Finding Your Own Mafia

“The key is to keep company only with the people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.” -Epictetus

In the late 90’s there was a small internet company called Cofinity. Their mission was to modernize money transfers. The team was small but ambitious. In 1999 they merged with another up and coming start up, X .com, and rebranded as Paypal. Three years of rapid growth led to the company being purchased by eBay. Not the corporate type, the original team of PayPal employees quickly left the company to go find their next venture.

But they did not each go their separate ways. No, the group remained very much interwoven through joint ventures, funding, and leveraging influence. A few years later after leaving eBay, Forbes ran an article coining this group The PayPal Mafia.

What’s their legacy you may ask?

They have founded numerous companies including Youtube, LinkedIn, OpenAI, Yelp, Palantir, SpaceX, and Yammer. They created and run some of the most influential venture capital firms in the world including Founders Fund and Sequoia. And more recently, have influenced political elections on both sides of the aisle, served as special advisors to presidents, and ambassadors overseas.

Pick your mafia wisely.