By Dyan Kleckner

At the Campus Center Ballroom on Wednesday evening, the UH Mānoa Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship & E-Business (PACE) 20^th Kipapa i ke Ala lecture, sponsored by the Emmett R. Quady Foundation and Kamakura Corp., was given by one of the most successful businesspeople in Hawai‘i—Pierre Omidyar.  He is a software engineer by trade, but is widely known as the founder of the world’s largest online marketplace, eBay.

Omidyar took a risk when the Internet was unfamiliar territory, and people had a difficult time trusting people online, let alone doing business with them.  Nonetheless, over Labor Day weekend in 1995, eBay was born.  Founded on the premise that people are basically good, eBay brings people together in one place and provides them with equal access to information, and the opportunity and resources to pursue what they want.

This was a rare opportunity to hear Omidyar in person, and to chat with him during the question-and-answer session.  Small-business owner Brigid Barcarse was among the 700 people at the Campus Center event, because she wanted to see what she could learn from Omidyar’s phenomenal business success story.  Plus, she said, his local ties made his story more intriguing.   

Some of Omidyar’s quotes and quips:

• On starting a business:  Focus is essential in a start-up.  There is a certain fear of failure that entrepreneurs have to deal with.  When asked how you get past it, Omidyar responded that it’s not failure if you learn something from it.  “You can have a great idea, bad timing and financing, or you can have great timing, a bad idea and no financing.  But if you’ve learned from it, it’s not failure.”
• On his newest venture, Peer News, an online news service:  Omidyar’s goal is to create a new civic square, provide a forum for the public to learn about community issues, and enable them to debate with each other and discover solutions.  He plans to employ a combination of professional journalists and members of the online community.  He is passionate about helping people have intellectual conversations and civil dialogue.  
• On his and wife Pam’s $50 million pledge to the Hawai‘i Community Foundation: Omidyar, who attended Punahou School in his eighth and ninth grade years, and wife Pam, who grew up in Hawai‘i Kai and attended ‘Iolani School, are dedicated to helping the Aloha State. When eBay became successful financially, Omidyar felt a certain sense of responsibility to make sure the money was put to good use, and that it had impact.  The desire to bring a business perspective to the philanthropic world comes to life through the Omidyar Network.  Created in 2004, it invests in nonprofit and for-profit efforts that enable people around the world to better their lives and make powerful contributions to their communities. 
• On his long-term personal goals:  What gets Omidyar going everyday is the inspiring stories of people everywhere, and his goal is to increase the capacity of communities around the world to make it a better place.
• On social media: Omidyar is excited about modern-day technology and how Twitter and other forms of social media bring people together more effectively.  Some audience members were on their Twitter accounts during the lecture, tweeting his advice.
• On his values and beliefs: “When you give people the tools they need, they will be successful.  When you put people in the right kind of environment, they will thrive.”  Omidyar went on to say that if your company has universal values, you should not have to compromise your own beliefs and values.
• On the ultimate ebay bid:  UH Mānoa Shidler College of Business Entrepreneur Club President Joey Aquino ended the Q&A portion of the evening by asking Omidyar if he ever lost a bid on eBay.  Omidyar chuckled and shared that he almost lost a bid on a wedding present—a very expensive and popular bride-and-groom Pez candy dispenser—for Pam.   Needless to say, he won the final bid and has been happily married ever since.

For more information on PACE, visit: http://www.shidler.hawaii.edu/.

A crowd of around 700 showed up to listen to Omidyar’s inspirational words at the Campus Center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Omidyar shares a candid moment with the crowd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Omidyar and moderator Susan Yamada, executive director of PACE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dyan Kleckner is a public information officer for the UH Mānoa campus.  See http://manoa.hawaii.edu.

Tags: eBay, Emmett R. Quady Foundation, Hawaii Community Foundation, Kamakura Corporation, Omidyar Network, Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship & E-Business, Pam Omidyar, Peer News, Pierre Omidyar, Shidler College of Business

This entry was posted on Friday, January 29th, 2010 at 5:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.