zt

43 ms·

421.
by zt 13y ago
I think #2 is the primary reason. We got an interview, which we didn't accept, for the Winter 2013 batch. I didn't work at Stripe then. Dan didn't found Giftly.
422.
by zt 13y ago
I was working for the city but didn't have a computer or email. Brought my laptop to work but couldn't do all that much without Internet--couldn't access the network and no public wifi. Point was I got that through chatting w
423.
Silicon Valley’s Library(tomtunguz.com)
1 points by zt 13y ago|0 comments
424.
by zt 13y ago
We were the only two people in the same two classes. The real answer about staying in touch is the internet -- yay AIM, the best communication tool of 2003. In reality though we didn't live that far apart in New Jersey so we could hang
425.
by zt 13y ago
It's a subset of what we're doing, yes. We've focused on taking internal bank systems -- information, payments such as ACH, wires, bill pay, other products most people aren't aware of like virtual card numbers -- and pre
426.
by zt 13y ago
I can't quite tell if you're calling me a phony or yourself one. If you're call me phony then I'm sorry I come off that way. I have a lot of personal and professional flaws (far too long to enumerate here) but I don&#x27
427.
by zt 13y ago
Interesting question. The only people I interacted with in a work context through Stripe was Wells Fargo Merchant Services, a joint company of Wells and First Data. I've never spoken to one of the people again because it's a compl
428.
by zt 13y ago
Indeed. Sorry for the error. My point was merely to indicate orders of magnitude and I was using is as short-hand for the word "order", as you might use that term in a Fermi problem.
429.
by zt 13y ago
Ultimately they're very different businesses. Card payments and banking are related but not directly. The truth is that all I know from Stripe about the card networks, card risk, etc, has proven not useful in commercial banking. I coul
430.
by zt 13y ago
The short answer is that we basically know a ton of people both in financial technology and in the valley. If people know you, know you're a good person, and know you're looking for something specific they'll often help you.
431.
by zt 13y ago
We certainly were not as far along on demo day as we (or the YC partners!) would have liked. That's the reality of big enterprise sales. Our customers have incredibly long procurement and sales cycles. We aimed to get signed LOIs by de
432.
A Successful YC S13 Application(blog.zactownsend.com)
92 points by zt 13y ago|50 comments
433.
Advice on the YC Application(blog.zactownsend.com)
36 points by zt 13y ago|2 comments
434.
Introducing the Idea of an Open-Source Suite for Municipal Governments(blog.zactownsend.com)
1 points by zt 13y ago|0 comments
435.
Getting in to YC(blog.zactownsend.com)
68 points by zt 13y ago|18 comments
436.
Books Don't Want to Be Free: How publishing escaped the fate of other culture(newrepublic.com)
3 points by zt 13y ago|0 comments
437.
by zt 13y ago
I think ultimately the big identity services will basically be how we pay for things on the internet. That's this Pay with Amazon one-click button, where pay with GMail will go, and what Facebook will eventually come to if they ever ca
438.
Elements of Company Building(billclerico.com)
19 points by zt 13y ago|4 comments
439.
Why I Invest in Online-to-Offline Businesses(blog.zactownsend.com)
74 points by zt 13y ago|11 comments
440.
by zt 13y ago
There are three ways to make a living in this business: be first, be smarter, or cheat. Now I don't cheat. And although I like to think that we have some pretty smart people in this building...it sure is a hell of a lot easier to just
441.
by zt 13y ago
(I'm the author). I completely agree with you that currently most banks only pay lip-service to modern technologies, even if they throw buzz words around like crazy. Mainframes, COBOL, etc, are still the standards in many, if not most,
442.
Ultimately, Banks are ‘Big Data’ and Technology Companies(blog.zactownsend.com)
45 points by zt 13y ago|42 comments
443.
Deepen the Quality of Our Living(blog.zactownsend.com)
4 points by zt 13y ago|1 comments
444.
Credit Card Processing as a Commodity Business(blog.zactownsend.com)
55 points by zt 13y ago|17 comments
445.
by zt 13y ago
Thanks for your thoughts. I think you're right that taking payments and comparing it to a normal software model is a little unfair. That being said, the margins are low no matter how you slice it. It's hard to run a business on th
446.
by zt 13y ago
No, I don't think so. My read is that Patrick and John have a long-term vision (not one that I'm particularly privy to in the details) and clarity in their desire to go all the way.
447.
A New Blog Series on Company Building(billclerico.com)
2 points by zt 13y ago|0 comments
448.
by zt 13y ago
I'm obviously a Stripe fanboy but I hope my point comes through that I think all credit card processing is a hard business where it is hard to make a lot of money. Stripe is best in class in my mind right now - but being the absolute b
449.
by zt 13y ago
Ya, I'm seeing that myself. (I'm the author). Sorry about that! I think it's because it's my first post and it's about credit cards, processing, and commonly phished sites like PayPal, Braintree, Stripe, etc. I&#x27
450.
Credit Card Processing is a Hard Business(blog.zactownsend.com)
87 points by zt 13y ago|24 comments

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