1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:16,639 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 4 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:20,239 Speaker 1: how Stuff Works and I love all things tech. And 5 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: in our last episode, I talked about how Pierre a 6 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: Midier launched a web page over the Labor Day weekend 7 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:31,160 Speaker 1: in and he called it auction web. It was a 8 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:33,920 Speaker 1: site that was on a larger site, or a page 9 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:37,159 Speaker 1: that was on a larger site called eBay, and it 10 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:40,560 Speaker 1: all started off as something of a hobby for him. Eventually, 11 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:44,279 Speaker 1: to offset the hosting charges he was getting from his provider, 12 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,240 Speaker 1: A midi Are instituted a small fee for successful auctions. 13 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: If the closing price on an auction was less than 14 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 1: twenty five dollars, he would put in a five percent 15 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: fee for the final bid, and if it was more 16 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: than twenty five dollars, it was a two point five 17 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: percent fee. It didn't take long for the site to 18 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: start pulling in more money than what it costs to run, 19 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: and suddenly this hobby had become an actual business. By 20 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: mid nineteen, the auction site was earning a Midier enough 21 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: money for him to quit his job and bring on 22 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:20,119 Speaker 1: Jeff's skull as the president of the company. In June, 23 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 1: the net worth of all the goods sold over auction 24 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: Web had hit seven point two million dollars. That's collectively 25 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:29,960 Speaker 1: across the history of the site, and this was when 26 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,480 Speaker 1: things were still pretty darn small. Every single month that 27 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 1: went by, the company was growing by twenty to fift 28 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:41,680 Speaker 1: some months, marking a seventy five percent growth rate. In 29 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 1: no small part this was due to a media are 30 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: creating tools that allowed the community of auction Web to 31 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:51,160 Speaker 1: form around the site. Users could rate one another and 32 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: were encouraged to do so with a gentle reminder that 33 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: praise is just as valid a form of feedback as 34 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: a complaint, and soon people were using the rating system 35 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: to great effect. A midier was gratified to see that 36 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 1: people were not immediately leaping to negative comments. A bulletin 37 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,359 Speaker 1: board helped community members get questions answered by other more 38 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: experienced members of the community, and the community values were established. 39 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: Those values are actually stated on the community site. I 40 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:24,080 Speaker 1: can cite them to you here. They are. We believe 41 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: people are basically good. We believe everybody has something to contribute. 42 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: We believe that an honest, open environment can bring out 43 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: the best in people. We recognize and respect everyone as 44 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: a unique individual. We encourage you to treat others the 45 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:45,239 Speaker 1: way you want to be treated. Back to Jeff Skull, 46 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,640 Speaker 1: who was the new president of the company, had a 47 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: few things he wanted to tackle to make business operations 48 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: run more smoothly and professionally. One of those was to 49 00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: move auction Web and eBay out of a Midiers home. 50 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: Right now, the three people working for the company were 51 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 1: meeting at his house and it just wasn't really working 52 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: out the way Skull wanted it to, and it ended 53 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:13,640 Speaker 1: up being a harder thing to do than he had anticipated. 54 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: The real estate market in San Francisco was pretty tight, 55 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: especially for office space, and at first the team moved 56 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: out of a Medier's house into Skulls home, which had 57 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 1: more room but also had roommates. Then Skull, a Medier, 58 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: and part time employee Chris Garpo moved into a very 59 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: small office space over at the NASA Ames Technology Center. Eventually, 60 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: the team found an office space at the gray Lands 61 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: Business Park in Campbell, California, and they moved in. Now 62 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: I'm gonna flash forward for just a second here. That 63 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 1: office Suite number two oh five at Hamilton Avenue Technically 64 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: in San Jose, California, is still a part of eBay. 65 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: The company eventually purchased the entire office park, and that 66 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: building is now called Music or Building number six. Each 67 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: building on the eBay campus sports the name of a 68 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: category of items you could list for auction on the site. 69 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: Skull also wanted to update the look of the website. 