7 ms·

Stripe co-founder on how his billion-dollar company continues to evolve

137 points by hazzamanic 6y ago

Dirlewanger 6y ago
I love Stripe and everything about it: their main product, docs, website, risk-taking with new products. They are one of the very, very few net-positive VC-backed companies to come out of Silicon Valley. I'm going to be sad when they go public though and things inevitably start changing for the worst. I hope the 2 brothers stay active with the company and continue to steer it in a good direction even when all the shareholders are breathing down their necks.
- sudhirj 6y ago
  If the fund raises are being done on favourable terms, which is quite likely given they’re likely doing billions in revenue, they probably still maintain voting control. They won’t be subject to much pressure if they are.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
1cvmask 6y ago
It seems YC played a big role in their early beginnings.
- jacquesm 6y ago
  I'm sure it did but the brothers have something that is pretty rare: they are utterly focused, very smart, humble and nice people all in one. That combination was destined for success of some kind.
simonebrunozzi 6y ago
This interview with John Collison is very timely for me. My little "holiday" project of these days is to work on a memo on corporate strategy that I intend to submit to John for review. Who knows, maybe an opportunity will arise from it. After doing some work and some digging on Stripe (despite I knew the company quite well already), I completely agree that there's still a ton of opportunities for them to expand. It's actually hard to select a single expansion opportunity, as there are too many to pick from. Well, as said, a nice holiday project. p.s. if you're willing to help me with some ideas, email me ($my_hn_name at gmail) and I'll happily share the document with you, as long as you can promise to be nice and not share it elsewhere. edit: not sure why the downvotes?
- cvhashim 6y ago
  Whats your project about?
  - ibn-python 6y ago
    Also curious
- faitswulff 6y ago
  Probably because it’s off topic.
  - unwoundmouse 6y ago
    Agreed, the original comment doesn't really provide value to the reader - it mostly just states the memo thing, and then the opinion that stripe has lots of verticals to expand into
- sebmellen 6y ago
  It could be that people think you're some random person on the internet trying to get an audience with someone you have no chance of meeting. I'm not saying that's what you are — obviously you have quite a resume behind you — but at a first glance on HN it might appear a little delusional. I'd be interested in reviewing your doc! Sent you an email.
atonse 6y ago
My favorite thing about the Collisons is how down to earth they seem in spite of their incredible success. And that humility seems to permeate throughout the corporate culture of the company as well. I have not seen a single comment on HN by a Stripe that broke that image. And it's not a PR-designed-totally-artificial-image like Sheryl Sandberg. But they seem to be the real deal. Wish you guys the best!
- zaptheimpaler 6y ago
  No complaints about Stripe from me, but I have no doubt their image is very carefully orchestrated and managed. It's not a spontaneous accident, its just great PR. the best marketing doesn't feel like marketing. of course it helps that the marketing is backed by a genuinely great product and competent team. but at one time, Google used to be that way and if Stripe ever loses customer trust, their branding will ring just as hollow as Googles "don't be evil" does today.
  - eloff 6y ago
    Or maybe they're just being genuine. If I were in their shoes, I like to think I would just keep being me and not have any role as the company for crafting my PR image. I'm sure some founders are like that.
    - kaycebasques 6y ago
      Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWyCCJ6B2WE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWyCCJ6B2WE
    - PragmaticPulp 6y ago
      It's not really an either-or situation. They can be genuine, but also heavily trained and coached by PR professionals. It's a misconception that all PR initiatives are attempts to mislead or lie to people. The best PR work is completely transparent.
  - GhostVII 6y ago
ttoinou 6y ago
Stripe please simplify the whole mess of VAT / GST worldwide reporting & payment to each state/country !
- kmoriarty 6y ago
  Heya, I'm a product manager at Stripe working on just the thing! You're right, historically we have not helped out much here, but we've been working on some new products to remedy that. I'd be happy to share more and see if it meets your needs, or more importantly understand exactly what you would want to see from Stripe w/r/t tax. Email: kmoriarty@stripe.com
- stevesimmons 6y ago
  Yes please. Or someone other than Stripe. I spent a chunk of the Christmas period figuring out international B2B and B2C invoicing requirements, the rules for cross-border VAT/GST/BTW (UK [pre- and post-Brexit]/Australia/Netherlands/EU) sales tax, and when sales tax may be reclaimed on "invalid" invoices. It was a surprisingly engrossing endeavor. There is a satisfying underlying logical consistency (from the point of view of a non-accountant). I even toyed with codifying the rules in a machine-executable form...
  - e98cuenc 6y ago
    Paddle.com does that. At least in theory, I'm (not yet) a customer and haven't tried it by myself.
    - ttoinou 6y ago
      Yes they do handle that but they're not as handy to use as Stripe, they are more like a premade store for you, it's hard to customize products. FastSpring is the same, and even more expensive with expensive currency conversion if you're in EURO
  - ttoinou 6y ago
    Is it easier to manage if you only stick to EU countries ?
clubdorothe 6y ago
Anyone would know stripe's plan for cryptocurrencies? They've invested in stellar[1] in 2014, a blockchain network that facilitate to move money more easily. And then stopped bitcoin support in 2018[2]. Then no news. I'm wondering if the efforts were only pushed by @gdb[3], then when he left (now openAI's CTO), they've somehow lost interest ? I'm really curious about what they think internally. [1] https://stripe.com/blog/stellar https://stripe.com/blog/stellar [2] https://stripe.com/blog/ending-bitcoin-support https://stripe.com/blog/ending-bitcoin-support [3] https://twitter.com/search?q=bitcoin%20OR%20stellar(from%3Agdb)&src=typed_query&f=live https://twitter.com/search?q=bitcoin%20OR%20stellar(from%3Ag...
- stevedekorte 6y ago
  When I talked with Patrick Collison about Bitcoin in late 2013 (prior to Stellar's release), he kept asking (paraphrased) "Why use Bitcoin instead of making your own cryptocurrency so you could own the whole thing?"
cm2012 6y ago
The Collisons are totally like the Weasely twins from Harry Potter. Brothers, funny, good natured, smart, entrepreneurial and at least one is red headed.

