Pierre Omidyar sat down for a fireside chat to reminisce about his experience in founding eBay. He was joined by Jeff Skoll, eBay's first President, and Jim "Griff" Griffith, eBay's ambassador, who moderated the session. The chat was part of the eBay Live convention taking place in San Jose this week.

The three men sat down in armchairs on the stage of the San Jose civic auditorium across the street from the convention center, while eBay CEO Meg Whitman sat in the first row watching.

Griff asked questions about the early years of eBay, then called AuctionWeb. Pierre told tales of how the earliest employees had to assemble their own desks, and how he created the feedback system. You should be able to face your accuser, but you should also give praise when it is due, he said.

Griff's question to Pierre and Jeff, "how did you find Meg Whitman," was received with applause as Meg listened. Pierre said they had to try very hard to attract Meg because she had a great job at Hasbro.

Laughter and applause greeted Jeff's sheepish admission that they had to hire a receptionist to put out front for the day that Meg arrived to interview at eBay.

Pierre switched gears and said he was "blown away" that the Postmaster General appeared at the previous night's keynote address. "It shows the scale and impact in the world that all of you are having," he said, and was greeted with enthusiastic applause.

The most interesting part of the chat session was when Griff asked Pierre and Jeff what they were currently doing.

Pierre said he and his wife Pam have a new venture - part foundation, part investment fun - that invests in projects that are successful by having a social impact.

Jeff said as a kid he read books about problems in the world and came to believe they were based on ignorance. He has always tried to get involved to empower people, and wants to work to make the world a better place.

Jeff created the Skoll Foundation, working with leading innovative non-profits around the world that do everything from rescuing slaves in India to alleviating third-world poverty.

He also started Participant Productions 18 months ago, a media company in the public interest. They work to produce documentaries, movies and television programming that show how an ordinary individual can make a difference in the world.