The Founders Quotes

“For Musk, the Scotiabank internship proved “how lame banks are.” Fear of the unknown had cost them billions, and in his later efforts at X.com and PayPal, he’d return to this experience as evidence that the banks could be beaten. “If they’re this bad at innovation, then any company that enters the financial space should not fear that the banks will crush them—because the banks do not innovate,” Musk concluded.”
― Jimmy Soni, The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

“When Musk took delivery of his F1, CNN was there to cover it. “Just three years ago I was showering at the Y and sleeping on the office floor,” he told the camera sheepishly, “and now obviously, I’ve got a million-dollar car… it’s just a moment in my life.” While other McLaren F1 owners around the world—the sultan of Brunei, Wyclef Jean, and Jay Leno, among others—could comfortably afford it, Musk’s purchase had put a sizable dent in his bank account. And unlike other owners, Musk drove the car to work—and declined to insure it. As Musk drove Thiel up Sand Hill Road in the F1, the car was the subject of their chat. “It was like this Hitchcock movie,” Thiel remembered, “where we’re talking about the car for fifteen minutes. We’re supposed to be preparing for the meeting—and we’re talking about the car.” During their ride, Thiel looked at Musk and reportedly asked, “So, what can this thing do?” “Watch this,” Musk replied, flooring the accelerator and simultaneously initiating a lane change on Sand Hill Road. In retrospect, Musk admitted that he was outmatched by the F1. “I didn’t really know how to drive the car,” he recalled. “There’s no stability systems. No traction control. And the car gets so much power that you can break the wheels free at even fifty miles an hour.” Thiel recalls the car in front of them coming fast into view—then Musk swerving to avoid it. The McLaren hit an embankment, was tossed into the air—“like a discus,” Musk remembered——then slammed violently into the ground. “The people that saw it happen thought we were going to die,” he recalled. Thiel had not worn a seat belt, but astonishingly, neither he nor Musk were hurt. Musk’s “work of art” had not fared as well, having now taken a distinctly cubist turn. Post-near-death experience, Thiel dusted himself off on the side of the road and hitchhiked to the Sequoia offices, where he was joined by Musk a short while later. X.com’s CEO, Bill Harris, was also waiting at the Sequoia office, and he recalled that both Thiel and Musk were late but offered no explanation for their delay. “They never told me,” Harris said. “We just had the meeting.” Reflecting on it, Musk found humor in the experience: “I think it’s safe to say Peter wouldn’t be driving with me again.” Thiel wrung some levity out of the moment, too. “I’d achieved lift-off with Elon,” he joked, “but not in a rocket.”
― Jimmy Soni, The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

“Max kept repeating, ‘As hire As. Bs hire Cs. So the first B you hire takes the whole company down.”
― Jimmy Soni, The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

“« Des brevets comme les vôtres constituent la première étape pour vicier le Web”
― Jimmy Soni, Les fondateurs: L'histoire de PayPal et des créateurs de la Silicon Valley

“Thiel s’était plongé dans l’œuvre d’un théoricien français de la littérature et philosophe des sciences sociales”
― Jimmy Soni, Les fondateurs: L'histoire de PayPal et des créateurs de la Silicon Valley

“Si l’argent stocké dans les comptes de X.com n’était qu’une autre expression de l’information, comme Musk le voyait, alors les monnaies nationalisées n’étaient qu’une invention encombrante. Un réseau d’information universel comme Internet – qui permettait aux bits de traverser les frontières simplement, rapidement et à moindre coût – pourrait éliminer les frictions et les frais de change.”
― Jimmy Soni, Les fondateurs: L'histoire de PayPal et des créateurs de la Silicon Valley

“Un piratage du site équivaudrait à des voleurs frappant toutes les succursales locales d’une institution bancaire traditionnelle au même moment.”
― Jimmy Soni, Les fondateurs: L'histoire de PayPal et des créateurs de la Silicon Valley