70 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:17,160 Speaker 1: A Medier had built a functional site, but it wasn't 71 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: much to look at, and Skull hated that auction Web, 72 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:23,520 Speaker 1: the one element that was bringing in all the money, 73 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:26,599 Speaker 1: was sharing a general website space with a page about 74 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:31,279 Speaker 1: Tufts University's alumni association and another about a biotech startup 75 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: company where a Medeo's wife worked, and a third page 76 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 1: about the Ebola virus. He wanted a Midier to remove 77 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 1: all those elements and have auction Web be the only 78 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: thing at eBay dot com. Initially, a Medier put up 79 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: a defense. He said that Ebola information that page about 80 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:53,359 Speaker 1: the virus was highly ranked in search and likely drove 81 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: a lot of traffic to eBay dot com. But Skull 82 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: remained adamant, and eventually a Medier would give in pe 83 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: we're already referring to auction Web just as eBay at 84 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: that point, Skull argued, and to include it under an 85 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 1: umbrella of such disjointed subjects was bound to cause confusion 86 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: further down the road and to make it more challenging 87 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:18,039 Speaker 1: to form strategic partnerships and to get funding. Skull also 88 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: wanted someone to handle all the customer support questions that 89 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:24,599 Speaker 1: were coming in because a medier had been doing that 90 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: and it was taking up a lot of his time. 91 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: So he looked through the bulletin board community and he 92 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: noticed that one user who went by the handle Uncle Griff, 93 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: was particularly helpful. But Uncle Griff hadn't posted much over 94 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: the last couple of months, so Skull decided to reach 95 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: out to this person and find out what was going on. 96 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: That person turned out to be Jim Griffith, who had 97 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: attempted to pursue a career as an actor but had 98 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: not seen much success. He was then an artist for 99 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:54,359 Speaker 1: a while, and then he was in a really low 100 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:58,800 Speaker 1: place in nine and had been battling depression. He was 101 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:01,279 Speaker 1: on something of an swing when he got the call 102 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,960 Speaker 1: from Skull, which shocked him, and he got an offer 103 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: to become eBay's second part time employee, Griffith, accepted the 104 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:12,839 Speaker 1: job and took on the handle Dale as his customer 105 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:16,160 Speaker 1: service identity for the company, and he was paid the 106 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: princely sum of one dollars per month to answer emails 107 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: and do what he did best on the bulletin board, 108 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:25,919 Speaker 1: which was to help people out. Skull would actually do 109 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,040 Speaker 1: this again, and he reached out to an antique store 110 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: operator from Indianapolis named Patty Ruby. Patty had adopted the 111 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:37,840 Speaker 1: handle Aunt Patty on the auction Web bulletin board, and 112 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:40,240 Speaker 1: so she was known to the community and had been 113 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:44,600 Speaker 1: helpful on numerous occasions, being both computer savvy and knowledgeable 114 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:48,400 Speaker 1: about antiques. She too accepted the offer to work part 115 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: time for the company, though she soon moved to working 116 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: full time and she quit her normal job. Both Uncle 117 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 1: griff and Aunt Patty are examples of how eBay would 118 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: rely heavily on the community they've grown up around the service, 119 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:06,280 Speaker 1: rather than seeking professionals outside of the site. Skull followed 120 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: his instinct and decided that the most passionate and helpful 121 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 1: members of the community were the ones to tap. They 122 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: would jump at the chance to come on board as employees. 123 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: They already knew the auction web system backward and forward. 