28 June 2010 Last updated at 03:26 ET

Max Levchin, Slide

Serial entrepreneur Max Levchin says it's better to work with someone you know and trust than to go it alone

Max Levchin is the co-founder of the e-commerce company PayPal, which was bought by internet auction giant eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002.

Start-Up Stories

Slide

• Turnover: Not disclosed
• Number of employees: 125
• HQ location: San Francisco, USA
• Year founded: 2005
• Ownership: Privately-held

He went on to found Slide, which creates software applications for use on social networking sites such as Facebook.

Key advice

Don't embark on a start-up single-handedly.

"Being on your own is theoretically good because you have complete control and you feel that you really answer to no one but having the checks and balances of another person that you trust and ultimately respect telling you when you're full of it… is extremely valuable."