HD in HD How Max Levchin Built the System Behind 90% of U.S. E-Commerce
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Nov 10, 2025 
Max Levchin, the fintech pioneer and co-founder of PayPal, dives into his journey in this engaging discussion. He reveals how his background in cryptography fueled the PayPal revolution and shares behind-the-scenes stories about merging with Elon Musk’s X.com. Levchin contrasts founder-driven optimism with the skepticism of investors, highlights the ethics of lending through Affirm, and discusses how the U.S. credit system evolved. Additionally, he explores the potential of AI in fintech and the future of stablecoins in global finance.
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Building An Incubator To Spark New Ventures
- Max built an incubator (HVF/HVF) to force himself to create new companies after PayPal instead of waiting for ideas.
- The first incubator produced Slide (acquired by Google) and led to many subsequent ventures and teams.
Hard, Valuable, Fun Framework
- Max frames HVF as H V F — hard, valuable, fun — to pick projects he'll enjoy and that matter.
- Choosing problems with those three traits guided his team selection and project focus.
PayPal Pivoted From Crypto To Payments
- PayPal began as cryptography work for Palm Pilots and pivoted to web payments after a simple demo worked with credit cards.
- Rapid eBay adoption drove hockey-stick growth and the product became payment-focused.