How I Built This with Guy Raz

Affirm: Max Levchin (Part 2 of 2)

Jun 20, 2022

Max Levchin, an entrepreneur and fintech pioneer known for co-founding PayPal and launching Affirm, shares his journey of rediscovery after leaving PayPal. He candidly discusses the struggles he faced in finding purpose post-success and the motivation behind creating solutions for credit challenges. Maximizing innovation, he highlights the transformative power of Buy Now, Pay Later services over traditional models, democratizing access to credit. Levchin also reflects on the balance of luck and hard work in navigating the evolving financial landscape.

57:56

Episode guests

Max Levchin

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Luck versus work ethic

01:57

Predicting Online Behavior Through the Seven Deadly Sins

01:33

Surviving Mount Hood

01:03

Peter's Valuable Advice and Max's Revelation

01:20

Intro

2min

Finding Purpose After Success: A Journey Through Challenges

5min

From Aspirations to Innovation

8min

Embracing New Ventures

14min

Building Solutions for Credit Challenges and Enhancing Productivity

4min

Revolutionizing Credit: The Future of Fintech

13min

Building Momentum with Early Partnerships

4min

Navigating Financial Innovation

15min

Securing Online Identity and Closing Remarks

2min

After PayPal sold to eBay in 2002, Max Levchin could have relaxed on a beach for the rest of his life. But that’s not the kind of person he is. He isn’t happy unless he’s coming up with new ideas and building companies – so much so that he actually fell into a dark place after leaving PayPal. He didn’t fully find himself until years later, when he rediscovered his passion for the “hard, valuable, fun” problems of fintech. Now, Max runs another billion-dollar company: Affirm, a “buy now, pay later” service that’s transforming how we purchase things on credit. This is the second part of a two-part conversation with Max; to hear the story of PayPal, be sure to listen to part 1!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts

Save insights instantly, chat with episodes, and build lasting knowledge - all powered by AI.