Rejected by 17 companies, turned down by Google: Ankur Warikoo reveals what kept him motivated

3 min readNew DelhiJun 23, 2026 02:16 PM IST

Rejection is a part of everyone’s life, but what a person does with it can change the course of his or her future. Entrepreneur and content creator Ankur Warikoo recently shared that he was among those who faced rejection early in his career, not just once, but multiple times.

Warikoo revealed that he was rejected by 17 companies before finding success. The last rejection came from Google when he was 29 years old. He is now 45.

“I had applied for a Product role at Google India. They came back saying that while I had a background worth considering, I did not have an engineering degree, which was a prerequisite for a product role at Google,” Warikoo shared in his now-viral post on X.

“I think they were being polite,” he added.

According to Warikoo, that rejection had a lasting impact on him and eventually pushed him to start his first company. He shared that he still has the rejection email from Google and that it serves as a reminder that “some doors are apparently always closed because of the choices you have made in life.”

“I read it every time I am about to give up on something,” Warikoo concluded.

Check out the post:

I have been rejected from 17 companies.

The last rejection was from Google at 29.

I had applied for a Product role at Google India.

They came back saying that while I had a background worth considering, I did not have an engineering degree which was a pre-requisite for a…

— Ankur Warikoo (@warikoo) June 23, 2026

The post has since gone viral on social media, with many users sharing their reactions in the comments section.

One user wrote, “Such hypocrisy that now the same company says: ‘You do not need a degree to join. Have the required skill set and join us.’” To this, Warikoo replied, “I wouldn’t call it hypocrisy. Times change and companies ought to as well.”

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Another user commented, “Sometimes rejection is just redirection. Your story is a powerful reminder that closed doors can lead to opportunities we never imagined.”

A third person added, “Some doors are closed because another door is open where God wants us to enter.”

A fourth user shared, “I still keep visual reminders—texts, emails, and videos—from difficult times. Whenever I feel low, I look at them and remind myself that if I survived those days, I can get through anything. It keeps me going.”