by Eric M. Jackson
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Book Description
When Peter Thiel and Max Levchin launched an online payment website in 1999, they hoped their service could improve the lives of millions around the globe. But when their start-up, PayPal, survived the dot.com crash only to find itself besieged by unimaginable challenges, that dream threatened to become a nightmare. PayPal's history – as told by former insider Eric Jackson – is an engrossing study of human struggle and perseverance against overwhelming odds. The entrepreneurs that Thiel and Levchin recruited to overhaul world currency markets first had to face some of the greatest trials ever thrown at a Silicon Valley company before they could make internet history. Business guru Tom Peters, author of "In Search of Excellence," called the hardcover edition of The PayPal Wars "a real page turner" that featured what he called "the best description of business strategy unfolding in a world changing at warp speed." This new paperback edition features updated material and even more insights on the state of internet commerce.
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Average Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 The best book I have ever read., 2008-02-08
A must read for anybody interested in business or strategy, or just a really cool story.
It was witty, entertaining and extremely smart.
Gave me an excellent perspective of starting and running a start-up.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
From the frontlines of startups, 2007-05-04
Eric Jackson's Paypal Wars reads like a novel and offers an insightful look into the early days of Confinity. Brought in as an early impromptu marketing employee, he stuck with company until its final sale to eBay. As part of this process, he describes the early struggles of the company, the continuous fight against Billpoint, the enormous problem of fraud, and even some corporate politics.
PayPal is an interesting company even if just for the fact that it survived the dot com crash. But they also managed to raise hundreds of millions in venture capital, fought off eBay on their on turf, and managed to go through an IPO and several mergers. As you can tell, the storyline is exciting, and Eric Jackson does a great job of documenting it in this book. For a technology entrepreneur, this should prove to be a captivating read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
The successful rise of the company against overwhelming odds., 2007-03-12
THE PAYPAL WARS appeared as a limited-release hardcover in 2004 and received acclaim as one of the best business books of the decade: its wider release as a trade paperback with new, expanded material included is a 'must' not just for libraries strong in business, but for those with healthy computer sections - thus it's reviewed here, so computer holdings don't miss it. It recreates the launch of an online payment service in 1999 which was the first to allow money transfers via the Internet - and it covers the successful rise of the company against overwhelming odds. Of particular note here is the first-person insights into how companies create and hone successful business strategies and compete in the face of overwhelming obstacles.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
 A good read as told by an insider, 2007-02-10
The PayPal Wars provides a good narrative of life inside a silicon valley startup. The story starts from the humble beginnings of yet another dot-com that garnered traction via viral marketing. However, the difference was in this company's nimbleness in maneuvering around its obstacles. The author discusses the company's various competitive responses without boring the reader with too much detail. The reader gets a good appreciation of the importance of timing in the rapidly changing Internet space.
Overall a brisk and informative read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
A great story about the early days of online transactions, 2007-02-06
The story of Paypal's struggle for World Domination is well told by their former marketing director who joined the company Conformity in its early days. He is a strong supporter of the Paypal Brand and an arch enemy of all things Ebay whose attempts to throw "roadblocks" at the company would almost cause disaster on numerous occasions. This book is very well done with top analysis on the business functions of Paypal. It considers Paypal's inability to get profitable and the problems inherent in its business model to ways that it prepared its consumer base to enjoy the benefits of having a flexible pay service. The internet and computer industry is filled with wonderful business stories and Paypal's is truly near the top. For those who want real business analysis and an understanding of how Silicon Valley works this book cannot be topped.
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