Apr 16 • 1HR 8M

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

Dwarkesh Patel
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Host Dwarkesh Patel interviews economists, scientists, and philosophers about their big ideas. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DwarkeshPatel
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Jimmy Soni is the author of The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley.


Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/OEcOUgXvz7g

Buy the book: https://amzn.to/30PqMV2

Follow Jimmy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jimmyasoni

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwarkesh_sp


Timestamps:

(0:00:00) - Bell Labs vs PayPal

(0:05:12) - Scenius in Ancient Rome and America's Founding

(0:07:02) - Girard at PayPal

(0:15:17) - Thiel almost shorts the Dot com bubble

(0:19:49) - Does Zero to One contradict PayPal's story?

(0:27:57) - Hilarious Russian hacker story

(0:29:06) - Why is Thiel so good at spotting talent?

(0:34:50) - Did PayPal make talent or discover it?

(0:40:40) - Japanese mafia invests in PayPal?!

(0:44:42) - Upcoming TV show on PayPal

(0:48:11) - Musk in ancient Rome

(0:52:12) - Why didn't Musk keep pursuing finance?

(0:56:32) - Why didn't the mafia get back together?

(1:00:06) - Jimmy's writing process

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