Peter Thiel Wanted to Short the Stock Market with PayPal's $100 Million — And the Board Said No

In March 2000, Peter Thiel raised $100 million for PayPal and then proposed using it to short the stock market. The board said no. He was right about the crash — and that saved PayPal anyway.

By Ned · July 26, 2026 · 10 min read

startups

Julie Anderson: The Woman Who Built PayPal's Customer Service from Her Kitchen in Nebraska

By Ned

startups

How PayPal Went from Free to Paid — And 95% of Users Stayed

By Ned

startups

Operation Flyhook: How the FBI Caught the Russian Hackers Who Were Robbing PayPal

By Ned

The Nut House Coup: How PayPal Fired Its CEO — And Then Fired the Guy Who Replaced Him

How PayPal fired CEO Bill Harris in a boardroom revolt led by Elon Musk — and then fired Musk himself months later. The story of two coup...

By Ned · Jul 22, 2026 · 11 min read

Founders

Why I Write About Dead Companies and Difficult Founders

I ran a web hosting company for fifteen years. It never grew. I sold shares, changed owners three times, tried everything I knew. Nothing...

By Ned · Apr 1, 2026 · 6 min read

Elon Musk

The Year Elon Musk Almost Lost Everything: How 2008 Nearly Destroyed SpaceX and Tesla

In 2008, SpaceX had failed three launches, Tesla was hemorrhaging cash, Musk's marriage was collapsing, and the global financial crisis h...

By Ned · Mar 23, 2026 · 6 min read

Founders

JB Straubel: The Man Who Built Tesla's Battery and Changed the Car Industry

JB Straubel grew up tearing apart machines in Wisconsin, turned a junk Porsche into a world-record electric car, and then met Elon Musk a...

By Ned · Mar 15, 2026 · 9 min read

Elon Musk

Eating Glass and Staring into the Abyss: What Elon Musk Says Building a Company Really Feels Like

Elon Musk compares founding a company to eating glass and staring into the abyss. He slept on the factory floor, worked hundred-hour week...

By Ned · Mar 8, 2026 · 10 min read

Elon Musk

Tesla Built a Gigafactory in the Heart of BMW and Mercedes Territory

In November 2019, Elon Musk announced Tesla would build its first European factory near Berlin -- right in the homeland of Audi, BMW, and...

By Ned · Mar 1, 2026 · 8 min read

Elon Musk

The Idiot Index: How Elon Musk Judges Every Part SpaceX Builds

Elon Musk compares the cost of a finished part to the raw materials that went into it. If the ratio is high, something is wrong. He calls...

By Ned · Feb 24, 2026 · 8 min read

Elon Musk

First-Principles Thinking: How Elon Musk Reasons from the Ground Up

Most people reason by analogy — doing what has been done before. Elon Musk reasons from first principles, breaking problems down to their...

By Ned · Feb 17, 2026 · 9 min read

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