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Nawal
Entrepreneur | Build...Ā ā¢Ā 9m
Drew Houston: The Man Who Turned a Forgotten USB into a $10 Billion Idea š„ Ever lost an important file because you forgot your USB drive? Thatās exactly what happened to Drew Houston, and instead of just getting frustrated he built Dropbox, a billion-dollar company that changed how the world stores and shares files forever. The "Aha!" Moment In 2007, Drew Houston was a 24-year-old MIT graduate working on a startup. One day, he forgot his USB drive while traveling. Frustrated, he started coding a simple cloud storage solution right there on the bus. That small idea would become Dropbox, a service now used by 700 million+ people worldwide. From Rejection to Viral Growth Drew and his co-founder, Arash Ferdowsi, tried to raise funding, but investors were skeptical. "Google will crush you," they said. So instead of relying on ads or traditional marketing, they built a brilliant referral systemāoffering free storage for every friend users invited. The result? Their waitlist exploded from 5,000 to 75,000 users overnight! Taking on Tech Giants By 2011, Dropbox was a Silicon Valley sensation, valued at $4 billion. But competition was fierceāApple, Google, and Microsoft launched rival services. Houston refused to sell out, even turning down a $9 billion buyout offer from Steve Jobs. Instead, he focused on making Dropbox seamless and simple, winning over millions of loyal users. Where is Dropbox Today? Fast forward to today Dropbox is a $10 billion company with enterprise tools, AI-powered search, and integrations across industries. Drew Houstonās story isnāt just about tech itās about turning personal frustration into a world-changing business. Lesson? The best startups donāt start with a genius idea. They start with a problem youāre desperate to solve. Would you have taken the $9 billion or kept going like Drew? Let me know. š„
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