Noah Kagan on "Why I Got Fired From Facebook - a $100 Million Dollar Lesson"...
October 03, 2012
Capitalist readers - allow me to introduce you to someone you should know - someone who surely hates bad HR, but might actually appreciate the readers of the HR Capitalist.
Meet Noah Kagan - he's a former early Facebook employee who went on to do great work at Mint.com, and more recently has founded a cool little site for entrepreneurs to learn what they need to know called AppSumo, which I've ordered from and I love.
I don't know Noah and this isn't a paid post. I just dig his world view. Here's how to learn more about him:
AppSumo - his current company
A great video interview with Noah which gets inside his head about growing a business and doing what makes you happy...
And finally, according to the title - his story about getting fired at Facebook in the early days. Check it out:
"Let me start in reverse.
I can tell you every detail of the day I got fired aka “let go” aka “down-sized” aka “shit-canned.”
I thought I was going to a routine coffee with my boss and randomly saw Matt Cohler sitting at the table inside (surprising)!
I knew something was amiss. Matt broke the news quickly and I was in dead-shock as the words came out of his mouth. They walked me back to the office and removed my laptop and my cell phone.
Then I proceeded to the Verizon store to use their phone, called my gf (at the time) and drove to the house I shared with 6 other FB guys.
Packed up all my stuff in my CRX, smoked a 1/2 pack of cigarettes on the balcony and drove to my friend Johnny’s place. It took me a bit to let my mom know and I slept on Johnny’s couch for a few days, thanks J!
Later that night we had a bbq at this place and everyone was asking me how the job was going….#awkward
I kept drinking that night to pass out and pray this was all a bad dream."
After a period of self-reflection, Noah goes on to evaluate his responsibility in getting fired from Facebook, the types of employees he looks for as a result, and more. It's a great read, so go check it out and take a look at his blog and AppSumo while you're at it.
You'll be glad you did. I think we ought to be more like Noah in HR.
Good Call! Dig this guy.
Posted by: Erin | October 03, 2012 at 02:17 PM
So Thompson's lyrical process, and in turn its content, became more deliberate: though he still never sits down with the express idea of writing a song, on Pit Thompson tried to string together themes across the songs while spending more time on his laptop crafting the words (and drinking some good rum, I might add).
Posted by: Refurbished Macbook Pros | December 20, 2012 at 01:09 AM