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Jimmy Soni - Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and the Paypal Mafia

Jimmy Soni is the author of The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley. Episode website + Transcript: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/jimmy-soni Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3Rp9RNX Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cDeTaL Follow me on Twitter to be notified of future content: https://twitter.com/dwarkesh_sp Follow Jimmy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jimmyasoni Buy the book: https://amzn.to/30PqMV2 Timestamps: 0:00:00 Intro 0:00:32 Bell Labs vs PayPal 0:05:44 Scenius in Ancient Rome and America's Founding 0:07:34 Girard at PayPal 0:15:49 Thiel almost shorts the Dot com bubble 0:20:21 Does Zero to One contradict PayPal's story? 0:28:29 Hilarious Russian hacker story 0:29:38 Why is Thiel so good at spotting talent? 0:35:22 Did PayPal make talent or discover it? 0:41:12 Japanese mafia invests in PayPal?! 0:45:14 Upcoming TV show on PayPal 0:48:43 Musk in ancient Rome 0:52:44 Why didn't Musk keep pursuing finance? 0:57:04 Why didn't the mafia get back together? 1:00:38 Jimmy's writing process

Jimmy SoniguestDwarkesh Patelhost
Apr 16, 20221h 8mWatch on YouTube ↗

CHAPTERS

  1. 0:32 – 5:44

    Bell Labs vs PayPal

  2. 5:44 – 7:34

    Scenius in Ancient Rome and America's Founding

  3. 7:34 – 15:49

    Girard at PayPal

  4. 15:49 – 20:21

    Thiel almost shorts the Dot com bubble

  5. 20:21 – 28:29

    Does Zero to One contradict PayPal's story?

  6. 28:29 – 29:38

    Hilarious Russian hacker story

  7. 29:38 – 35:22

    Why is Thiel so good at spotting talent?

  8. 35:22 – 41:12

    Did PayPal make talent or discover it?

  9. 41:12 – 45:14

    Japanese mafia invests in PayPal?!

  10. 45:14 – 48:43

    Upcoming TV show on PayPal

  11. 48:43 – 52:44

    Musk in ancient Rome

  12. 52:44 – 57:04

    Why didn't Musk keep pursuing finance?

  13. 57:04 – 1:00:38

    Why didn't the mafia get back together?

  14. 1:00:38 – 1:08:21

    Jimmy's writing process

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