Have you ever stood at the edge of giving up?
That suffocating moment when the dream feels too heavy, the journey too long, and the silence around you too loud. I’ve been there more times than I can count.
And yet, here I am, still standing, still pushing after more than eight years of building a vision that most people would have abandoned years ago.
Sometimes people ask me, “Dr. Mazlan, why didn’t you quit when things got so tough?”
The truth? The answer isn’t glamorous. It’s one word—persistence.
But persistence isn’t about being stubborn for the sake of it. It’s about believing when no one else does. It’s about showing up when there’s no applause. It’s about carrying your vision through the storms until the sun finally breaks through.
The Myth of Overnight Success
When I co-founded Favoriot, I thought we’d take off quickly. IoT was the future, and I believed Malaysia deserved its own platform—not just to use what others built, but to create something we could own.
“Don’t worry,” I told my co-founders, full of fire. “We’ll get traction quickly. People are waiting for this.”
But reality humbled me. Months passed, and the inbox stayed quiet. Investors questioned, “Why should we use you when AWS or Azure already exist?” Potential partners replied, “Maybe in two years, but not now.”
It was then I learned a hard truth—success doesn’t show up just because you have passion.
I held onto the analogy of the Chinese bamboo tree. For five years, nothing grows above the soil. You water, you nurture, but it looks like failure. Then, in the fifth year, it shoots 80 feet in six weeks. Did it grow in six weeks? No. It grew all along, underground.
I told myself, “Mazlan, your roots are forming. Keep watering. Don’t stop now.”
Climbing the Mountain: The Payroll Nights
Building a startup is like climbing a mountain with a backpack full of rocks. At first, it feels exciting, the summit visible in the distance. But the higher you climb, the thinner the air gets, the heavier your steps feel, and the more your mind whispers, “Why are you doing this to yourself?”
I remember one night, staring at the payroll deadline. The numbers didn’t add up. My wife looked at me, concerned.
“Will you be okay?” she asked softly.
“I’ll make sure the team is paid first,” I told her. “I can delay mine.”
And I did. Many times. I told my team, “Don’t worry, your salaries are safe.” What I didn’t tell them was that I had already decided not to take mine.
Alone in the car one evening, I gripped the steering wheel and asked out loud, “Mazlan, are you crazy? Should you just walk away?”
But then I thought of the students already building their first IoT dashboards on Favoriot. They believed in us. And if they could, how could I not?
So I kept climbing.
The One-Inch-to-Gold Fear
In those early days, Favoriot didn’t have slick onboarding or automation. Every time a customer signed up, I personally emailed them their password. Manually. One by one. At midnight.
I muttered to myself, “Mazlan, you’re the CEO and you’re sending passwords? Really?”
But then another voice inside answered, “This is what it takes. One day, this story will remind you how far you’ve come.”
I was terrified of quitting one inch too soon. What if the next signup was the one that led to a breakthrough? That fear kept me going.
The Sweet Breakthroughs
And persistence began to pay off.
The first time a university adopted Favoriot into its syllabus, I stood in front of students who proudly showed me their projects built on our platform.
“Sir, I built this using Favoriot,” one student said, his eyes glowing.
I smiled, swallowing the lump in my throat. Mazlan, this is why you never gave up.
Then the calls came—from the Philippines, Indonesia, Canada. Partners wanted to represent Favoriot in their countries. One told me, “We believe in what you’re building. Malaysia deserves its own IoT platform.”
That day, I thought, The world is finally starting to see what you’ve been watering all along.
The Loneliness of the Journey
But let’s be real. Persistence is often lonely.
I watched friends climb corporate ladders with stable incomes and shiny titles while I kept chasing an uncertain dream. Some nights, after a string of rejections, I sat in the empty office and asked aloud, “Why am I doing this?”
And in the silence, a voice answered, “Because ordinary is not your path. You chose extraordinary.”
Holding On at the Cliff’s Edge
At times, running Favoriot felt like hanging from a cliff by a single branch.
“Hold on, Mazlan. Just a little longer,” I told myself, arms trembling.
And many times, just before I thought I couldn’t hold on anymore, something appeared. A small deal. A partner. A media feature. Each was like a hand pulling me up just enough to keep going.
Those moments only came because I didn’t let go too soon.
The Magic of Persistence
Over time, I’ve realized persistence is like compound interest. It doesn’t look like much in the short term, but every small action adds up until one day the results are undeniable.
One night, after yet another long day, I told my team:
“We may not see results tomorrow or next month. But every single effort is stacking up. When the breakthrough comes, people will call us lucky. But we’ll know—it wasn’t luck. It was persistence.”
The Beauty of Endurance
Persistence doesn’t just take you to your dream. It transforms you into someone capable of carrying it.
Rejections toughened me. Delays humbled me. Small wins filled me with gratitude.
Now when people ask, “Why didn’t you quit?” I smile and say, “Because persistence made me the person who could carry the vision.”
3 Lessons on Persistence That Changed My Life
After years of walking this road, I’ve realized persistence isn’t just mindset—it’s practice. Here are the three lessons I’ve carried with me:
1. Success Grows Underground Before It Shows Above
Like the bamboo tree, most growth is invisible. Don’t mistake silence for failure. The roots are strengthening.
2. Persistence Is Built One Small Action at a Time
It’s not the grand gestures, but the daily grind. For me, it was manually emailing passwords or pitching after a hundred rejections. Each small action compounds.
3. The Breakthrough Always Comes After the Breaking Point
The darkest nights often come just before the dawn. If it feels impossible, you’re probably closer than you think.
Your Turn
So let me ask you: are you on the verge of giving up? Does your mountain feel endless, your gold unreachable, your cliff too high?
Maybe this is your reminder. You might be one step away. One email away. One inch away.
Don’t stop now. Keep digging. Keep climbing. Keep holding on.
Because persistence might just be the key that turns your vision into reality.
And now I’d love to hear from you. Have you ever had a moment where persistence finally paid off? Or maybe you’re still watering your own bamboo tree, waiting for the breakthrough? Share your story in the comments—I’d love to walk this journey with you.
Dr. Mazlan Abbas 