137 points by hazzamanic 6y ago

I love Stripe and everything about it: their main product, docs, website, risk-taking with new products. They are one of the very, very few net-positive VC-backed companies to come out of Silicon Valley. I'm going to be sad when they go public though and things inevitably start changing for the worst. I hope the 2 brothers stay active with the company and continue to steer it in a good direction even when all the shareholders are breathing down their necks.

sudhirj 6y ago
If the fund raises are being done on favourable terms, which is quite likely given they’re likely doing billions in revenue, they probably still maintain voting control. They won’t be subject to much pressure if they are.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

1cvmask 6y ago

It seems YC played a big role in their early beginnings.

jacquesm 6y ago
I'm sure it did but the brothers have something that is pretty rare: they are utterly focused, very smart, humble and nice people all in one. That combination was destined for success of some kind.

simonebrunozzi 6y ago

This interview with John Collison is very timely for me. My little "holiday" project of these days is to work on a memo on corporate strategy that I intend to submit to John for review. Who knows, maybe an opportunity will arise from it. After doing some work and some digging on Stripe (despite I knew the company quite well already), I completely agree that there's still a ton of opportunities for them to expand. It's actually hard to select a single expansion opportunity, as there are too many to pick from. Well, as said, a nice holiday project. p.s. if you're willing to help me with some ideas, email me ($my_hn_name at gmail) and I'll happily share the document with you, as long as you can promise to be nice and not share it elsewhere. edit: not sure why the downvotes?

cvhashim 6y ago
Whats your project about?
- ibn-python 6y ago
  Also curious
faitswulff 6y ago
Probably because it’s off topic.
- unwoundmouse 6y ago
  Agreed, the original comment doesn't really provide value to the reader - it mostly just states the memo thing, and then the opinion that stripe has lots of verticals to expand into
sebmellen 6y ago
It could be that people think you're some random person on the internet trying to get an audience with someone you have no chance of meeting. I'm not saying that's what you are — obviously you have quite a resume behind you — but at a first glance on HN it might appear a little delusional. I'd be interested in reviewing your doc! Sent you an email.