124 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:21,600 Speaker 1: They didn't have to have any training on that, and 125 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 1: it was a move that just made sense. In November, 126 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: eBay made the first of many third party licensing deals, 127 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: and this was with a company called Electronic Travel Auction 128 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,560 Speaker 1: or e t A. And e t A wanted to 129 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: create a way to allow users to bid for travel 130 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 1: related goods and services like airline tickets, hotel rooms, vacation packages, 131 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,560 Speaker 1: and more. Now eBay still officially known as auction Web, 132 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: though no one was calling it, that would host auctions 133 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: not just from individuals or small business owners, but also 134 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: from third parties, and that would continue throughout eBay's history. 135 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: Now I've more to say about these middle days of eBay, 136 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 1: but first let's take a quick break to thank our sponsor. 137 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: The following year would be a big one for eBay. 138 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:18,680 Speaker 1: For one thing, it's the year that auction Web technically 139 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: went away. This must have been a great relief to 140 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 1: Jeff Skull. The design of auction Web was pretty simple. 141 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: The logo was just the name auction Web, and then 142 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: there was a gray scale bar that was right next 143 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:32,960 Speaker 1: to it, and it would get darker along its length. 144 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:35,440 Speaker 1: Until it was black at the very end. Some folks 145 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: would call it the death bar because it was kind 146 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 1: of grim and black and white now and eBay, the 147 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: parents site that hosted auction Web had the exact same 148 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 1: bar next to its name, not very inspired. By January nine, 149 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:55,560 Speaker 1: the site was hosting two million auctions a month. Throughout 150 00:08:55,679 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: n the site had hosted two fifty thousand auctions total, 151 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:05,480 Speaker 1: so growth was truly explosive. One thing that fueled such 152 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:11,319 Speaker 1: crazy growth was Beanie Babies. And you may, Madrugis have 153 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 1: forgotten about beanie babies, or or maybe you never were 154 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: around to experience that particular fad. And I know there 155 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 1: was a Beanie Babies two point oh that came out 156 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: sometime around two thousand and eight, but come on, those 157 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:27,319 Speaker 1: never achieved the fever pitch of that original run. Beanie 158 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: Babies are a line of plush toys. They're kind of 159 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:33,280 Speaker 1: like bean bags, and they're cute little animals, and they 160 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: caught on like gang busters, and collectors rushed stores to 161 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: grab them as soon as they would hit store shelves. 162 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:43,800 Speaker 1: A few Beanie Babies were produced in limited runs, which 163 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: drove up their market value significantly. I remember even seeing 164 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:53,679 Speaker 1: roadside stands with beanie babies, which were probably counterfeits in retrospect, 165 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 1: but those were being sold on the side of the road, 166 00:09:56,679 --> 00:10:00,680 Speaker 1: and those were heavy days, my friend. Anyway, beanie babies 167 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:04,080 Speaker 1: were one of the most popular products moving across eBay 168 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:08,560 Speaker 1: in nineteen seven. According to the company's own timeline, the 169 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 1: sales of beanie babies hit about half a billion dollars 170 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,719 Speaker 1: and they represented more than six percent of the company's 171 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:20,800 Speaker 1: total volume of sales going across its site, which is 172 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: a whole lot of beanie babies. And I also meant 173 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:27,440 Speaker 1: that there were a lot of of of listing fees 174 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:30,280 Speaker 1: that were coming into eBay as people were bidding on 175 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 1: and winning these things. In May nine seven, eBay made 176 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:39,280 Speaker 1: its one millionth sale, or to be fair, users made 177 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:42,600 Speaker 1: the one millionth sale. eBay profited off of it. Now, 178 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:44,800 Speaker 1: I know, you just heard me say just a short 179 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:48,200 Speaker 1: while ago that the company had hit two million auctions 180 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:52,000 Speaker 1: back in January nine, So how could they only hit 181 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:55,960 Speaker 1: their millionth sale in May seven. Well, keep in mind, 182 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:59,800 Speaker 1: not every auction results in an actual sale. So if 183 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 1: we say that the company had two million auctions in 184 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:07,240 Speaker 1: January and the million item was sold in May, we 185 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:10,439 Speaker 1: see the success rate of auctions is less than fifty 186 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: which is kind of interesting. Oh that millionth item, by 187 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:16,439 Speaker 1: the way, in case you were curious, was a big 188 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:19,319 Speaker 1: Bird jack in the box toy, as in big Bird 189 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:22,840 Speaker 1: from Sesame Street, and it was to it's cute. In 190 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 1: September nine, auction Web officially took its final bow and 191 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 1: transformed metamorphosis like into eBay, so auction Web was no more. 192 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:36,959 Speaker 1: eBay was now the name of the service and the company, 193 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:40,480 Speaker 1: which everyone had pretty much been using since it launched. 