In chapter nine, Paul talks about being an Apostle. In in the introductory verses to this, he says that he has seen Jesus. This statement is left un-clarified as to "when" he saw he Jesus. Lots of people saw Jesus, but that did not make them Apostles. We can probably infer that Paul (as Saul) probably saw Jesus during Jesus' lifetime.
One possible alternative is that Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus. I am cautious about that interpretation because the account in Acts said that Paul saw a bright light and then was blinded, but he heard the voice of Jesus. So, perhaps we can infer that this bright and blinding light was in fact Jesus and this is what Paul meant.
Back to the chapter, Paul seems to take on the issue of defending his Apostleship. He does it in a roundabout way by discussing that he never takes money from the churches he has founded, even though he could. Rather, he continued working to pay own way.
In a way, he says "I am your leader because I am doing this for free".
This would probably distinguish him from the other leaders of the church of Corinth, including perhaps Apollos.
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