emily: you then went on to the paypal mafia. lled who, how did that end up -- how did that happen? reid: i called peter, and peter said, 'oh, well, we're going to actually, probably going to sell paypal, because we don't have a business model' -- at the time -- but it would be really useful for us, because you know all this stuff. could you help us come organize the company and help sell it and everything else? and i said, 'well actually, i know all you guys, and if i would be helpful, i would be happy to step in and do that. and of course, we didn't end up selling it, we ended up taking it public -- selling it to ebay after we took it public. and so what was supposed to be a six-month tour of duty turned into a three-year tour of duty. and, well, the paypal story is long and fun. emily: and legend. when did it start being called "the mafia"? reid: i don't really know. it might have been with the "fortune" article. i am always a little hesitant about the term, because -- "mafia" implies dark rooms. extortion. these kinds of thing

emily: from the paypal mafia to the people you have met since, who do you call for what? ter: there is something about a set of my friends from paypal, there is an intense experience and i think those bonds can never quite be matched in their intensity. emily: the first line in chapter 14 is, "of the six people who built paypal, four of them had built bombs in high school." peter: i was not one of those four. [laughter] peter: but i think there is something that is always quite extreme about the personalities of going to starting up a company. emily: so building a bomb is a good thing? peter: it is not a good thing. having extreme personalities is a somewhat good thing. emily: who built the bombs if it wasn't you? peter: i'm not going to -- you would have to choose four of the remaining five. emily: as successful as paypal was, as successful as so many members of the paypal mafia have been, you have said you thought paypal was a failure. why? peter: it was a failure in that we did not achieve our original vision of a completely new currency system for the world. emily: wha

but he took his first job out of school at apple, then later joined the now legendary paypal mafia.tner at greylock, hoffman sits on seven boards. he is the author of "the start-up of you," and now a new bo"t