Joining the Mafia 103
possible to store passwords and other secrets in the Palm
Pilot. This idea got some attention, but they decided to
pivot once again.^186
Now they wanted to create a software called PayPal
where you could store money inside of a device and trans-
fer the money to other devices. Do you want to buy a
hamburger? Bring up the Palm Pilot and beam the money
to the seller of the hamburger who also needed to have a
Palm Pilot. The whole process took five seconds. You could
also install PayPal on your phone and pager. “All these
devices will become one day just like your wallet,” Thiel
said. “Every one of your friends will become like a virtual,
miniature ATM.”^256
To help them developing PayPal, Thiel and Levchin
needed the best programmers. “This guy came in, and I
asked what he liked to do for fun. He said, ‘I really enjoy
playing hoops.’ I said, ‘We can’t hire the guy. Everyone
I knew in college who liked to play hoops was an id-
iot,’” Levchin said. Most employees were introverted. They
worked, read the bookCryptonomiconby Neal Stephenson,
ate crappy food all day, and slept under their desks.^260
Levchin himself worked so much he didn’t bother to go
home, so he also slept in the so-called “lucky building”
at 165 University Avenue. It’s the same building as where
companies like Google and Logitech had their first offices.^252
When the software was ready, they launched PayPal
and it was a success. The company took off with 300 new
users each day. They also decided to create a website with
the same functions as the software on the Palm Pilot.^186