Tim O’Reilly takes to the stage, to have a conversation with Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay.

Tim – eBay really first example of a Web 2.0 success; a site built by its participants. Interested in “how you harness those participants to deliver competitive advantage.”

Tim – “What are you doing to try to keep eBay growing?”

Meg – $50Bn of product will be traded through eBay this year. If we were a traditional retailer we’d be 5th or 6th largest globally.

You have to be willing to take risk, you have to be willing to change, to evolve. Move from primarily auction-based to primarily fixed-price.

Two kinds of sellers; casual sellers and hobbyists on one hand, and people who make a living on eBay.

Could PayPal (owned by eBay) become your identity and your reputation, as well as your wallet? “Potentially”.

Tim – Skype – “you got a lot of knocks with the write-down recently, but are you still bullish?”

Meg – “Yes. Skype has huge potential. Delight the user. Innovate” Write-down takes some of the pressure off. Lets Skype grow and evolve and improve. One of the fastest growing apps of its age. Successful. But now can be seen as successful without the pressure of revenue targets etc.

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