The Founders

The definitive story of the making of PayPal

8 followers

A definitive look at the origin of PayPal and its founding team—including Elon Musk, David Sacks, Amy Rowe Klement, Peter Thiel, Julie Anderson, Max Levchin, Reid Hoffman, and others whose stories have never been shared.

Blog

•

Newsletter

•

Questions

•

Forums

•

Product Categories

•

Apps

•

About

•

Terms

•

Privacy and Cookies

•

X.com

•

Facebook

•

Instagram

•

YouTube

•

Advertise

Payment Required

Launch tags:

Amazon•Startup Books•Tech

Launch Team

Jimmy Soni

The Founders

Maker

Hi everyone and thank you @nireyal! It took a little over a half-decade of research, interviewing, and writing, but I'm glad to share THE FOUNDERS with you all. I wrote the book because I thought the early PayPal story deserved to be told—not just because of the people involved, but because of the energy and ups-and-downs of the late 1990s and early 2000s internet. I also spent a lot of time diving into PayPal's trajectory. Why did it succeed where others failed? What product improvements and creations worked? Which ones didn't? Which growth hacks helped drive their success? I also wanted to explore the human beings behind all that, and I did a lot of interviewing to find out who they were, how they got to the company, and what they did there. So far, people seem to be enjoying the book, and I'm happy to answers questions about it and riff on some of the things that ended up on the cutting room floor!

Report

3yr ago

Danielle Newnham

Danielle Newnham Podcast

It's a fantastic read and a great insight into what made one of the most pivotal tech companies so unique, and successful. It was also a joy to interview Jimmy about the book for my podcast - he is a fantastic storyteller !

Report

3yr ago

Jimmy Soni

The Founders

Maker

@daniellenewnham Thank you! Danielle was one of the first to get excited about the book, and I'm insanely grateful. (She also asked great questions, particularly about the epilogue!)

Report

3yr ago

Nir Eyal

Nir and Far

Hunter

I’ve followed @jimmyasoni’s work for years, and I was especially excited that he chose to dive into the PayPal story. His research was legendary—so much so that Elon Musk himself tweeted that “Soni’s questions were incredibly insightful & his attention to detail was superlative.” He interviewed all the key players, but also dozens of others who were in and around the PayPal universe in its early days. It shows in the book, which is just filled to the brim with new information about Elon, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, Max Levchin, David Sacks, and many others. It’s an absolute gem of a book, and I think everyone should check it out! It’s got product lessons galore, but life lessons too!

Report

3yr ago

The Founders

The definitive story of the making of PayPal

Do you use The Founders?

Review The Founders?