Rave
Matthew Rees,
Wall Street Journal
A gripping account of PayPal’s origins and a vivid portrait of the geeks and contrarians who made its meteoric rise possible. His richly reported narrative includes corporate intrigue, workplace hijinks, breakthrough innovation and first-class nerdiness.
Positive
Alexandra Jacobs,
New York Times
The development of online “wallets” might seem particularly bloodless...and yet The Founders is an intensely magnetic chronicle in which ambitions and emotions run as red-hot as they did in the Facebook movie written by Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network. It helps that PayPal’s origin story...features two of the more complicated antiheroes of our time: Peter Thiel...and Elon Musk.
Positive
The Economist
Well-researched.
Positive
Gina Chon,
Reuters
Elon Musk can be a vulnerable person. That’s one of the surprising insights from a new book about the founding of PayPal.
Rave
Jennifer Adams,
Booklist
This deep dive into PayPal’s history will intrigue readers from the beginning.
Positive
Sarah Schroeder,
Library Journal
Soni excels at weaving together the nitty-gritty details of PayPal’s early days, as told by the people who were directly involved. He allows readers to feel like they are caught up in the action.
Positive
Publishers Weekly
[A] punchy origin story full of wheeling, dealing, and political machinations.
Rave
Kirkus
Combining historical detail with biographical perspective, Soni sifts through PayPal alumni to reveal the company’s origins and the risks it took to surpass both its predecessors and contemporary competition. He seamlessly chronicles the early years of driven entrepreneurs like Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, Reid Hoffman, and Elon Musk.