“Le 28 septembre 2008 – près de huit ans jour pour jour après avoir été destitué en tant que PDG de X.com –, Elon Musk regardait la fusée Falcon 1 de SpaceX s’élever dans le ciel au-dessus d’Omelek Island dans l’atoll de Kwajalein, au sud-ouest d’Hawaï. Neuf minutes et trente-et-une secondes après le lancement, le Falcon 1 devenait « la première fusée à combustible liquide de conception privée à quitter l’orbite de la Terre ».”
― Jimmy Soni, Les fondateurs: L'histoire de PayPal et des créateurs de la Silicon Valley

“Tout ce qui se faisait dans les jeux vidéo était bien plus avancé que dans tout autre domaine, explique Musk. Les meilleurs programmeurs sont dans les jeux vidéo. » Il a observé que ceux en fonctionnalités étaient techniquement complexes, bien plus, à certains égards, que les sites Web de l’époque.”
― Jimmy Soni, Les fondateurs: L'histoire de PayPal et des créateurs de la Silicon Valley

“Lorsque des retards sont constatés, la réponse naturelle (et traditionnelle), c’est d’ajouter de la main-d’œuvre. Mais comme éteindre un feu avec de l’essence, cela ne fait qu’aggraver les choses. Plus de feu nécessite plus d’essence, et c’est ainsi que commence un cycle régénérateur qui se termine en catastrophe”
― Jimmy Soni, Les fondateurs: L'histoire de PayPal et des créateurs de la Silicon Valley

“Si vous ne pouvez pas me dire les quatre raisons pour lesquelles vous avez foiré quelque chose […] avant de le réussir, vous n’êtes probablement pas la personne qui a travaillé dessus”
― Jimmy Soni, Les fondateurs: L'histoire de PayPal et des créateurs de la Silicon Valley

“Et Thiel n’aimait pas perdre. « Montre-moi un bon perdant, et je te montrerai un perdant”
― Jimmy Soni, Les fondateurs: L'histoire de PayPal et des créateurs de la Silicon Valley

“Quatre mois plus tard, cet épisode était de l’histoire ancienne. Dans l’intervalle, X.com a obtenu un financement d’une société de capital-risque de premier plan, a mis au point un produit fonctionnel, développé ses bancs d’ingénierie et de gestion, et signé des accords avec des banques dans le pays et à l’étranger. Comme toujours, Musk voulait des résultats plus rapides et plus spectaculaires, mais au moins lui et son équipe pouvaient regarder le passé avec soulagement et l’avenir avec détermination. X.com était bien réel.”
― Jimmy Soni, Les fondateurs: L'histoire de PayPal et des créateurs de la Silicon Valley

“Musk donnait une grande liberté à ses employés (« la possibilité d’être tout ce qu’ils pouvaient être ») mais fixait des attentes très élevées en matière de résultats. « Je n’ai jamais travaillé aussi dur ni aussi vite de toute ma vie », a-t-elle déclaré.”
― Jimmy Soni, Les fondateurs: L'histoire de PayPal et des créateurs de la Silicon Valley

“: « Vers la fin de l’entretien, [Musk] a dit : “Je veux que tu comprennes que c’est une start-up et qu’on attendra beaucoup de toi. Tu ne peux pas, par exemple, venir travailler seulement quarante heures par semaine. J’attends de très longues heures de travail jusqu’à ce que nous réussissions, et on va te demander de faire l’impossible.” »”
― Jimmy Soni, Les fondateurs: L'histoire de PayPal et des créateurs de la Silicon Valley

“A good rule of thumb is that diversity of opinion is essential anytime you don’t know anything about something important. But if there’s a strong sense of what’s right already, don’t argue about it.”
― Jimmy Soni, The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

