What I Learned from Losing $170 Million, with Noah Kagan

Published: Dec. 2, 2019, 6:02 a.m.

#228: In November 2005, when Noah Kagan was 24, he was hired as Employee #30 at Facebook. His stock options would have been worth $170 million if he\u2019d cashed out in 2014, he says.\n But he didn\u2019t see a dime.\n In June 2006, merely 9 months after he started working at Facebook, Noah got fired. Instead of making $170 million, he made zero.\n He fell into a deep depression for a year. Then he rescued himself by becoming a serial entrepreneur. He tried his hand at a lot of things -- including developing Facebook games, selling discount cards, creating a payment processor in the gaming space -- but he\u2019s best known for his two most successful companies.\n In 2010 he started a company, AppSumo, which offers discounts on small business software. By 2012, AppSumo was grossing $4 million per year in revenue, with annual net profits of $500,000.\n Yet Noah wasn\u2019t fulfilled. He pivoted. In 2015 he started a sister company, Sumo.com, which develops marketing tools for websites and online businesses.\n In today\u2019s episode, Noah and I discuss reflections on business, money and life.\n Enjoy!\n For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode228\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices