Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir and managing partner at 8VC, once recalled that his early attempt to join PayPal began with a rejection from Max Levchin.<\/p>\n
Early Rejection At PayPal Interview<\/p>\n
Lonsdale recalled that while studying at Stanford University, he noticed many of the “smartest, most interesting people” around him heading to PayPal, which at the time had only around 70 to 80 employees.<\/p>\n
He decided to apply, but his first interview did not go well.<\/p>\n
“He had me on the whiteboard and we argued about something. I didn’t get an offer,” Lonsdale said, referring to his initial interview with PayPal co-founder Levchin.<\/p>\n
He added that although he was turned down, the experience stuck with him as PayPal continued attracting top engineering talent.<\/p>\n
Second Chance Leads To PayPal Internship<\/p>\n
Despite the setback, Lonsdale was later invited back after meeting PayPal leadership again, including Peter Thiel. This time, he was offered a position and joined the company as an intern while still in college.<\/p>\n
“They actually rejected me my freshman year, but they let me in my sophomore year,” he said in a 2026 conversation on the PBD Podcast.<\/p>\n
Inside The Early PayPal Era<\/p>\n
Lonsdale said PayPal was still a small but rapidly growing company during his time there, expanding from under 100 employees to a few hundred.<\/p>\n
The company’s founding team included Thiel, Levchin, Elon Musk and others who would later build or fund major tech firms<\/a>.<\/p>\n It was one company started by Thiel and a bunch of his smartest friends, he said, adding that the environment made it a magnet for ambitious engineers.<\/p>\n From Rejection To Billionaire Investor<\/p>\n Today, Lonsdale is a billionaire investor with a net worth of $2.9 billion, according<\/a> to Forbes.<\/p>\n