Review
“Way back in 1981 a business book literally kept me up all night reading…Well, it’s happened again…Hate to use the hackneyed term, but it’s a real page turner, and among other things it gives the best description of ‘business strategy’ unfolding in a world changing at warp speed.”
—Tom Peters, author, In Search of Excellence
“It’s rare that a business book is a page turner, but The PayPal Wars is: I read the whole book on one cross-country flight.”
—David Henderson, Tech Central Station
“The PayPal Wars is the Liar’s Poker of the Internet era—a gripping, honest tale that captures the craziness and magic of Silicon Valley.”
—Jeff Giesea, Entrepreneur and executive coach
“When the history of our time is written, the dot-com boom will loom large, and 22nd-century historians will find no better evidence of the mad genius of the age than in Eric Jackson’s The PayPal Wars. It’s all here: bursts of creativity; scarifying IPOs, too much caffeine; the Russian mafia. Reading it you just hang on for dear life.”
--Brad Miner, senior editor of The Catholic Thing and former literary editor of National Review
“The genius of The PayPal Wars is more than it's being an interesting business story…We see entrepreneurship, government regulation, and the boom-and-bust business cycles in action, presented in a manner in which the author not only sees the immediate ‘small’ picture, but the larger picture at the same time.”
—William Anderson, Mises Institute
“Eric M. Jackson has a real winner…it’s an adventure story and a business case study in one! …The PayPal Wars is strongly recommended reading for anyone interested in Internet business, business in general, or who just wants a darned good book to read.”
—Steven D. Laib, IntellectualConservative.com
“The PayPal Wars is a fascinating tale about a rag-tag group of entrepreneurs who set out to change the world. Read this book and you’ll be amazed by PayPal’s death-defying origins and shocked by what they tell us about the business environment in America.”
—Prof. Michael New, The Catholic University of America
“The PayPal Wars offers an inspiring story of how dedicated entrepreneurs can both make a profit and advance the cause of liberty.”
—Doug Bandow, Cato Institute
“Reading The PayPal Wars is like watching the last two minutes of a championship football game that is tied 21-21—and then goes into sudden death overtime. It’s the rare business book that reads like a page-turning exciting novel. The PayPal Wars is hard to put down.”
—Skip McGrath, editor, “EBay Auction Seller’s News”
“Eric M. Jackson’s The PayPal Wars is an absorbing insider’s story about two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs…[who] launched an online payment Web site called PayPal. Every School of Business ought to put this book on its must reading list because it is ‘case history’ analysis at its best.”
—The Washington Times
“Jackson’s engaging narrative reads in turn like a spy novel, a business text, and an insider tell-all. One of PayPal’s earliest employees and savviest marketers, Jackson documents the full spate of challenges and obstacles faced by start-ups and entrepreneurs, and how visionaries often have to abandon big ideas to keep competitors at bay and to satisfy petty bureaucrats and politicians.”
—Radley Balko, Reason Magazine
“Incredible insider’s account.”
—USA Book News
“PayPal is chronicled as a young, energetic and innovative company, able to turn direction on a dime…eBay is portrayed as a more ponderous company, less likely to innovate…[The PayPal Wars] is intense from cover to cover, and you'll be less naive about the industry for having read it.”
—David Steiner, AuctionBytes
“This is a must-read for believers and non-believers alike in the dot-com mania. It captures the highs, lows, tensions and wins in one nail-biting narrative.”
—Lisa Romano, Silicon Valley angel investor
From the Back Cover
Praise for The PayPal Wars:
Winner, Business Book of the Year —Writers Notes Book Awards
"In his celebrated book, The PayPal Wars, Eric Jackson describes how... [PayPal] had to battle crotchety regulators, identity thieves, volatile markets, scrappy rivals and even scheming Mafiosi." —The Economist
"Kept me up all night reading... it's a real page turner" —Tom Peters, author, In Search of Excellence
"Jackson's engaging narrative reads in turn like a spy novel, a business text, and an insider tell-all..." —Reason Magazine
"The PayPal Wars is the Liar's Poker of the Internet era—a gripping, honest tale that captures the craziness and magic of Silicon Valley." —Jeff Giesea, entrepreneur & communications specialist
"It's rare that a business book is a page turner, but The PayPal Wars is. I read the whole book on one cross-country flight." —Tech Central Station
"Incredible insider's account." —USA Book News
"22nd-century historians will find no better evidence of the mad genius of the [dot-com] age than in Eric Jackson's The PayPal Wars... Reading it you just hang on for dear life." — Brad Miner, former literary editor, National Review
About the Author
Eric M. Jackson is a technology executive who played a critical role in building PayPal and subsequently created multiple technology businesses.
Early in his career, Jackson was recruited by Peter Thiel to join the startup team at PayPal, where he oversaw product marketing and designed its revenue model. During Jackson's time at PayPal, the company grew to 25 million users, went public, and was acquired by eBay.
Currently, Jackson is the CEO of TransitNet, a fintech company that provides tools to assist with title verification for cryptocurrencies. Jackson previously served as the CEO of CapLinked, a venture-backed technology company that was dubbed the "go-to place for setting up and closing deals" by the Wall Street Journal. He also founded World Ahead Media, an independent media firm that he grew to profitability before it was acquired.
His book, The PayPal Wars, which chronicles the tumultuous origins of PayPal, won the Writers Notes Book Award and was hailed by Tom Peters as "the best description of business strategy unfolding in a world changing at warp speed."
A frequent commentator on technology and policy, Jackson has appeared on Bloomberg, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC, and he has been quoted in publications ranging from The Economist to the New York Times.
Jackson has spoken at conferences around the world, including the World Knowledge Forum in Seoul, the Lang Di Fintech Conference in Shanghai, and the inaugural Reboot Conference in San Francisco. He also served as the featured speaker at events hosted by the Cato Institute, the Reason Foundation, the National Federation of Republican Assemblies, and the Catholic University of America.
Jackson graduated with honors from Stanford University. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Stacey and their two daughters.