194 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:43,960 Speaker 1: But around that same time, the company received nearly seven 195 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:48,360 Speaker 1: million dollars in venture capital funding, and Skull decided that 196 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: the logo needed a facelift two, as the death bar 197 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:56,439 Speaker 1: wasn't precisely appealing. For a very short while, eBay adopted 198 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,720 Speaker 1: a navy blue logo that had a stylized E and 199 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:03,320 Speaker 1: combined with each other. But this didn't last very long 200 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: and in fact may have never shown up on an 201 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:10,320 Speaker 1: online site anywhere, and may never have appeared on a 202 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 1: web page. My research didn't show any signs of it. 203 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:17,400 Speaker 1: It did show up on some stationary and letterhead, but 204 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: that was about it. They contacted an ad agency called 205 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,520 Speaker 1: c K S group, and they hired them to come 206 00:12:23,559 --> 00:12:26,440 Speaker 1: up with a new design for the logo. According to 207 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:29,360 Speaker 1: Bill Cleary, who worked at c k S, the team 208 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:32,040 Speaker 1: felt that eBay's new logo had to appeal to a 209 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:35,840 Speaker 1: broad base of people because folks from all different walks 210 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 1: of life were actually making use of the site. Ultimately, 211 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:42,040 Speaker 1: the team came up with a new design in which 212 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 1: eBay has a colorful logo with a red E, a 213 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: blue be, a yellow A, and a green y. The 214 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:52,960 Speaker 1: letters slightly overlap one another, and the baseline shifted from 215 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:56,440 Speaker 1: letter to letters so they were slightly offset vertically. The 216 00:12:56,520 --> 00:12:59,839 Speaker 1: team felt the new logo was friendly and accessible, and 217 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:03,200 Speaker 1: the logo rolled out in the fall of n along 218 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:07,440 Speaker 1: with a complete redesign of the page. Meanwhile, Jeff Skull 219 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:10,319 Speaker 1: and Pierre A. Midier were looking for someone to lead 220 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:14,680 Speaker 1: eBay moving forward with the goal of transforming the company 221 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:18,599 Speaker 1: into a publicly traded company. By now, we're talking n 222 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:23,000 Speaker 1: and era in which the sky was the limit for 223 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 1: Internet companies. Things were just starting to really take off, 224 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,480 Speaker 1: and the dot com bubble was poised to expand dramatically 225 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,400 Speaker 1: before it would ultimately collapse. A few years later, eBay 226 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:37,640 Speaker 1: was on the verge of transitioning from a startup into 227 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:40,800 Speaker 1: a much larger entity, and Skull in a midi Are 228 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:44,040 Speaker 1: needed someone with experience to take the helm. The two 229 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 1: reached out to Meg Whitman. Whitman says she got a 230 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,480 Speaker 1: call from a headhunter about working for eBay and being 231 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:55,280 Speaker 1: its new president and CEO, but she wasn't eager to 232 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:58,320 Speaker 1: take the company up on the offer because it would 233 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:01,120 Speaker 1: mean traveling across the country to take a new job. 234 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:03,160 Speaker 1: She was worried about the impact this would have on 235 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:06,680 Speaker 1: her husband and their kids, and when she visited the site, 236 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 1: she said she saw the stuff about the biotech company 237 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 1: that Pamela worked for and the Ebola virus, and she 238 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,240 Speaker 1: wondered what the heck was going on, So she must 239 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:19,480 Speaker 1: have seen the site before omdi Are shifted all those 240 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:22,680 Speaker 1: pages away. But she did agree to meet with Omdiar 241 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:24,880 Speaker 1: and he convinced her to sign on with the company 242 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:27,600 Speaker 1: as the new CEO after she spent about a day 243 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:31,720 Speaker 1: in the company's offices. When Whitman joined, eBay was a 244 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,240 Speaker 1: thirty person operation and it was pulling in about four 245 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:40,760 Speaker 1: million dollars in revenue. Whitman had extensive experience in business. 246 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 1: She had worked as a brand manager for Procter and 247 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,600 Speaker 1: Gamble and rose to the role of senior vice president there. 248 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: Then she worked for other companies like the Walt Disney 249 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 1: Company and Hasbro. Whitman began work by reorganizing the company. 