you let me know

and after some back and fourth, we came to a verbal agreement and I thought they were being extremely kind saying “we don’t want you to sign anything today, we don’t want you to feel pressured so get home and we’ll paper it up next week”

Left the office ecstatic, they were telling me how much money I was going to make and how rich I’ll be by the end of the year

I order my uber to go to my hotel (that I paid for) just for them to not let me check in because I’m only 20

so I have to spend more money on a new flight back to Miami the same night

I get back and my room mate and I celebrate that night on what we’d worked so hard at

on Tuesday we had our kick off call with them, I get introduced to the whole team, and I’m told the contract will come Friday

Friday comes…. no contract

Monday I follow up… no response

Wednesday I follow up…nothing

Friday again….crickets

I spent my own money on flights, hotel, my time, told them everything about the business… just to get completely and utterly ghosted at 20 years old

This was a pretty big blow at 20 years old, I was shocked that someone that was so known could do something like that

I always try to believe people have good intentions… but I had to learn the hard way that’s not true

so why did I share this story with you?

if you’re getting into this world of entrepreneurship - stuff like this WILL happen to you

people will take advantage of you - there are sharks in the water everything that if there’s a drop of blood they’ll jump at the opportunity to take advantage of you

you will face periods of stress and questioning why you’re doing what you’re doing

my mentor told me the best entrepreneurs are the ones that can handle the most stress and handle it the best

As crappy as 2022 started for me, it went on to be a life changing year for me where I made the most money I ever had

as long as you don’t let stuff like that break you, then you can just look at it as it made you stronger and wiser

thought I’d share this L I took in case you are facing anything right now

I’ve taken plenty of L’s and this probably wasn’t even the biggest

anyways, Happy Monday - go get your money today

best,

alex

P.S. lookin for 5-10 creators to train over the next 30 days to connect to paid opportunities, not free but if you think you’re a fit apply here