The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

　　「……這部作品是了解現代創新及創業精神不可或缺的指引。」──華特．艾薩克森《賈伯斯傳：Steve Jobs唯一授權》作者
 
　　本書探索了PayPal的崛起，和它金光閃閃的創辦者們──包含伊隆．馬斯克、彼得．提爾、馬克斯．列夫琴、雷德．霍夫曼等，以及許多故事未曾被訴說的人們。他們定義了現今的世界，而這段經歷，則定義了他們。
 
　　如今，Paypal的創辦人與最早期的員工，被認為是科技界最有影響力的一群人。離開Paypal之後，他們創立、資助了這個時代最頂尖的大公司，或成為其顧問，這之中包含特斯拉、臉書、YouTube、SpaceX、Yelp、Palantir和 LinkedIn等等。做為一個群體，他們驅動了21世紀的創新和創業，他們的名字不僅擁有大批追隨者，同時也極具爭議性。
 
　　然而在所有他們帶來的巨大影響之外，他們最早踏出的第一步，卻有許多故事鮮為人知。早在開出太空商業競賽、推動社群軟體興起的第一槍之前，這個線上支付平台背後默默無名的創造者，在建立Paypal的過程中，遭遇不愉快的競爭、內部衝突，面臨網路詐騙的崛起，經歷網際網路泡沫危機，他們的成功絕非手到擒來。
 
　　在這部作品中，作者吉米．索尼挖掘了Paypal顛簸的創立初期，歷經上百次採訪、翻閱成千內部資料，他展示了型塑現今世界的那些種子，在20多年前是如何被栽下並成長茁壯，並訴說了那些不在鎂光燈焦點下，卻是這場歷程中不可或缺的人物的故事。
 
　　這是一個關於不斷精進、勇於創新的故事，描繪了這群才華洋溢的人們的合作，如何永遠改變了我們的世界。(文/博客來編譯)

　　Today, they’re referred to as the “PayPal Mafia.” Out of the founding employees of PayPal have come billionaire start-up executives, award-winning film producers, and high-ranking government officials. Collectively, they constitute the most influential network in Silicon Valley, responsible for forming, funding, or advising two decades worth of major technology companies from SpaceX to Facebook, YouTube to Yelp, Palantir to LinkedIn, Pinterest to Airbnb, and many more.

　　Yet, for all their influence today, the story of the company where they first cut their teeth has gone untold. Before they became a “mafia,” they were the unknown, uncertain creators and employees of the online payment company PayPal. In The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley, award-winning author and biographer Jimmy Soni explores the earliest venture of some of today’s foremost business titans—including many individuals who have been left out of the front pages and banner headlines.

　　Based on hundreds of interviews and with unprecedented access to thousands of pages of never-before-seen material, Soni’s narrative digs deep into the founding days of a company whose earliest employees have changed how we use the internet and technology today. It is a story of sweeping, nail-biting entrepreneurial success—the definitive account of how a generation of technology founders came to learn and practice their craft. Through their fight for survival during the dot-com's turn-of-the-century bust, the founders of PayPal not only built a company that still exists two decades later, but also created a template for entrepreneurship in the 21st century.