PayPal boss tells PayPal staff: Use PayPal

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President of PayPal David Marcus (pictured) has written to staff at the company’s San Jose HQ, telling them off for not using PayPal products or referring enough business. It makes for pretty interesting reading.

Part of the email reportedly said: “It’s been brought to my attention that when testing paying with mobile at Cafe 17 last week, some of you refused to install the PayPal app (!!?!?!!), and others didn’t even remember their PayPal password. That’s unacceptable to me, and the rest of my team, everyone at PayPal should use our products where available. That’s the only way we can make them better, and better.”

I think I’ve written this before but I like cut of David Marcus’s gib. And this email shows pretty clearly why. He’s real and this email hasn’t been sanitised or toned down. He’s angry and right to be. Now whether that is enough to cut through the eBay Inc treacle, I couldn’t say. But it seems like a solid approach.

He was also critical of US staff who hadn’t been referring as much PayPal business as internationally based colleagues and were not as innovative. He wrote:

“PayPal It, our program enabling you to refer businesses that don’t accept PayPal has seen the least amount of leads in *absolute* and relative terms vis-a-vis ALL other locations. Offices with under 100 employees beat us by an order of magnitude (total PayPal it leads to date: 126,862, San Jose leads: 984…),” and “Employees in other offices hack into Coke machines to make them accept PayPal because they feel passionately about using PayPal everywhere. I don’t see these behaviors here in San Jose.”

At the very least it would seem that PayPal has a problem. International offices are going great guns (and don’t forget the UK team has taken the lead in developing the pretty cool PayPal Here product). But the guys at SJC HQ might be at risk of being a little bit too comfortable. But it does seem that Marcus has a solution:

“In closing, if you are one of the folks who refused to install the PayPal app or if you can’t remember your PayPal password, do yourself a favor, go find something that will connect with your heart and mind elsewhere.”

Bravo.

17 Responses

  1. PayPal is the worst company to deal with – if you ever have a problem with your account, they are so disorganised. If I worked for PayPal – I wouldn’t use their products either!

  2. i’m with his staff. on the face of it he’s right, but did anyone ask why they refused to install the app? perhaps there are invasive T&C’s and the paypal staff are the first to protest them before they unleash them on the public? perhaps he treats his staff like filth and they have no urge to support him any further than he pays them to? perhaps they feel its their own money and they’ll spend it when and how they choose.

    that said, i’m all for real people with real opinions and real thoughts. he’s right to voice his, even if i dont agree with it personally. I Imagine in his shoes i’d share a similar opinion, but i’m not in his shoes.

  3. I guess that David Marcus did not intend that his email be made public.

    Perhaps at least one of his staff is even more dis-enchanted than he thought?

  4. Maybe he could use his brain and find out why his employees won’t use the Paypal cr-app. He may learn a lot more using that approach.

  5. eBay have agreed to pay me a quite small amount of money.

    I am advised that they will be using that ultra modern method – a cheque.

  6. While I believe in eating your own dog food, I have to ask if David Marcus actually uses the app. It is pretty bad. For that matter, WHERE would use it other than the cafe at Paypal? Oh yeah, Home Depot. Next time I need some paint perhaps I will pay for it with PayPal. Paypal was started and is used as a convenient money transfer between individuals. It evolved into a merchant account. I don’t think it is going to be the next payment method for other things. We all carry credit/debit cards. If I have to get out my phone, why not just get out my wallet?

  7. surely this is upto the employee, after all if i worked for wetherspoons (a uk pub chain), would the insist i only drink or eat out there. or HMV, i only buy cd’s or dvd’s from them.

    i would love to see someone challenge him, would surely go mental if it ever got to court or any unions or tribunals!

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