In A Leaked Email, PayPal President Angrily Tells Employees Who Didn't Install The PayPal App To Quit

A leaked email obtained by VentureBeat from PayPal President David Marcus to employees at the company's San Jose, Calif., headquarters angrily scolds them for not enthusiastically using PayPal products or for forgetting their PayPal passwords.

By the end of the email, he even tells the offending employees to quit.

Here's a nugget from the message:

As a matter of fact, it's been brought to my attention that when testing paying with mobile at Cafe 17 last week, some of you refused to install the PayPal app (!!?!?!!), and others didn't even remember their PayPal password. That's unacceptable to me, and the rest of my team, everyone at PayPal should use our products where available.

Marcus also criticizes employees for their lack of passion (with a great example: they didn't hack the office Coke machine to accept PayPal like the employees at another location did) and for their failure to produce a high number of new business leads.

Marcus ends the email with this zinger:

In closing, if you are one of the folks who refused to install the PayPal app or if you can't remember your PayPal password, do yourself a favor, go find something that will connect with your heart and mind elsewhere.

It's an interesting time for PayPal. On the one hand, activist investor Carl Icahn is urging the company to break off from its comparatively slow-growing parent, eBay. On the other, it's spent the last few years playing catchup to new, innovative e-payments companies, like Square and Venmo.

Here's the whole email, posted by VentureBeat:

To San Jose PayPals,

I need your help. As you know, I travel to our offices around the world quite a bit. In many of the places I go I have been struck by the commitment of our PayPal teams and their determination to make the world a better place.

But here are two brutal facts that clearly show our San Jose employees lag behind our colleagues in other locations.

PayPal It, our program enabling you to refer businesses that don't accept PayPal has seen the least amount of leads in *absolute* and relative terms vis-a-vis ALL other locations. Offices with under 100 employees beat us by an order of magnitude (total PayPal it leads to date: 126,862, San Jose leads: 984…).

Product usage data is similar. Employees in other offices hack into Coke machines to make them accept PayPal because they feel passionately about using PayPal everywhere. I don't see these behaviors here in San Jose. As a matter of fact, it's been brought to my attention that when testing paying with mobile at Cafe 17 last week, some of you refused to install the PayPal app (!!?!?!!), and others didn't even remember their PayPal password. That's unacceptable to me, and the rest of my team, everyone at PayPal should use our products where available. That's the only way we can make them better, and better.

I know there are people on our campus in San Jose who are here to make a difference every day. So I'm turning to you passionate PayPals who are here for purpose more than paycheck. We need your help. I need you to make it clear to colleagues, who display these types of behaviors that we won't tolerate these anymore. My intention is to make San Jose (and every location) a place that retains, and attracts talent that's passionate, and engaged. We can do it together. By demanding more of each other.

We all have a lot of different opportunities out there, and many of them would require less sacrifices to our personal lives. My team and I are here because we believe we have the opportunity of a lifetime to build something that will transcend us, and will impact hundreds of millions of lives around the world in a meaningful, lasting way.

We have much work to do to reach greatness. We're not perfect by any stretch of imagination. But passion, and purpose will help us get there faster.

In closing, if you are one of the folks who refused to install the PayPal app or if you can't remember your PayPal password, do yourself a favor, go find something that will connect with your heart and mind elsewhere. A life devoid of purpose, and passion in what you do everyday is a waste of the precious time you have on this earth to make it better.

Onward with passion, purpose, and gusto!

David