Ask HN: What are some examples of people asking for things that are out of reach

14 points·karcher6554··3 comments

Bo Peabody got rejected from Williams College, and wrote them a letter saying “I reject your rejection.” Who would ever have the chutzpah to send a letter like that back to a college? He kept following up, eventually got in.

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Legend has it that Ira Ritter (creator and publisher of Playgirl Magazine) worked as a golf caddy at a country club during college. One of his regular customers was a wealthy businessman who was always telling stories about how he got started in business and giving advice. One day he gave Ira a useful piece of advice: "in business, when you want something, it never hurts to just come right out and ask for it." Ira took that advice and immediately asked for $10,000. The businessman pulled out his checkbook and wrote him a check for $10,000 which he used to start Playgirl Magazine. I'm not sure how much that story has been embellished over the years, but that's how I heard him tell it.

If you want to read the story where the "founder" gets the money, then skips town and spends the money on hookers and booze, you need to talk to other folks than Ira Ritter:

http://www.amazon.com/Big-Story-Confidence-Man/dp/0385495382

The stories in The Big Con demonstrate convincingly that businessmen will, in fact, often just give you money if you ask them for it while wearing the right kind of suit.

Sahar Hashemi, founder of the Coffee Republic chain, said "When we tried to start up Coffee Republic, we were turned down by 19 bank managers. I was told we were a nation of tea drinkers and no one was going to want to spend more than 60p for a cup of coffee or use silly names such as skinny lattes."

This is from The Power of No: http://www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/the-power-of-no-1.746628

It's a great question, and could be an inspiring thread if we can get some more examples.

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