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.
5. The Secret of Success
Reasons that PayPal Spun
Off So Many Success
Stories:
Good People, Good Culture
Solved a Big Problem
Endured Difficult Challenges
Prioritized Execution
What Useful Lessons Can
We Take Away?
6. 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
7. 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
8. 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)
9. Prioritized Execution
Double Pivot: Platform (Palm to web) and Market (P2P
to auction)
Lean before Lean was Even a Thing
Customer-Centric but Opinionated
Viral Growth
10. Key Lessons from PayPal
Big 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 (Remember this slide. The
rest were filler.)
Source: “The PayPal Wars and its Lessons for Today’s Entrepreneurs” by
Sachin Rekhi (http://bit.ly/uiflOe)
"I was a 22-year-old whippersnapper, and I remember firing off this e-mail that disagreed with the entire executive staff," says Yelp's Stoppelman. "I didn't get fired--I got a pat on the back."
37 Signals blog: “The best software has a vision. The best software takes sides. When someone uses software, they're not just looking for features, they're looking for an approach. They're looking for a vision.”