How Noah Kagan dealt with depression after being fired from Facebook

Executive overview

Getting fired from Facebook in 2006 — losing $170 million in stock — sent Noah Kagan into a decade-long depression, made worse by watching former colleagues become billionaires. He shares the concrete steps that helped him move forward.

The chip on your shoulder is fuel, but eventually you have to find a better engine.

Focus on the future immediately

• Write down what you want in the next day, 30 days, 90 days, one year, one decade.
• Put the list somewhere visible — a mirror works.
• Short and medium-term goals make day-to-day grind bearable.

Give yourself space and be kind

• Resist the urge to rush into the next thing immediately after a setback.
• Process what actually happened — separate the event from the disappointment.
• Extract specific lessons: Kagan realised he wanted to run his own company and hated meetings at scale.
• You are likely the harshest critic of yourself; acknowledge the difficulty without excusing the mistake.

Rebuild self-confidence through small wins

• Return to activities you already know you're good at — blogging, events, whatever that is for you.
• Going to the gym after a setback works because it gives you control over an outcome no one can take away.
• Help one other person; it reliably restores a sense of competence.
• Small, concrete actions beat waiting for motivation to return.

Lean on your network

• Identify who shows up when things are bad — that's your real core network.
• Expand a professional acquaintance layer through blogging, events, and communities.
• Kagan got the Mint.com job only because he asked friends for help.
• You don't have to go through hard times alone; most people want to help.

Write or talk about the experience

• Document publicly or privately — the goal is externalising the narrative, not seeking sympathy.
• Kagan's blog post about losing $170 million went viral and created unexpected connections.
• Writing the book helped him process the experience, even though it didn't remove the anger.
• Getting the story out of your head lets you stop carrying it and start the next chapter.

Use the chip on your shoulder, then let it go

• Negative motivation — proving doubters wrong — is a legitimate driver, especially early.
• At some point the question becomes: who am I still trying to prove this to?
• Transition from extrinsic motivation (revenge, validation) to intrinsic motivation (love of the work, helping others).
• The setback itself can be the catalyst that forces you further than you would have gone otherwise.