atonse 6y ago

My favorite thing about the Collisons is how down to earth they seem in spite of their incredible success. And that humility seems to permeate throughout the corporate culture of the company as well. I have not seen a single comment on HN by a Stripe that broke that image. And it's not a PR-designed-totally-artificial-image like Sheryl Sandberg. But they seem to be the real deal. Wish you guys the best!

zaptheimpaler 6y ago
No complaints about Stripe from me, but I have no doubt their image is very carefully orchestrated and managed. It's not a spontaneous accident, its just great PR. the best marketing doesn't feel like marketing. of course it helps that the marketing is backed by a genuinely great product and competent team. but at one time, Google used to be that way and if Stripe ever loses customer trust, their branding will ring just as hollow as Googles "don't be evil" does today.
- eloff 6y ago
  Or maybe they're just being genuine. If I were in their shoes, I like to think I would just keep being me and not have any role as the company for crafting my PR image. I'm sure some founders are like that.
  - kaycebasques 6y ago
    Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWyCCJ6B2WE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWyCCJ6B2WE
  - PragmaticPulp 6y ago
    It's not really an either-or situation. They can be genuine, but also heavily trained and coached by PR professionals. It's a misconception that all PR initiatives are attempts to mislead or lie to people. The best PR work is completely transparent.
- GhostVII 6y ago

ttoinou 6y ago

Stripe please simplify the whole mess of VAT / GST worldwide reporting & payment to each state/country !

kmoriarty 6y ago
Heya, I'm a product manager at Stripe working on just the thing! You're right, historically we have not helped out much here, but we've been working on some new products to remedy that. I'd be happy to share more and see if it meets your needs, or more importantly understand exactly what you would want to see from Stripe w/r/t tax. Email: kmoriarty@stripe.com
stevesimmons 6y ago
Yes please. Or someone other than Stripe. I spent a chunk of the Christmas period figuring out international B2B and B2C invoicing requirements, the rules for cross-border VAT/GST/BTW (UK [pre- and post-Brexit]/Australia/Netherlands/EU) sales tax, and when sales tax may be reclaimed on "invalid" invoices. It was a surprisingly engrossing endeavor. There is a satisfying underlying logical consistency (from the point of view of a non-accountant). I even toyed with codifying the rules in a machine-executable form...
- e98cuenc 6y ago
  Paddle.com does that. At least in theory, I'm (not yet) a customer and haven't tried it by myself.
  - ttoinou 6y ago
    Yes they do handle that but they're not as handy to use as Stripe, they are more like a premade store for you, it's hard to customize products. FastSpring is the same, and even more expensive with expensive currency conversion if you're in EURO
- ttoinou 6y ago
  Is it easier to manage if you only stick to EU countries ?

clubdorothe 6y ago

Anyone would know stripe's plan for cryptocurrencies? They've invested in stellar[1] in 2014, a blockchain network that facilitate to move money more easily. And then stopped bitcoin support in 2018[2]. Then no news. I'm wondering if the efforts were only pushed by @gdb[3], then when he left (now openAI's CTO), they've somehow lost interest ? I'm really curious about what they think internally. [1] https://stripe.com/blog/stellar https://stripe.com/blog/stellar [2] https://stripe.com/blog/ending-bitcoin-support https://stripe.com/blog/ending-bitcoin-support [3] https://twitter.com/search?q=bitcoin%20OR%20stellar(from%3Agdb)&src=typed_query&f=live https://twitter.com/search?q=bitcoin%20OR%20stellar(from%3Ag...

stevedekorte 6y ago
When I talked with Patrick Collison about Bitcoin in late 2013 (prior to Stellar's release), he kept asking (paraphrased) "Why use Bitcoin instead of making your own cryptocurrency so you could own the whole thing?"

cm2012 6y ago

The Collisons are totally like the Weasely twins from Harry Potter. Brothers, funny, good natured, smart, entrepreneurial and at least one is red headed.