250 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:58,800 Speaker 1: She created business divisions focused on specific verticals and formed 251 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:01,560 Speaker 1: executive teams by pulling people from some of the very 252 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,160 Speaker 1: companies she used to work for to head up those 253 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:08,680 Speaker 1: new divisions. She also continued work on eBay's redesign, and 254 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 1: she demanded the site create a walled off age restricted 255 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:16,160 Speaker 1: offshoot for sales of items that were not appropriate for families, 256 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: things like pornography or firearms. Now eventually eBay would form 257 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:24,720 Speaker 1: policies that would ban such stuff from their sites. That 258 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 1: you can't sell firearms that auction on eBay. You also 259 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:32,880 Speaker 1: can't sell things like drugs or alcohol, oh and body 260 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:38,960 Speaker 1: parts yikes. In May, the site launched a new feature 261 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:43,320 Speaker 1: called my eBay, which allowed users to customize their eBay experience, 262 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:46,040 Speaker 1: making it easier for them to find things they were 263 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:49,240 Speaker 1: most interested in and to keep up to speed with auctions. 264 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:55,160 Speaker 1: And in June, eBay acquired another company called Jump Incorporated. 265 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:59,840 Speaker 1: Jump Incorporated developed a trading service supported by ads, and 266 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:03,800 Speaker 1: that service was called up for sale before being the 267 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 1: number four. It would be the first of several acquisitions 268 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:10,880 Speaker 1: led by Meg Whitman. Not all of them would turn 269 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:15,520 Speaker 1: out to necessarily be great moves for eBay. Spoiler alert, 270 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 1: I guess, but Whitman was working hard to prepare eBay 271 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: for that initial public offering, and when it happened, it 272 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:25,440 Speaker 1: would turn all those who had a significant share in 273 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:29,480 Speaker 1: eBay into billionaires. I'll tell you more about that in 274 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:32,120 Speaker 1: just a second, but first let's take another quick break 275 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:44,400 Speaker 1: to thank our sponsor. In late September, eBay held its 276 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 1: initial public offering. The opening price for eBay was listed 277 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:52,120 Speaker 1: at eighteen dollars per share. The stock price behaved a 278 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:55,520 Speaker 1: bit like an eBay auction. It climbed higher and higher. 279 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,440 Speaker 1: It peaked at fifty three dollars fifty cents per share, 280 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: but were closing a little lower at forty seven and 281 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,640 Speaker 1: three eights. That would be an increase of one hundred 282 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:09,880 Speaker 1: sixty three percent over its opening price. There were three 283 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:13,959 Speaker 1: point five million shares offered, which gave the company a 284 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 1: market capitalization of one point oh five billion dollars. The 285 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:24,239 Speaker 1: IBO raised some sixty three million dollars in cash. It 286 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 1: was the fifth most successful I p O ever, and 287 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:33,240 Speaker 1: this humble hobby turned a metier into a billionaire. Whitman 288 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:38,080 Speaker 1: jokingly issued a warning to eBay employees that she would 289 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:40,679 Speaker 1: fire them if they kept their eyes on the stock 290 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: price day after day. They were understandably excited at their 291 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:48,439 Speaker 1: new found wealth, and people were frequently having the stock 292 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: price up on their web pages and staring at them 293 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: at the screen instead of actually doing their work. So 294 00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:58,560 Speaker 1: Whitman said, hey, guys, if you wanna remain millionaires, turn 295 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 1: off those screens. In December, the company founded the eBay Foundation, 296 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:07,600 Speaker 1: and organization that uses pre i p O stock to 297 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 1: fund nonprofit organizations and entrepreneur ideas around the world. Pierre 298 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:16,200 Speaker 1: and Pamela have spent much of their time and money 299 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 1: dedicated to charitable endeavors, and the company has sort of 300 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:23,119 Speaker 1: followed suit today. The eBay Foundation's mission statement is to 301 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 1: quote unleash the power of entrepreneurship to build economically vibrant 302 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:33,840 Speaker 1: and sustainable communities. We develop strategic partnerships with nonprofit organizations 303 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:38,480 Speaker 1: using our financial resources, platform and people to foster networks 304 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:42,800 Speaker 1: of support for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Our programs focus 305 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:47,679 Speaker 1: on vulnerable populations and underserved communities. We