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.)
