In the early days of eBay, I articulated for the very first time this belief that people are basically good.

In 1991, I co-founded my first start-up, Ink Development, which made software for an early tablet computer.

The first time you went to eBay, you probably didn't do a transaction.

In February of 1996, about six months after I created eBay, I started receiving a spate of complaints. Everyone was complaining about each other. I felt very much like I was a parent who had to adjudicate the brothers beating each other up.

What makes eBay successful - the real value and the real power at eBay - is the community. It's the buyers and sellers coming together and forming a marketplace.

You can invest in companies, you can help grow companies, you can be a venture capitalist - and be a philanthropist at the same time.