also empower eBay 306 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:50,840 Speaker 1: employees to make a greater impact and communities around the 307 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:54,320 Speaker 1: globe by matching their donations and making cash donations when 308 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 1: they volunteer. End quote. Now let's skip ahead a little bit. 309 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:01,760 Speaker 1: We're gonna skip ahead to these some are of there's 310 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:03,680 Speaker 1: a lot of things that were happening at this company, 311 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:06,719 Speaker 1: but we're already getting pretty bogged down in my nusha, 312 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:08,760 Speaker 1: so I want to hit some of the big, big 313 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:12,640 Speaker 1: stories of eBay. The company was growing rapidly. We're still 314 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:16,000 Speaker 1: in the dot com bubble phase. New employees were brought on, 315 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: revenues were up. The stock price had continued to climb, 316 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:21,840 Speaker 1: hitting more than a hundred fifty dollars per share. At 317 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: this point, the dot com bubble was getting pretty darn big, 318 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:28,760 Speaker 1: and there were only a few signs the dark times 319 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:32,480 Speaker 1: were ahead for the industry as a whole. But eBay 320 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:35,879 Speaker 1: suffered an early setback that got a lot of attention. 321 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 1: The site started having some serious connection issues. The stability 322 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:44,879 Speaker 1: of the site was in question. In June nine, the 323 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:50,240 Speaker 1: site went down for twenty two hours. This was huge 324 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:54,600 Speaker 1: news at the time, buyers and sellers were angry and distraught. 325 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:58,160 Speaker 1: Imagine that you're sitting there ready to snipe an auction 326 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:00,359 Speaker 1: for a signed copy of Weird Old yank of Vic's 327 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: first album, and then the site crashes and it doesn't 328 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,800 Speaker 1: come back for nearly a full day. So what was 329 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:11,919 Speaker 1: going on? According to eBay, the software powering the site 330 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:16,520 Speaker 1: was at fault, and that software came from two outside vendors, 331 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:20,840 Speaker 1: Sun Microsystems and Oracle. Now. I covered Oracle in some 332 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:23,520 Speaker 1: recent episodes. You can go back and listen to those 333 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:27,280 Speaker 1: and learn all about that company. It's also a fascinating story. 334 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:29,719 Speaker 1: But other people were suggesting that perhaps the site had 335 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,480 Speaker 1: stability issues due to scaling up to a larger platform, 336 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:36,240 Speaker 1: the issue being that more and more people were using 337 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:40,280 Speaker 1: eBay and the company just wasn't prepared to handle the 338 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:43,720 Speaker 1: increase in traffic. Meg Whitman and Pierre a medi Are 339 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:48,080 Speaker 1: issued a letter of apology to eBay users. They explained 340 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:50,640 Speaker 1: that the company was working hard on creating a backup 341 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:53,600 Speaker 1: system that could keep the site running in case of 342 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 1: a failure, and that sadly, this backup system just wasn't 343 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:02,119 Speaker 1: quite ready before the crowd actually happened. So essentially they 344 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,080 Speaker 1: were saying, we anticipated that this could be a problem, 345 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:07,080 Speaker 1: and we were working on the solution. The problem was 346 00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:10,960 Speaker 1: the solution wasn't ready before the problem happened. They also 347 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:14,879 Speaker 1: said that they had contacted not just their own experts, 348 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,480 Speaker 1: but people at these vendors like Sun Microsystems to work 349 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:22,000 Speaker 1: tirelessly to get the site back up and running, and 350 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:25,120 Speaker 1: they said they would institute a new policy moving forward. 351 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:28,280 Speaker 1: If the site were to crash for less than two hours, 352 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:32,160 Speaker 1: any auction that was scheduled to end during those two 353 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,879 Speaker 1: hours would automatically get a twenty four hour extension to 354 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:39,199 Speaker 1: allow for additional bids unless the seller wished to end 355 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:42,680 Speaker 1: the auction, and for any outage lasting more than two hours, 356 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:46,600 Speaker 1: eBay would refund the fee it charged for a successful auction, 357 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:49,479 Speaker 1: so in other words, there would be no listing price 358 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:53,360 Speaker 1: that would be charged to a seller if the if 359 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:55,280 Speaker 1: the site had been down for more than two hours, 360 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:59,000 Speaker 1: and according to estimates, that twenty two hour crash cost 361 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:03,000 Speaker 1: eBay about two million bucks in revenue, and while some 362 00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: users were motivated to leave the platform for other places 363 