David O. Sacks

In 1999, Sacks left his job as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company to join e-commerce service PayPal.[17] As PayPal's COO and product leader, he built many of the company's key teams, and was responsible for product management and design, sales and marketing, business development, international, customer service, fraud operations, and human resources functions.[18]

During his tenure, PayPal grew payment volume from zero to $500 k / month and revenue from zero to $240 million/year.[19] The company introduced business accounts, and expanded into multiple currencies and over 80 countries.

In February 2002, PayPal went public, it was one of the first IPOs after the September 11, 2001 attacks (ABCO went Public in November 2001). The stock rose more than 54% that first day and closed at $20.09.[20] In October 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion.[21]

Sacks is a member of the "PayPal Mafia"—a group of founders and early employees of PayPal who went on to found a series of other successful technology companies. They are often credited with inspiring Web 2.0 and for the re-emergence of consumer-focused Internet companies after the dot com bust of 2001.[22] [23]

Following PayPal's acquisition, Sacks produced and financed the hit movie Thank You For Smoking through his independent production company, Room 9 Entertainment.[24]

Based on Christopher Buckley’s acclaimed 1994 novel of the same title and adapted for the screen by director Jason Reitman, Thank You for Smoking is a satirical look at today's culture of spin. The all-star cast includes Aaron Eckhart, William H. Macy, Sam Elliott, Rob Lowe, Maria Bello, Katie Holmes, Adam Brody, and Robert Duvall.[25]

Thank You for Smoking was nominated for 2 Golden Globes in 2007 for Best Picture and Best Actor in the Comedy/Musical category. The movie also won: Best Screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards, Audience Awards at both the Munich and Norwegian Film Festivals, Best First Feature at the Toronto Film Critics Association Awards, Best Adapted Screenplay at the Washington DC Film Critics Association Awards and the San Diego Film Critics Association Awards, and Top Films of the Year at the New York Film Critics Online.[26][27]

In 2006, Sacks founded Geni.com, a genealogy website that enables family members to collaboratively build an online family tree. At Geni, he wanted more visibility into what was going on across the organization, so the team created a productivity tool to help employees share information. In 2008, Sacks and co-founder Adam Pisoni spun this internal communications tool into a standalone company called Yammer.[28] Geni was acquired by MyHeritage in 2012.[29]

In 2008, Yammer launched the first Enterprise Social Network, a secure solution for internal corporate communication and collaboration,[30] winning the grand prize at TechCrunch50 conference.[31] According to Social Capital,[32] Yammer's viral approach made it among the fastest-growing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies in history, exceeding eight million enterprise users in just four years. Yammer received approximately US$142 million in funding from venture capital firms such as Charles River Ventures, Founders Fund, Emergence Capital Partners, and Goldcrest Investments.[33]

In July 2012, Microsoft acquired Yammer for $1.2 billion as a core part of its cloud/social strategy.[34] As of May 2018, employees at over 90,000 businesses worldwide use Yammer,[35] including 85% of the Fortune 500 and a significant amount of the Global 2000.[36]

In December 2014, Sacks became a shareholder in Zenefits, making a “major investment,” according to VentureBeat.[37] In January 2016, Zenefits’ Board asked him to step in as interim CEO amidst a "regulatory crisis" regarding the company's licensing compliance.[38] Over the next year, Sacks negotiated a resolution with insurance regulators across the U.S. – receiving praise for “righting the ship.”[39] Sacks also revamped[40] Zenefits’ product line with an initiative he named “Z2,”[41][42] introducing a SaaS business model. Shortly after, PC Magazine would note Zenefits had become “the best HR software on the market.”[43] After a CEO search, Sacks handed the reigns to former Ooyala CEO, Jay Fulcher.[44]

Sacks has been investing in technology companies for twenty years.[45] As an angel investor, his investments include Addepar, Affirm, Airbnb, Clutter, Eventbrite, Facebook, Gusto, Houzz, Intercom, Mixpanel, Opendoor, Palantir Technologies, PayPal, Postmates, ResearchGate, Scribd, Slack, SpaceX, SurveyMonkey, ThirdLove, Uber and Wish.[46]

In late 2017, Sacks co-founded Craft Ventures.[47] It raised an initial fund of $350 million and has invested in companies including Bird, Bitgo, Cloud9, CloudKitchens, Harbor, Lightning Labs, Multicoin Capital, and SpaceX.[47]

In college, Sacks was the co-author – with Peter Thiel – of the 1995 book The Diversity Myth: 'Multiculturalism' and the Politics of Intolerance at Stanford, published by The Independent Institute.[48] The book is critical of political correctness in higher education and alleges that it has diluted academic rigor. In 2016, Sacks apologized for parts of the book.[49]

• "Fostering a Culture of Dissent". New York Times. July 16, 2011.
• "The Way I Work". Inc Magazine. November 2011.
• "Why The PayPal "Mafia" Was So Great: Yammer CEO David Sacks Explains". Business Insider. November 25, 2011.
• "Meet the Boss". San Francisco Chronicle. February 22, 2012.
• "Game Changers". TIME. March 30, 2012.
• "A Voice to Be Heard". Los Angeles Times. July 1, 2012.
• "VV Show #34 - David O. Sacks, Co-Founder of PayPal and Producer of Thank You For Smoking". Venture Voice.