4 ms·
I recall Stripe was being positioned as a PayPal alternative to collecting international funds, but that wasn't the point. My point is there is no black swan h
by recalibrator 12y ago
I recall Stripe was being positioned as a PayPal alternative to collecting international funds, but that wasn't the point.
My point is there is no black swan here. Far from it. It makes no sense in this context.
- bellerocky 12y agoThe argument that Stripe was a black swan comes because getting into established industries with significant regulation used to be considered dead on arrival, now it's hip.
- recalibrator 12y agoThat's the heroic narrative used by investors like Sam, but I don't believe it.
- acgourley 12y agoLet me give what I felt was a popular opinion when stripe launched: it seems like an iterative improvement with nice docs and a nice API - but what's to stop Braintree or anyone else from copying that tomorrow? I think most investors would have claimed that Stripe would probably make money but would never get huge. Now they're pushing $2B - that is an extremely unlikely outcome and so fits sama's definition of black swan.
- ktom 12y agoYou should probably state what time period you are referring to when you recall hearing about Stripe.. I do not recall Stripe being positioned as a PayPal alternative really ever, but certainly not when it launched. I also believe that Sam was first made aware of Stripe much earlier than most people and it probably did seem like quite a black swan at the time. I know the very first time that I heard the idea for Stripe it was definitely considered a "crazy" idea. I would easily categorize it as a black swan investment.