00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 1: like Amazon, many people chose to stay. The site had 364 00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:13,480 Speaker 1: a few more allegies that same summer, including a nine 365 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 1: hour outage that happened in August nine, and while this 366 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:22,120 Speaker 1: wasn't a pleasant experience, it did have a positive outcome, 367 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:25,760 Speaker 1: according to Jim Griffith, a k a. Uncle griff He 368 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:29,200 Speaker 1: said it caused eBay to realize that their work affected 369 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:33,160 Speaker 1: real people in a very tangible way. People were relying 370 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:37,160 Speaker 1: on eBay as a storefront, and when that storefront is down, 371 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:40,960 Speaker 1: they can't make their living. He said. This realization motivated 372 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:43,840 Speaker 1: eBay to step up and work on creating a reliable 373 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,960 Speaker 1: service that was more robust and resistant to outages. In 374 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,919 Speaker 1: July nine, not even a year after the I p O, 375 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:58,160 Speaker 1: eBay expanded internationally, launching sites in Germany, the UK, and Australia. 376 00:22:58,359 --> 00:23:01,359 Speaker 1: Women demanded that each country of its own tailored version 377 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:04,400 Speaker 1: of eBay that would appeal to the people of those countries, 378 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:08,760 Speaker 1: and in January two thousand, eBay would purchase several buildings 379 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:11,720 Speaker 1: in the business park it occupied. This is when they 380 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:15,440 Speaker 1: created eBay Park, and as I said, earlier buildings took 381 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:19,000 Speaker 1: on the names of the various categories eBay offered, and 382 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:22,320 Speaker 1: in April two thousand, eBay introduced a new company called 383 00:23:22,359 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: eBay Motors, At the time, it was a pretty wild 384 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:27,920 Speaker 1: idea to purchase a new or used car from an 385 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:31,320 Speaker 1: online storefront. But it worked, and it works so well 386 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 1: that others began to follow suit, and suddenly eBay Motors 387 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:38,879 Speaker 1: had some pretty stiff competition. Like the normal auction site, 388 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:43,240 Speaker 1: eBay Motors would only charge users if a transaction completed 389 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 1: across the site. At that point, eBay would charge the 390 00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 1: seller a listing fee, which was capped at a maximum 391 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:54,360 Speaker 1: of one dollars. Since the acquisition of Up for Sale 392 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: back in, eBay had purchased several other companies, and most 393 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:03,359 Speaker 1: of the were either auction services or payment systems. In 394 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:07,240 Speaker 1: two thousand one, eBay bought a French company called I Bizarre, 395 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:10,639 Speaker 1: which gave eBay another foothold in Europe. It was another 396 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 1: similar service that was going on in France, and all 397 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,399 Speaker 1: of this led up to the largest acquisition the company 398 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 1: would make in those early years, which was PayPal. That 399 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:23,400 Speaker 1: acquisition happened in two thousand two, and it was valued 400 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:27,600 Speaker 1: at one point five billion dollars, making it by far 401 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:32,320 Speaker 1: the largest acquisition eBay had pursued up to that point. 402 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:36,760 Speaker 1: According to a press release, Meg Whitman said, quote eBay 403 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:41,080 Speaker 1: and PayPal have complementary missions. We both empower people to 404 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 1: buy and sell online. Together, we can improve the user 405 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:48,720 Speaker 1: experience and make online trading more compelling. We can also 406 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:52,760 Speaker 1: capture greater value from the e commerce opportunities occurring both 407 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:56,399 Speaker 1: on and off our site. PayPal had been founded by 408 00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 1: Peter Thiel and Max Levchin, who had worked together on 409 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:04,639 Speaker 1: a business called Confinity. In nine Confinity launched PayPal to 410 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 1: fill in a gap the two perceived an online payment processing. 411 00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:10,920 Speaker 1: PayPal had just held its own I p O back 412 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:14,280 Speaker 1: in February two thousand two before this acquisition, and it 413 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: would remain part of eBay for more than a decade. 414 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:20,400 Speaker 1: It would eventually spin off in two thousand and fourteen 415 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:24,120 Speaker 1: as its own company after leadership faced some tough demands 416 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:27,919 Speaker 1: from important investors. More on that in an upcoming episode, 417 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,480 Speaker 1: and I'll also cover an even larger acquisition in that 418 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:35,359 Speaker 1: future episode, one that raised eyebrows and Silicon Valley and 419 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,840 Speaker 1: created a buzz that perhaps Whitman was making some fullhardy moves. 