35 companies have denied him in the work, he is now one of the founders of a startup to a billion Bashny.Net

What happened to a billion?
In the last year of college, Dan Kahn sent his resume of 35 employers, mainly in the field of finance. By the end of Claremont McKenna College in 2009, he was told only two companies.




"I distinctly remember that I wanted to connect his life with the financial sector. I thought so: that's my way - all go to finance, it is possible to earn money ", - says Kang, 29-year-old entrepreneur
. Because it almost always refused to work, he had two choices: to teach English in Korea or work in San Francisco on startup UserVoice, a platform for collecting feedback from users

. And he chose to start!



Dan in college

Today, seven years later, Kahn - one of the founders of Cruise Automation - startup, which in March of this year GenralMotors bought for $ 1 billion

.. As the failed "financier" managed to get to number one of the founders of the acclaimed Silicon Valley startup? With some luck, the right connections, the willingness to take risks, exposure and composure. Kahn admits he was lucky in many ways, and he was able to correctly use the circumstances.

Start-up begins in the family
Kahn grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. His mother was in the 90's opened a business in Seattle, associated with the real estate and mortgage. While Kahn was about 10 years old. Google Maps then the project does not exist, and Dan with his brothers copied the pages of the great guides with maps, glued their planned route for the mother so she does not miss a single home.

Dan's older brother, Justin, is also employed. After college, he moved to San Francisco and launched in 2006, the online streaming service Justin.tv, which in 2014 was renamed vTwitch.

The family has always inspired and supported Dan. Even now, when he became one of the founders of 'Unicorn', he lives in an apartment with his brother and another brother lives in the neighborhood.



Family photo. Christmas 2014

Dan modestly notes that the first steps in Silicon Valley, he did through his contacts. "I would not have achieved this if not for my brother and the other guys from Twitch. It is not enough just to have an idea and implement it, we need communication and support

others. " Cruise is not the first attempt
Dan You can start with a platform for support, but to create a billion-dollar start-up, without the determination to not do. Dan - persistent, I can even say that the stubborn

. "Dan has the courage, and it is a very important feature for those who decided to create a successful startup. People understand that running a startup fraught with risk, but in fact are often afraid of failure. Dan - one of those who say "what if" and thereby sets a high bar for themselves and others, "- says Nabeel Hyatt, a partner fund Spark Capital, which held a round A investment in Cruise Automation


Exec command. Lunch at the office in 2012.

"He's not one of those who simply dreams. He is ready to work. He has a wonderful feature - he bring it started to its logical conclusion, it helps him to be fearless. This feature serves as a base for its ambitions and motivates the people with whom he works ", - added Hyatt

. After two years of work on the project and the filing UserVoice older brother, Dan begins his project, even two.
In 2011, he launched Appetizely, a project to create the iPhone app for restaurants that distribute coupons to attract customers during the low season. Dan has created about 30 applications, and then he got a call from Apple and was told that all Appetizely applications to be combined into one, because they have the same functionality. He decided that restaurants will be interesting application that is not designed specifically for their tasks, and after a couple of months closed Appetizely.

Later in the same year Deng launched Exec - services for the provision of personal services. But the majority of customers used it exclusively for cleaning houses. He refocused his project in this direction. And I have done better, but the cleaning was not the case, of which he dreamed.



Exec Team shoots a music video for the nomination Crunchie award

"We started as a service, in which a single click you can find a mate who will fulfill all your errands, wash - yes anything. But gradually we have become a cleaning company. To be honest, I do not dream about it. " In 2014, Deng sold his startup company Handy, who later became a leader in the domestic market.

Despite the ups and downs, he always gets the project to the end. "The Exec, he was ready to scrub the toilets, in the Cruise - travel at night by car and a route. He is a hard worker to the bone. And he has a shutter, which is so necessary in the initial stages of a startup, "- says Tristan Zir, head of cartography at Cruise Automation, who worked with Dan and Exec

. No one sees the quality Zir Dan needed to create a startup. "The Daniel always had a lot of bold ideas, and he was always sure to be able to realize them. He is always thinking about how to improve the product and user experience. We can say with confidence that if it works on any part of the project, he did not just finish the job, and do it perfectly, "- says Amir Ghazhvinian, a longtime friend of Dan and one of the founders Exec

.

Exec Team branded hoodies

When Dan decides to do something, he does it. "Dan is one of those people that says," but let's do it ", and really taking the necessary steps to translate the ideas," - said Emma Jones, a college friend and team member Exec

. After the sale Exec Dan was looking for new options and opportunities. For many years he was familiar with Kyle Vogt, one of the founders of Justin.tv and Twitch. Dan trained in Vogt and his brother is in college.



Dan talks about Exec and business experience at a conference in 2014

Vogt even from a young age obsessed with unmanned driving. "It was a real passion", - said Dan, who also inspired by this idea and joined Vogt and Cruise Automation in 2014

. Unicorn Birth
Immediately after in Genral Motors decided to buy Cruise Automation - startup in the field of technologies for unmanned vehicles, with the CA website has disappeared all the information about the company and its technologies. But there are two dozen ads for a job, which means that Cruise Automation is a division Genral Motors.

And Dan, in turn, can not talk about technology, because Cruise Automation became part of GM. But you can imagine how this advanced technology, if GM willing to pay for it such a huge amount.

A billion dollars will be distributed between Dan and Kyle, 40 employees and Cruise Automation investors. Nevertheless, the deal more than profitable. Dan hardly done better, sorting out bills even in the most prestigious bank on Wall Street.



Exec command at the time of sale Handy, 2014

Dan became somewhat of a celebrity, at least among the entrepreneurs. Entrepreneur magazine reporter caught him before his speech at the College of Information Sciences and Technology of the University of Pennsylvania in the "start-ups a week." The guy who could not find the desired job, and now became the hero of the history of advertising.

Ultra cool pragmatism and
Dan comfortable with the attention of the press. He is a pragmatist. Despite all the ups and downs, he keeps his composure. Dan says that emotional reaction only added to the problems. It combines a willingness to take risks and inner calm - ideal qualities for launching a startup in Silicon Valley

. "Definitely, I have a positive attitude to risk", - says Dan. His sharp pragmatism disarming in its simplicity: if he was faced with a problem, he will not swerve. He just finds a solution. "I have such an approach: any problem or situation brings additional stress, and this is another problem that has to be subsequently addressed. Therefore it is necessary to include common sense, look at the part of the problem and ask yourself, "So what can I do to deal with that," This approach I use in work and in personal life »

.

Dan Kahn, Kyle Vogt and Tracy, 2015

His composure has not gone unnoticed.

"He has an analytical mind, every idea he evaluates in terms of logic and very objectively, offers a complete solution. He is not afraid of challenges, no matter how ambitious they are. Even if they occur suddenly, he does not get lost and do not emotsioniruet. He was just studying the situation and proposes a plan of action ", - says Amir Ghazhvinian

. And it seems this approach is yielding results. "I never thought that I will own company, and I'm going to create unmanned vehicles," - says Dan

. Now look at him - he was riding in the car, but his hands are free



Selfies unmanned vehicle in 2014.

"I did not expect such a development. And now I do not even see the other options as I can bring great benefit to the world. It is especially important to me that I'm doing something that brings me satisfaction. " But the banks, which denied him the job, Dan says "thank you".