17:I[22773,["6324","static/chunks/1743cc95-cf85d9d3c941e1e1.js","9640","static/chunks/b11ebc50-4a71c53ad6376343.js","1381","static/chunks/a5c829b0-2b810d87451d7bc3.js","8202","static/chunks/8202-d22828e45db31cd7.js","1158","static/chunks/1158-e7afd83bc0bb7e95.js","2731","static/chunks/2731-6a92cc39ead81676.js","8471","static/chunks/8471-27b2f1bfcc80fa14.js","4995","static/chunks/4995-e3959e973cd91773.js","466","static/chunks/466-fbd8b941a58509fd.js","4404","static/chunks/4404-c62beaa9929a58b5.js","4564","static/chunks/4564-62d6b6f538aa201b.js","8305","static/chunks/8305-8dc2fec6739bebd6.js","6827","static/chunks/6827-1cbf17c0f9af91d0.js","8125","static/chunks/8125-a60a2df0b39490ca.js","7437","static/chunks/7437-ffeed6a63ddf5ef0.js","5598","static/chunks/app/podcast/%5BpodcastSlug%5D/%5BepisodeSlug%5D/page-908156565fd191e4.js"],"TrackEvent"] 19:I[96161,["6324","static/chunks/1743cc95-cf85d9d3c941e1e1.js","9640","static/chunks/b11ebc50-4a71c53ad6376343.js","1381","static/chunks/a5c829b0-2b810d87451d7bc3.js","8202","static/chunks/8202-d22828e45db31cd7.js","1158","static/chunks/1158-e7afd83bc0bb7e95.js","2731","static/chunks/2731-6a92cc39ead81676.js","8471","static/chunks/8471-27b2f1bfcc80fa14.js","4995","static/chunks/4995-e3959e973cd91773.js","466","static/chunks/466-fbd8b941a58509fd.js","4404","static/chunks/4404-c62beaa9929a58b5.js","4564","static/chunks/4564-62d6b6f538aa201b.js","8305","static/chunks/8305-8dc2fec6739bebd6.js","6827","static/chunks/6827-1cbf17c0f9af91d0.js","8125","static/chunks/8125-a60a2df0b39490ca.js","7437","static/chunks/7437-ffeed6a63ddf5ef0.js","5598","static/chunks/app/podcast/%5BpodcastSlug%5D/%5BepisodeSlug%5D/page-908156565fd191e4.js"],"EpisodeMetaCard"] 18:T5a6,[{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"PodcastEpisode","name":"Jimmy Soni - Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and the Paypal Mafia","description":"Episode details from Dwarkesh Podcast, April 16, 2022. Jimmy Soni is the author of The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley. Watch on YouTube . Listen on…","url":"https://barbellinsights.com/podcast/dwarkesh-podcast/jimmy-soni-peter-thiel-elon-musk-and-the-paypal-mafia","datePublished":"2022-04-16T10:00:00.000Z","image":"https://barbellinsights.com/pods/dwarkesh.png","associatedMedia":{"@type":"AudioObject","contentUrl":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/52511221/09bf762a3c89cba4b0897ca15001371c.mp3"},"publisher":{"@id":"https://barbellinsights.com#organization"},"partOfSeries":{"@type":"PodcastSeries","name":"Dwarkesh Podcast","url":"https://barbellinsights.com/podcast/dwarkesh-podcast","image":"https://barbellinsights.com/pods/dwarkesh.png"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://barbellinsights.com"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dwarkesh Podcast","item":"https://barbellinsights.com/podcast/dwarkesh-podcast"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Jimmy Soni - Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and the Paypal Mafia","item":"https://barbellinsights.com/podcast/dwarkesh-podcast/jimmy-soni-peter-thiel-elon-musk-and-the-paypal-mafia"}]}]1a:T7f2,

Jimmy Soni is the author of The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley.

Watch on YouTube. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform.

Episode website here.

Follow Jimmy on Twitter. Follow me on Twitter for updates on future episodes!

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

Get full access to Dwarkesh Podcast at www.dwarkeshpatel.com/subscribe5:[["$","$L17",null,{"event":"page_view","props":{"route":"/podcast/dwarkesh-podcast/jimmy-soni-peter-thiel-elon-musk-and-the-paypal-mafia","surface":"web","episode_id":"8d2b0982-e7f0-4e60-a52a-6d62198fe436","plan":"free","is_anonymous":true,"podcast_id":"4e3d122c-a06b-45c7-8794-fa36d47d076e"}}],false,["$","script",null,{"type":"application/ld+json","dangerouslySetInnerHTML":{"__html":"$18"},"suppressHydrationWarning":true}],["$","div",null,{"className":"relative min-h-screen","children":["$","div",null,{"className":"mx-auto max-w-7xl px-2 sm:px-6 lg:px-8 pb-5 pt-2 sm:pb-7 sm:pt-3","children":["$","div",null,{"className":"lg:[padding-right:calc(var(--chat-panel-width,0px)+0.5rem)]","children":["$","article",null,{"className":"mx-auto max-w-4xl space-y-8 sm:space-y-10","children":[["$","div",null,{"className":"space-y-2","children":[["$","header",null,{"className":"space-y-3 sm:space-y-4","children":[["$","h1",null,{"children":"Jimmy Soni - Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and the Paypal Mafia","className":"text-[1.5rem]/8 font-semibold tracking-tight sm:text-4xl/10 text-2xl/8 font-semibold text-foreground sm:text-xl/8"}],["$","$L19",null,{"episodeId":"8d2b0982-e7f0-4e60-a52a-6d62198fe436","episodeTitle":"Jimmy Soni - Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and the Paypal Mafia","canonicalPath":"/podcast/dwarkesh-podcast/jimmy-soni-peter-thiel-elon-musk-and-the-paypal-mafia","canonicalPodcastSlug":"dwarkesh-podcast","podcastName":"Dwarkesh Podcast","episodeDate":"2022-04-16 10:00:00+00:00","summary":null,"description":"$1a"}],null]}],"$L1b"]}],null,"$L1c"]}]}]}]}]]