420 00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:42,960 Speaker 1: It's another big name in tech that would eventually find 421 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:46,480 Speaker 1: a new home at Microsoft. And of course I'll talk 422 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:49,360 Speaker 1: more about Whitman's legacy at eBay before she stepped down 423 00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:51,639 Speaker 1: as CEO, as well as what the company has been 424 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:54,280 Speaker 1: up to more recently. One thing I do want to 425 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:58,119 Speaker 1: cover since we're talking about the dot com boom and bust, 426 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:02,280 Speaker 1: is how eBay was all to weather that storm. In 427 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:05,760 Speaker 1: large part, it was because eBay fell into a category 428 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,600 Speaker 1: that we largely associate with the concept of Web two 429 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,359 Speaker 1: point oh. And I've talked about this before about how 430 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,600 Speaker 1: web two point oh is kind of a weird phrase. 431 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:19,399 Speaker 1: It sounds like it was the next version of the 432 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:21,800 Speaker 1: web that you first had Web one point oh and 433 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:24,600 Speaker 1: then you had Web two point oh. It's not quite 434 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:27,679 Speaker 1: that simple. Web two point oh was really more about 435 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 1: a group of best practices that if you followed, you 436 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:34,040 Speaker 1: were more likely to survive than if you did not 437 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:38,480 Speaker 1: follow those and that included having ways for users to 438 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 1: interact with each other and with the site, to have 439 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:46,719 Speaker 1: some sort of dynamic user generated content be part of 440 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:51,000 Speaker 1: your experience, and that that would demonstrate more value and 441 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:55,600 Speaker 1: people would be more likely to support your company. And 442 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,920 Speaker 1: so eBay fell into that category, as did companies like Amazon, 443 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:04,399 Speaker 1: whereas other companies that did not have this feature found 444 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:07,879 Speaker 1: it more difficult to survive. Now it's too simple to 445 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:11,199 Speaker 1: say that just because the community eBay was able to 446 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,040 Speaker 1: weather the storms of dot com, they also were flush 447 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:17,159 Speaker 1: with cash. They had had a very successful I p O. 448 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,320 Speaker 1: They were they had a successful way of generating revenue, 449 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 1: so they were actually making money because people were still 450 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 1: using eBay to sell things, so they had a working 451 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:31,840 Speaker 1: revenue model. That was a large advantage over a lot 452 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:36,080 Speaker 1: of the startup companies that bloomed in the dot com 453 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:40,640 Speaker 1: days before they wilted away because they no longer could 454 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:44,000 Speaker 1: demonstrate value. They couldn't make money. They had these great 455 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:46,480 Speaker 1: ideas and they had a lot of investors, but they 456 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:50,120 Speaker 1: didn't have a business plan, and ultimately that ended up failing. 457 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:53,879 Speaker 1: Or they tried to expand so quickly that eventually they 458 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 1: realized they were reaching too far and they overbalanced themselves. 459 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:00,240 Speaker 1: eBay did not do either of those things, even though 460 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:04,720 Speaker 1: it did make this enormous acquisition in PayPal. Our next 461 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:08,520 Speaker 1: new episode will actually be a celebration of tech stuffs 462 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 1: tenth anniversary. Yep, we're turning ten years old, so we're 463 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:17,760 Speaker 1: gonna put the story of eBay on hold until after 464 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:21,680 Speaker 1: our ten year celebration episode, but we will pick back 465 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:26,280 Speaker 1: up again once we finished partying, you know, and the 466 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:28,600 Speaker 1: streamers have come down, and I've taken the lamp shade 467 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,040 Speaker 1: off my head, and we'll be picking back up in 468 00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:35,360 Speaker 1: about two thousand two with eBay and I'll see you then, 469 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:39,080 Speaker 1: party people. For the meantime, If you guys have any 470 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,719 Speaker 1: suggestions for future topics for tech stuff, send me an 471 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:46,600 Speaker 1: email the addresses tech stuff at how stuff works dot com, 472 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:48,880 Speaker 1: or drop me a line on Facebook or Twitter. The 473 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:51,440 Speaker 1: handle it both of those is tech stuff H. S W. 474 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:54,840 Speaker 1: Don't forget to follow us on Instagram and I will 475 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:59,560 Speaker 1: talk to you again on text stuffs tenth anniversary? Can 476 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:08,600 Speaker 1: you leave it really soon? For more on this and 477 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:11,200 Speaker 1: thousands of other topics, is it how stuff works dot 478 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: com