From “Job Rejection” to a $19 Billion Deal: Why Timing Matters

In 2009, American programmer Brian Acton, together with his friend and business partner, Jan Koum — an American programmer of Ukrainian origin — applied for jobs at Facebook. Both were rejected.

Just a few months later, the two decided to create their own app — WhatsApp.
In 2014, Facebook purchased the app from them for an astonishing $19 billion.

Perhaps it would have been cheaper for Facebook to hire them in the first place.

Today, WhatsApp, originally designed as an alternative to SMS, is used by over 3 billion people across more than 180 countries.

The app’s name combines the casual English phrase “What’s up?” and the word “App” (application) – a clever play on words that became a global brand.

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