The soon-to-be CEO of PayPal once spent 24 hours living on the streets of New York to better understand the lives of the homeless.
Dan Schulman wrote in The New York Times in 2009 that his company, Virgin Mobile, supported a non-profit organisation called StandUp for Kids.
Run by Rick Koca, the non-profit distributes survival kits and a hotline number to homeless teenagers.
Koca suggested that he and Schulman ditch their money, cell phones and homes for a day to learn about the people StandUp for Kids works with.
Schulman, dressed in dirty clothes and, sporting a week-long beard, didn’t think he’d have a problem begging for food due to his sales background.
This was anything but the case.
He wrote, “No one paid attention to me on the street. I consider myself a good communicator and a good salesman. It took me five hours of begging to raise less than a dollar.”
Schulman walked two miles to find a cup of coffee for a quarter and slept on concrete in a deserted skate park.
He added, “Being out on the street was a life-altering experience. If more people would get involved, we could all be a powerful force for change.”
Schulman will become the CEO of PayPal, currently valued at $6.6 billion, when the company splits from eBay in 2015.
BizJournals reports that if there’s any change the 56-year-old is focused on now, it’s expanding PayPal’s 20 per cent growth rate.
Dan Schulman wrote in The New York Times in 2009 that his company, Virgin Mobile, supported a non-profit organisation called StandUp for Kids.
Run by Rick Koca, the non-profit distributes survival kits and a hotline number to homeless teenagers.
Koca suggested that he and Schulman ditch their money, cell phones and homes for a day to learn about the people StandUp for Kids works with.
Schulman, dressed in dirty clothes and, sporting a week-long beard, didn’t think he’d have a problem begging for food due to his sales background.
This was anything but the case.
He wrote, “No one paid attention to me on the street. I consider myself a good communicator and a good salesman. It took me five hours of begging to raise less than a dollar.”
Schulman walked two miles to find a cup of coffee for a quarter and slept on concrete in a deserted skate park.
He added, “Being out on the street was a life-altering experience. If more people would get involved, we could all be a powerful force for change.”
Schulman will become the CEO of PayPal, currently valued at $6.6 billion, when the company splits from eBay in 2015.
BizJournals reports that if there’s any change the 56-year-old is focused on now, it’s expanding PayPal’s 20 per cent growth rate.
