startup weekend oc: "origins of the paypal mafia"

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Slides from my talk at Startup Weekend Orange County on Nov. 19, 2011 at Chapman University. This presentation looks at what was special about PayPal that allowed so many of its entrepreneurs to go on to create successful companies, and what lessons new entrepreneurs could take from PayPal's experiences.

TRANSCRIPT

Origins of the PayPal MafiaLessons from a Precarious Journey

The Guy Talking at YouSorry for not one, but two shameless plugs:

Another PayPal Alumni Success Story

“PayPal Mafia” Companies

The Secret of SuccessReasons that PayPal

Spun Off So Many Success Stories:Good People, Good

CultureSolved a Big ProblemEndured Difficult

ChallengesPrioritized Execution

What Useful Lessons Can We Take Away?

Good People, Good Culture

“A” people hire “A” people; “B” people…you know

Relied on networks for initial hires

Employees were empowered

Dissent was encouraged

Solved a Big Problem

Vision: Revolutionize payments with an online currency

Strategy: Build a global, ubiquitous payment network

Tactics: Stack our new network on top of eBay’s existing network

Endured Difficult Challenges

Broken business model

Tons of Competitors (Yahoo, Citibank, Bank One)

A very hostile host platform (eBay)

Foreign Mafia (Yes, really!)

Regulators (Louisiana, Eliot Spitzer)

Media (From awesome to evil)

Ourselves (Scaling, Ops/CS, Website, TOU)

Prioritized ExecutionDouble Pivot: Platform (Palm to web) and Market

(P2P to auction)

Lean before Lean was Even a Thing

Customer-Centric but Opinionated

Viral Growth

Key Lessons from PayPalBig Picture Vision, Short Term

Focus

Hire the A-team (duh!)

Push decision-making down the org chart

Even the winners have rocky roads

Platform dependence is risky

Source: “The PayPal Wars and its Lessons for Today’s Entrepreneurs” by Sachin Rekhi (http://bit.ly/uiflOe)

(Remember this slide. The rest were filler.)

Thank You!

www.caplinked.com

@ericmjackson

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