#869: Max Levchin, PayPal and Affirm — The Path from The Soviet Union to Building Multi-Billion Dollar Companies (Plus: Real-World Socialism vs. Capitalism)

Start The Ronin line that rewired how Max makes every decision Paprika -style brain-computer interfaces PayPal's founders lived inside a Neal Stephenson novel Transformation via Neuromancer and Snow Crash The book that found Max his wife The real secret to a great marriage What's worth tracking, and what's not A scrawny kid, a clarinet, and a Kyiv velodrome What going all-out on a bike actually gives you The mantra by which Max rides A Soviet kid's fear of socialism Making a profit without destroying society What Why the best mathematicians eschew the lending industry Does agentic commerce break Affirm, or supercharge it? A PhD-level financial advisor in everyone's pocket How close Improving your coffee: cheap, intermediate, and Bugatti options The books every first-time founder should actually read Claude Shannon, Ed Thorp, and the joy of playful genius Why physical books still beat every digital reading experience Parting thoughts. Start. The Ronin line that rewired how Max makes every decision. Paprika -style brain-computer interfaces. PayPal's founders lived inside a Neal Stephenson novel. Transformation via Neuromancer and Snow Crash . The book that found Max his wife. The real secret to a great marriage. What's worth tracking, and what's not. A scrawny kid, a clarinet, and a Kyiv velodrome. What going all-out on a bike actually gives you. The mantra by which Max rides. A Soviet kid's fear of socialism. Making a profit without destroying society. Why the best mathematicians eschew the lending industry. A PhD-level financial advisor in everyone's pocket. Improving your coffee: cheap, intermediate, and Bugatti options. The books every first-time founder should actually read. Claude Shannon, Ed Thorp, and the joy of playful genius. Why physical books still beat every digital reading experience.