Fired From Facebook, Man Shares 10 Things He Learned While Working Directly Under Mark Zuckerberg
Working with top companies in your field can change your life, but with layoffs happening worldwide, times are tough. However, every situation, good or bad, eventually ends, bringing new possibilities.
Working alongside global leaders offers valuable learning opportunities. You not only gain insights into effective company management but also acquire in-depth knowledge on various subjects.
A former Facebook employee Noah Kagan, worked directly under Mark Zuckerberg.? He eventually got fired but that did not deter him. With his hard work and determination he is now the CEO of a 100 million dollar company. He recently took to X to share 10 things that he learnt from Zuckerberg.
In his 10 pointers, he shared details about how Zuckerberg grew Facebook.
"I was employee #30 at Facebook. Then, I got fired. Now, I'm the CEO of a $100 million company. 10 non-obvious lessons I learned from working directly under Mark Zuckerberg," wrote Kagan in his post.?
He also emphasizes the importance of having a grand vision, hiring quickly, being swift in letting go of underperformers, empowering the team with ownership, paying attention to details, and more.
This post was shared on May 7 and since then, it has gained more than 1.1 million views.?
Also Read:?Dreaming Of A Job At Mark Zuckerberg's Meta? Check Out the Average Salary Package Here
Check out the 10 pointers:
1) Have a big-ass vision
We were all in our 20s when Mark was offered $1B to sell Facebook.
When he said no, he sent a message to all of us and the world.
His goal was to connect the ENTIRE world. That inspired the shit out of us.
2) Hire fast, fire faster
My boss was fired the day I started. My next boss was fired a month later. I got fired in 9 months.
Mark was intense about keeping A players only.
3) ¡°People¡± not ¡°Users¡±
Mark would yell at us if we said ¡°users¡±.
¡°They¡¯re human beings¡±, he¡¯d tell us.
On the other side of that username or email address is a fellow human
4) Give ownership to the team
Surprisingly, Mark wasn¡¯t super involved in the day-to-day operations.
He coded some of the time, but mostly was focused on the macro vision.
He was great about giving people a goal, some boundaries, and coaching them from the sidelines.
5) Pay attention to details
I remember Mark sent me an email at 3 am telling me that I missed a period in one of our documents. A period (!!)
Mark set a high standard of excellence for us.
It was challenging, but also super rewarding.
6) Scratch your own itch
I used Facebook to connect with friends and meet girls.
Which meant if I saw something wrong, I could fix it myself.
Most people start businesses in categories they don¡¯t have an interest in.
Build selfishly, share selflessly.
7) Treat your employees well
Facebook did a lot of things that are the norm now.
? Free lunches
? Free dry cleaning
? Paid for our apartments
? Paid for our parking tickets
Treating your employees well improves work and boosts morale.
It doesn¡¯t have to be money ¨C people just want to feel acknowledged.
8) Only hire A players
Mark would only hire people he would be happy to work for.
Even our customer support team was filled with Harvard Ph.D.s.
Facebook employees have gone on to start Asana, Quora, AppSumo, OpenAi, and more.
A startup depends on great people much more than a big company.
9) Move fast
At Facebook, it was normal to work 12+ hours a day.
We were constantly pushing out new features and letting our users give feedback.
10) Focus on ONE goal
Mark¡¯s goal was 1 billion users.
Every idea we¡¯d bring, he¡¯d ask, ¡°Does this help user growth or not?¡±
If it wasn¡¯t driving toward that goal, we didn¡¯t do it.
You don¡¯t grow fast by doing many things, but by doing ONE thing extremely well.
His thread has been flooded with comments with many of them thanking him for sharing these lessons?
An individual wrote, "Love these lessons, Noah. Thanks for sharing them."
A second added, "I need to be better at having one big goal and not getting distracted by anything else."
"What a journey! Turning lessons into leadership at your own company is truly inspiring. Focusing on one major goal has been a game-changer for us, too. It keeps the team aligned and pushes everyone to move in the same direction. Great insights," commented a third.
A fourth added, "Thank you, Kagan. Super insightful."
Check out his entire post here:
