Jimmy Soni, his book The Founders, and the many lessons of Paypal

“PayPal started off as a product with no use case. Then we had a use case but no business model. Then we had to build a sustainable business.” Amy Klement

I’m very excited to share my conversation with Jimmy Soni, the author The Founders: The Story of Paypal.

• [00:01:00]: Introduction, how did Jimmy find the story and go about the research process?
• [00:17:00]: Paypal’s unique team and recruiting.
• [00:24:00]: Paypal’s journey of pivoting and iterating the product and business model.
• [00:34:00]: Culture of truth-seeking and debate, workaholism, “Paypal PTSD.”
• [00:42:00]: Paypal’s three leadership coups.
• [00:49:00]: Risk-mitigation and timing were key to survival.
• [00:57:00]: What were the lessons for the Paypal diaspora?
• [01:061:00]: Culture of ownership and giving people a lot of responsibility quickly.