“In early 2000, Thiel and Musk were set to meet with Mike Moritz at Sequoia’s office at 2800 Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park to discuss the merger. Musk offered Thiel a lift from Palo Alto. The year before, Musk had purchased a Magnesium Silver McLaren F1, Chassis #067, from Gerd Petrik, a German pharmaceutical executive. A $1 million sports car complete with gull-wing doors and an engine bay encased in gold foil, Musk dubbed the automobile a “work of art” and “a really beautiful piece of engineering.” Even among McLarens, #067 was distinctive—one of only seven McLaren F1s legal to drive in the United States at the time.”
― Jimmy Soni, The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy soothed Musk’s existential worries by suggesting that framing the right questions was as important as divining the answers. “A lot of times,” Musk explained, “the question is harder than the answer, and if you can properly phrase the question, then the answer is the easy part.”
― Jimmy Soni, The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

“The Gausebeck-Levchin test became the first commercial application of a Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart—or CAPTCHA. Today, CAPTCHA tests are common on the internet—to be online is to be subjected to a search for a specific image—a fire hydrant or bicycle or boat—from a lineup. But at the time, PayPal was the first company to force users to prove their humanity in this fashion. Gausebeck and Levchin didn’t invent the CAPTCHA—Carnegie Mellon researchers devised something similar in 1999—but the PayPal version was the first to scale, and among the first to solve the centuries-old challenge of separating human from machine.”
― Jimmy Soni, The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

“Thiel’s doomsday predictions also prompted an unusual request. In preparation for a summer 2000 board meeting, Thiel had asked Musk if he could present a proposal. Musk agreed. “Uh, Peter’s got an agenda item he’d like to talk about,” Musk said, handing the reins to Thiel. Thiel began. The markets, he said, weren’t done driving into the red. He prophesied just how dire things would get—for both the company and for the world. Many had seen the bust as a mere short-term correction, but Thiel was convinced the optimists were wrong. In his view, the bubble was bigger than anyone had thought and hadn’t even begun to really burst yet. From X.com’s perspective, the implications of Thiel’s prediction were dire. Its high burn rate meant that it would need to continue fundraising. But if—no, when—the bubble truly burst, the markets would tighten further, and funding would dry up—even for X.com. The company balance sheet could drop to zero with no options left to raise money. Thiel presented a solution: the company should take the $100 million closed in March and transfer it to his hedge fund, Thiel Capital. He would then use that money to short the public markets. “It was beautiful logic,” board member Tim Hurd of MDP remembered. “One of the elements of PayPal was that they were untethered from how people did stuff in the real world.” The board was uniformly aghast. Members Moritz, Malloy, and Hurd all pushed back. “Peter, I totally get it,” Hurd replied. “But we raised money from investors on a business plan. And they have that in their files. And it said, ‘use of proceeds would be for general corporate purposes.’ And to grow the business and so forth. It wasn’t to go speculate on indices. History may prove that you’re right, and it will have been brilliant, but if you’re wrong, we’ll all be sued.” Mike Moritz’s reaction proved particularly memorable. With his theatricality on full display, Moritz “just lost his mind,” a board member remembered, berating Thiel: “Peter, this is really simple: If this board approves that idea, I’m resigning!”
― Jimmy Soni, The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

“Reflecting on it all, David Wallace drew on theology. “There was this feeling of, you know, if we just keep working as hard as we can, we seem to be living a charmed life,” he observed. “We did come to a merger, just in time to get our funding closed before the whole thing crashed.… [in] Christian theology, there’s this sense of human effort versus predestination, and sometimes they get opposed to each other. But the only way that theology really works is when you see it as the two things in conjunction with each other. Things that are predestined include the works.”
― Jimmy Soni, The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

