Jimmy Soni Books

A prize-winning biography of one of the foremost intellects of the twentieth century: Claude Shannon, the neglected architect of the Information Age.

Why is political rhetoric broken-and how can it be fixed? Ranging from Cicero's Rome to modern polarization, Words on Fire is a new history of eloquence from political theorist and speechwriter Rob Goodman. It offers a powerful critique of today's political language-and shows how the struggle over the meaning of eloquence has shaped our world.

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2022 BY THE NEW YORKERNational Bestseller * New York Times Editors’ Choice * Financial Times “Books to Read in 2022”A SABEW BEST IN BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS FINALIST“A gripping account of PayPal’s origins and a vivid portrait of the geeks and contrarians who made its meteoric rise possible” ( The Wall Street Journal )—including Elon Musk, Amy Rowe Klement, Peter Thiel, Julie Anderson, Max Levchin, Reid Hoffman, and many others whose stories have never been shared.Today, PayPal’s founders and earliest employees are considered the technology industry’s most powerful network. Since leaving PayPal, they have formed, funded, and advised the leading companies of our era, including Tesla, Facebook, YouTube, SpaceX, Yelp, Palantir, and LinkedIn, among many others. As a group, they have driven twenty-first-century innovation and entrepreneurship. Their names stir passions; they’re as controversial as they are admired.Yet for all their influence, the story of where they first started has gone largely untold. Before igniting the commercial space race or jumpstarting social media’s rise, they were the unknown creators of a scrappy online payments start-up called PayPal. In building what became one of the world’s foremost companies, they faced bruising competition, internal strife, the emergence of widespread online fraud, and the devastating dot-com bust of the 2000s. Their success was anything but certain.In The The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley , award-winning author and biographer Jimmy Soni explores PayPal’s turbulent early days. With hundreds of interviews and unprecedented access to thousands of pages of internal material, he shows how the seeds of so much of what shapes our world today—fast-scaling digital start-ups, cashless currency concepts, mobile money transfer—were planted two decades ago. He also reveals the stories of countless individuals who were left out of the front-page features and banner headlines but who were central to PayPal’s success.Described as “an intensely magnetic chronicle” ( The New York Times ) and “engrossing” ( Business Insider ), The Founders is a story of iteration and inventiveness—the products of which have cast a long and powerful shadow over modern life. This narrative illustrates how this rare assemblage of talent came to work together and how their collaboration changed our world forever.

"A definitive look at the origin of PayPal and its founding team--including Elon Musk, Amy Rowe Klement, Peter Thiel, Julie Anderson, Max Levchin, Reid Hoffman, and many others whose stories have never been shared. They have defined the modern world. This experience defined them"--

What does it mean to live beside an eroding democracy? This powerful and timely book explores how this question will shape the future of Canadian politics. Rob Goodman, a former congressional speechwriter, witnessed the rise of authoritarianism in the United States, where voters were disenfranchised and institutions undermined. Now, as a political theorist in Canada, he warns that similar forces are at play in his adopted country. However, Canada has the potential to protect its democracy by utilizing unique political, cultural, and historical resources. Goodman identifies four key resources: the rejection of the notion of a singular “real” Canadian identity; the avoidance of political charisma and founder-worship; a robust social safety net that fosters equality among citizens; and the ongoing quest for independence from the neighboring superpower. As the United States experiences democratic decline, asserting Canadian differences is more crucial than ever. These distinctions are not merely superficial; they serve as a vital defense for democracy. By examining the historical roots of current political dynamics and advocating for proactive measures, this book provides a roadmap for safeguarding democracy in an era of unprecedented threats.

The gripping inside story of Paypal, the company that created the digital age as we know it.

Grâce aux témoignages exclusifs d'Elon Musk, Amy Rowe Klement, Peter Thiel, Julie Anderson, Max Levchin, Reid Hoffman et beaucoup d'autres, Jimmy Soni nous raconte l'histoire de ces talents réunis dans l'aventure Paypal, qui vont par la suite façonner la nouvelle économie, jusqu'au concept de cryptomonnaie. " Putain Jimmy, tu me fais fouiller dans le grenier, là. " Elon Musk Aujourd'hui, les fondateurs et les premiers employés de PayPal constituent le réseau le plus puissant de l'industrie technologique. Depuis qu'ils ont quitté Paypal, ils ont formé, financé et conseillé les principales entreprises de notre époque, notamment Tesla, Facebook, YouTube, SpaceX, Yelp, Palantir et LinkedIn. Ensemble, ils ont été le moteur de l'innovation et de l'esprit d'entreprise au XXIe siècle. Leurs noms attisent les passions ; ils sont aussi controversés qu'admirés. Pourtant, malgré toute leur influence, l'histoire de leurs débuts est restée largement inconnue. Avant de déclencher la course à l'espace commercial, racheter Twitter ou de relancer l'essor des réseaux sociaux, ils étaient les créateurs inconnus d'une start-up de paiement en ligne appelée PayPal. Leur succès était tout sauf certain et ne s'est pas fait sans accrocs.