Case studies
PodcastHow eBay's acquisition of PayPal shaped the startup ecosystem
- eBay's $1.5B acquisition in 2002 spawned the PayPal Mafia, founding Uber, Airbnb, SpaceX, Tesla, LinkedIn and more
- PayPal pioneered viral growth loops, embeddable payments and fraud detection—templates all modern startups use
- Culture clash drove exodus that created ecosystem; integration succeeded financially but cost eBay generational talent