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Auctionbytes-Update, Number 127 - September 26, 2004 - ISSN 1528-6703     Previous Story | Contents | Next Story
	AuctionBytes Book Review: The PayPal Wars By David Steiner AuctionBytes.com September 26, 2004
This is one person's perspective on the events that took place during that time. - PayPal spokesperson commenting on the book. A sure bet, if you've built a successful business empire, is that someone will write a "tell-all" book about the company's rise to power. If you're an ex-employee of the company, the book usually hits the stands as soon as the non-disclosure agreement expires. Eric Jackson's book, "The PayPal Wars," is an insider's account of the events that took place from late 1999 to late 2002, when eBay acquired the online payment service. Jackson, once PayPal's Director of Marketing, shares a unique perspective on the events occurring during this period, a very active one in the online auction industry. Jackson takes us behind-the-scenes for a look at many industry-changing developments. Included in his recollections are: PayPal's initial concept as a method of transferring money wirelessly through PDAs; PayPal decision to target eBay users as their primary market; PayPal's merger with X.com, (and the subsequent parade of CEOs at PayPal); eBay's attempt to fight back by introducing BillPoint and ultimately losing the battle of the online payment services and acquiring PayPal. PayPal is chronicled as a young, energetic and innovative company, able to turn direction on a dime - an essential talent, given the obstacles thrown in front of the company by eBay, the SEC, the Russian Mafia, and as Jackson describes it, the rest of the world. eBay is portrayed as a more ponderous company, less likely to innovate and prone to endless meetings filled with PowerPoint slides, then more scheduled meetings so that "issues raised by the slides could be further discussed." One of the more interesting parts of the book comes near the end, after PayPal is acquired by eBay and the two companies merge. There's almost a sense of disappointment that PayPal's initial grand vision is being compromised at the expense of ending a nearly 3-year war with the online-auction giant. There are many fascinating tidbits found in this book, including PayPal's absurdly high rate of fraud during the middle of 2000 (roughly 1.2% of all of PayPal's payment volume, according to Jackson). During a four-month period, a single fraud-ring cost PayPal $5.7 million. But the core of the book is the intense struggle of wills between two Internet giants, eBay and PayPal. Veteran eBay sellers who were caught in the middle of the events described in Jackson's book will find themselves unconsciously nodding (or possibly shaking their heads) as they read about events all too familiar to them. Users who have come to the world of online auctions more recently will get a bit of history lesson about the growing pains this industry went through to get to the present. Whether or not the history lesson is a bit slanted depends on whom you ask, but the read is intense from cover to cover, and you'll be less naive about the industry for having read it. "PayPal Wars," by Eric M. Jackson http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0974670103/auctionbytescom