“During the bust, fuckedcompany.com—a snarky twist on the technology magazine Fast Company—became popular with the tech crowd. As its name suggested, Fucked Company logged the era’s many misadventures. Several X.com employees remembered browsing Fucked Company daily during this period—not out of schadenfreude, but out of fear that they might be next. That Confinity and X.com didn’t end up in the Valley’s discard bin was attributable to a number of factors, not least that it had enough runway to ride out a rocky year. “Back then, there were probably five to seven other little piddling online money moving services… that just got starved of oxygen over time. And they all died out by the fall,” said Vince Sollitto. Former employees point to the $100 million round’s timing as a watershed for PayPal. “I don’t think people know how precarious it was,” Klement offered. “If we hadn’t raised that $100 million round, there would be no PayPal.” Mark Woolway extended the counterfactual: “If the team hadn’t closed that one hundred million,” Woolway said, “there would be no SpaceX, no LinkedIn, and no Tesla.”
― Jimmy Soni, The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

“On a trip to Korea, Thiel’s corporate credit card was declined as he tried to purchase a return ticket home. The investors he had met with were only too happy to furnish a first-class plane ticket—which they did on the spot. “They were excited beyond belief,” Thiel remembered. “The next day, they called up our law firm and asked, ‘What’s the bank account we need to send the money to?’ ” The crazed nature of it all confirmed Thiel’s suspicions about the market. “I remember thinking to myself that it felt like things couldn’t get much crazier, and that we really had to close the money quickly because the window might not last forever,” he said. The final $100 million figure actually disappointed some on the team. Confinity and X.com had secured verbal commitments for double that amount, and some on the team had wanted to hold out for the remaining funding or push for a billion-dollar valuation. Thiel disagreed, urging Selby and others on the financing team to turn handshakes into actual checks, to get term sheets signed, and have deposits confirmed. “Peter kicked everyone’s asses to get that funding round done,” David Sacks remembered. Many Confinity employees—who had seen Thiel at his toughest—rarely remember him this insistent. “If we don’t get this money raised,” Howery recalled Thiel saying, “the whole company could blow up.”
― Jimmy Soni, The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

“Up the street at X.com, CEO Bill Harris wasn’t resting easy. “We were both the same size, growing at the same speed,” Harris remembered. “We would have destroyed ourselves competing.” He saw the writing on the wall: two payment networks catering to the same market couldn’t achieve scale simultaneously. “True networks are a naturally monopolistic business,” Harris explained”
― Jimmy Soni, The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

“Let there be no doubt, that what we are witnessing is, indeed, history’s greatest financial bubble,” wrote an investor at the market’s peak in 1999. “The indescribable financial excesses, the massive increase in debt, the monstrous use of leverage upon leverage, the collapse in private savings, the incredulous current account deficits, and the ballooning central bank assets all describe the very severe financial imbalances which no amount of statistical revision nor hype from CNBC can erase.”
― Jimmy Soni, The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

“Even PayPal’s millions of dollars in bad transactions could be justified for the extensive data set they generated. “Losing a lot of money to fraud was a necessary byproduct in gathering the data needed to understand the problem and build good predictive models,” Greenfield later wrote on a personal blog. “With millions of transactions and tens of thousands of fraudulent transactions, our fraud analytics team could find subtler patterns and detect fraud more accurately.” Taken together, PayPal turned fraud from an existential threat to one of the company’s defining triumphs. It also had the unexpected benefit of thinning out the competition. “As the Russian mobsters got better and better,” Thiel said, “they got better and better at destroying all our competitors.” Thieves forced to work ever harder to fleece PayPal customers moved on to easier prey. “We’d also find that fraudsters were kind of lazy, right? They want to do just the least amount of work… So we just kind of hoped to push them off onto [our competitors],” Miller observed.”
― Jimmy Soni, The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

“I don’t think people know how precarious it was,” Klement offered. “If we hadn’t raised that $ 100 million round, there would be no PayPal.” Mark Woolway extended the counterfactual: “If the team hadn’t closed that one hundred million,” Woolway said, “there would be no SpaceX, no LinkedIn, and no Tesla.”
― Jimmy Soni, The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley