logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2025
1h 23m

PayPal: Max Levchin (June 2022)

Guy Raz | Wondery
About this episode
During its formative years in the late 1990's, Paypal attracted an extraordinary group of young entrepreneurs, who then went on to build some of the best known companies in tech. They became known as The PayPal Mafia—and Max Levchin was one of the leaders. A computer genius from Soviet Ukraine, Max joined Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Reid Hoffman and others as th ... Show More
Up next
Today
Hydro Flask: Travis Rosbach. How a thirsty surfer changed the water bottle industry
<p>What if the idea that changes your life… starts with something as ordinary as being thirsty?</p><p>In 2007, Travis Rosbach walked into a sporting goods store looking for a water bottle—and stumbled onto a problem no one had solved. Plastic, BPA-lined bottles dominated the mark ... Show More
1h 4m
Nov 20
Advice Line with Anthony Casalena of Squarespace
<p>Squarespace founder Anthony Casalena joins Guy on the Advice Line, where they answer questions from three early-stage entrepreneurs. Plus, Anthony shares how Squarespace is leveraging AI to help people bolster their sites and digital presence more effectively.</p><p>First we m ... Show More
48m 16s
Nov 17
Gymshark: Ben Francis. From pizza delivery to billion-dollar fitness brand.
<p>At 19, Ben Francis was lifting weights during the day and delivering pizza at night. He didn’t have money. He didn’t have fashion experience. He didn’t even know how to sew. What he <em>did</em> have was a front-row seat… to a new online trend. Before Instagram and influencers ... Show More
1h 16m
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2025
Business Daily meets: Max Levchin
The fintech entrepreneur tells us about co-founding PayPal, and how an embarrassing personal moment when trying to buy a car, led him to start the buy now, pay later company Affirm.Produced and presented by Leanna Byrne(Image: PayPal Co-Founder & Affirm CEO Max Levchin in 2019. C ... Show More
17m 34s
Dec 2024
Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel is an entrepreneur and investor. He is the co-founder and former CEO of PayPal, started in 1998, redefining the world of secure and fast e-commerce. Shortly thereafter, Thiel was the first outside investor in Facebook in 2004. Additionally, he co-founded Founders Fund ... Show More
2 h
Feb 2025
Elon Musk's Acquisition Made Me $50M, But Fatherhood Redefined My Life
<p>What if the key to success wasn’t grinding harder—but learning to let go?</p><p><br></p><p>Chris Bakke made 10s of millions selling two companies, including one to Elon Musk’s Twitter. But after years of chasing big wins, something changed: he had kids. And suddenly, the drive ... Show More
46m 31s
Sep 11
$46B of hard truths from Ben Horowitz: Why founders fail and why you need to run toward fear (a16z co-founder)
Ben Horowitz is the co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, Silicon Valley’s largest and most influential venture capital firm, with over $46B in committed capital across multiple funds. He took Loudcloud public with just $2 million in revenue (dubbed “the IPO from hell”), sold it for ... Show More
1h 37m
Feb 2025
#452 - Reid Hoffman - LinkedIn, Paypal - “We are more Homo technicus than Homo sapiens”
<p><em>Retrouvez l'épisode en version française ici : </em><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.gdiy.fr/podcast/reid-hoffman-fr/"><em>https://www.gdiy.fr/podcast/reid-hoffman-fr/</em></a></p><p></p><p>Reid Hoffman is a giant in the world of entr ... Show More
1h 17m
Jun 2024
Building a Disruptive Payments Company (with Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski)
The tenacity required to build Klarna over the last 19 years is astonishing. Despite several headwinds and changes in the payments landscape since founding, Klarna is used today by 150 million consumers globally, processing two million payments a day. Founder and CEO Sebastian Si ... Show More
1h 19m
Feb 2025
20VC: Affirm Max Levchin on Why Grading Talent by Letter (A or B) is Total BS | How to Create a Culture of Post Mortems and Writing | Why You Should Only Study Failure Not Success & The Biggest Surprises Scaling to $18.7BN Market Cap
<p dir="ltr">Max Levchin is one of the great founders and technologists of our time. As the Founder and CEO of Affirm, he has built am $18.7BN monster in the buy no pay later space. Prior to Affirm he was one of the original co-founders of PayPal. Max is also the co-founder and C ... Show More
1h 2m
Aug 2024
Succeeding as an introvert, building zero-to-one, and why you should PM your career like you PM your product | Deb Liu (CEO of Ancestry, ex-Facebook, PayPal, eBay)
<p><strong>Deb Liu</strong> is the CEO of Ancestry and former longtime VP of Product at Facebook. At Facebook, Deb led the creation of Facebook Marketplace, developed the first mobile ad product for apps, built the company’s games business, and launched Facebook Pay. She’s also h ... Show More
1h 11m
Nov 13
“Dumbest idea I’ve heard” to $100M ARR: Inside the rise of Gamma | Grant Lee (CEO)
Grant Lee is the co-founder of Gamma, the AI-powered presentation tool that’s one of the hottest and most interesting AI startups in the world right now. They’re valued at over $2 billion, and they hit $100 million ARR in just over two years, with a lean team of just around 30 pe ... Show More
1h 53m
Dec 2024
Best of 2024 #3 – VC Pitch: PayPal for Agents – Skyfire Powers AI-to-AI Commerce at Scale
<p>As we head into 2025, we're looking back on our most popular episodes of 2024. This episode was originally published on October 30, 2024.</p> <p>Are you ready for a world where AI agents can autonomously make purchases and monetize their services? How will commerce and payment ... Show More
1h 2m