2000
Mike Moritz of Sequoia warned PayPal's board in June 2000 to focus on runway after the Nasdaq began falling.
“I remember being at a board meeting with Mike Maritz from Sequoia in June. And he told us he warned us, focus on runway.”
Topic
PayPal
17 facts from 10 episodes, in date order. These are what speakers said on the shows, each linked to the moment it was said. They aren't independently verified.
2000
Roelof Botha joined PayPal in March 2000, and the Nasdaq began its slide the following month.
“I joined in March of 2000. The Nasdaq started its slide in April.”
2000
Botha said PayPal did not charge for its service until around June 2000, when it had to develop a business model.
“up until, I think, June 10 or June 20, 2000, PayPal didn't charge for its service.”
2000
Botha said PayPal used bank account funding to earn higher gross margins than traditional credit card processors.
“we figured out how to get bank account funding so that we had a much higher gross margin than traditional credit card processors did.”
2000
Botha said PayPal lost millions of dollars to scalable online fraud in 2000.
“We lost millions of dollars in 2000 to scalable online fraud.”
2002
eBay bought PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion, and the independent PayPal was valued at $47 billion when spun out.
“So, when they did spin it out, the market cap of the independent PayPal entity was $47 billion. Now, in 2002, they bought the company for $1.5 billion.”
2002
PayPal was sold to eBay for $1.5 billion after the dot-com crash and its IPO.
“ultimately their sale to eBay for $1.5 billion.”
2002
Space Exploration Technologies was incorporated in June 2002, and eBay bought PayPal for $1.5 billion the following month.
“In June, 2002, they officially incorporate space exploration technologies. And then the very next month in July, 2002, eBay buys PayPal for one and a half billion dollars.”
2002
PayPal was sold to eBay in 2002, according to Reid Hoffman.
“one of the things that made the PayPal network so noteworthy is PayPal sold to eBay in 2002”
2002
Reid Hoffman says PayPal's sale left its alumni with money and belief in the internet, and they went on to create new companies.
“you ended up with all these people who had some money and believed in the internet and would go and create new companies.”
2012
Venmo was bought in 2012 for $26 million by Braintree, which PayPal acquired the following year.
“Pick up by PayPal in 2012 for $26 million.”
Undated
Peter Thiel wrote Xoom's first check, for $500,000, as PayPal's acquisition by eBay closed.
“But Peter Thiel exited as the deal closed and he wrote our first check for $500K.”
Undated
Palantir grew out of fraud-prevention technology developed at PayPal.
“palantir uh as lots of listeners may know grew out of the fraud prevention technologies that they developed at paypal”
Undated
NZS Capital held eBay when a new CEO arrived, treating PayPal as nearly free because a recovery in the marketplace business would cover the cost of entry.
“they brought in a new ceo john dono they had paypal and really you weren't paying for any of paypal if the marketplace business would recover”
Undated
Reid Hoffman is described as a founding board member of PayPal, a founder of LinkedIn and a partner at the venture capital firm Greylock.
“Reid Hoffman is a founding board member of PayPal, a founder of LinkedIn, a partner at the venture capital firm Greylock,”
Undated
Rana El Kaliouby says former PayPal founders and employees, known as the PayPal Mafia, went on to start companies including Tesla, LinkedIn and YouTube.
“These former founders and employees of PayPal went off to start companies like Tesla, LinkedIn, YouTube, and the list goes on and on.”
Undated
Jones cites agentic commerce as an area where PayPal and Stripe need to work together on standards rather than one setting them alone.
“if we're talking about agentic commerce, for example, it PayPal doesn't want Stripe figuring that out by themselves, right?”
Episodes
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- 25 Aug 2020Eventbrite (with Julia & Kevin Hartz)1h 34m
- 26 May 2020SpaceX2h 45m
- 31 Mar 2020Adapting Episode 2: Sequoia’s Black Swan Memo (with Roelof Botha)44m
- 17 Mar 2020The Top 10 Acquisitions of All-Time1h 51m
- 25 Apr 2023Reid Hoffman on Building AI and Other Tech More Responsibly34m
- 25 Feb 2026Reid Hoffman: Shaping the AI Era, Investing in Transformation and Calling on Europe55m
- 20 Nov 2024How agentic AI will save customer service, with Bret Taylor38m
- 28 Aug 2026Building the Foundation for the Agentic AI Era45m