The Collison brothers and $1.75B online payments startup Stripe

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/9c8d9f7c-c000-11e3-9513-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2zLRSJUsg

by fragmented • 12 years ago

133 26 12 years ago

tomasien2• 12 years ago

“We were the first people to work on Stripe, and chronologically that’s interesting but so much of the great work that we do now, we’re a piece of it but we’re not the most important piece of it,”

This is amazing. A huge part of my job right now is too find people who make me feel this way - but it's remarkably impressive to find it put so perfectly by the founders of a company like Stripe.

zt• 12 years ago

That simple sentiment might be why working for them was so cool and why, as just one proof point, PC is now a part-time partner at YC.

amirmc• 12 years ago

For company culture at that. I can see why.

"... he thinks about hiring and company culture better than anyone else I know." Via http://blog.ycombinator.com/welcome-kat-yuri-patrick-and-eli...

rpgmaker• 12 years ago

Very European of them.

jusben13692• 12 years ago

Looks like you're getting downvoted hard. However, I know the point you're trying to make.

FD3SA• 12 years ago

As an extremely vigorous opponent of personality cults, it makes me incredibly happy to see these two embrace such an excellent philosophy.

Homo sapiens are primates, and we tend to form status hierarchies regardless of which era or environment we are in. The problem with status hierarchies is that they lend authority to a person, instead of an idea.

This is why you can see, for example, SpaceX absolutely demolishing the aerospace industry with minuscule resources compared to the incumbents. SpaceX focuses on ideas to improve aerospace technology, whereas the incumbents focus on maximizing profits for the executives and investors. They do not allow any experimentation with their product for fear of altering a working platform. This fear leads to stagnation, loss of talent, and the present decline.

For technological innovation to progress, ideas must take absolute precedence over people. Only through the rational and empirical vetting of ideas will we be able to improve the state of the art. Not through appeals to authority.

_random_• 12 years ago

No word on equity distribution though. You can call me the least important junior assistant developer as long as I get my 5-10% :).

tomasien2• 12 years ago

Whoa, 5-10%? In what scenario?

imc• 12 years ago

pc's hair is fierce fluffy these days

Killswitch• 12 years ago

I love everything about this company... These guys are huge influences of mine on both how humble they are, and where they came from to be where they are now.

msie• 12 years ago

Interesting to read that they used Smalltalk for Auctomatic, their first company.

antidaily• 12 years ago

Yeah. Wasnt DabbleDB smalltalk too? Picked up steam there for a little while.

grandalf• 12 years ago

Nearly every week I lament the disappearance of dabbledb from the internet.

omarhegazy• 12 years ago

I find it funny that the Stripe founders have inspired and influenced people by retracting from the cult-of-the-founder image that causes people to be inspired and influenced by you. It's true that these guys aren't the most important piece of the Stripe puzzle, but there's a reason FT chose to interview the founders and no one else. The first guys are the most inspiring. And these guys tastefully make sure they don't get too self-indulgent with that fact, making them pretty awesome people. Really a great article, and these guys seem like humble, awesome people that can do successful work on a billion dollar problem without tooting any horns about it.

If you're looking for more inspirational founder articles, FT ran one on on Sean Parker a while back shortly after the Social Network came out -- http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/8383ab06-45e3-11e0-acd8-00144.... Sean's a bit more indulgent than these two. Then again he co-founded Napster and was a major influence in Facebook, and it's bit hard to be humble when you stuntin' on a Jumbotron (which is why the Stripe founders are so awesome for being able to do that). In the end, he's still a massive problem-solver and an entrepreneurial inspiration. I'd recommend it.

willieljackson• 12 years ago

+1 for the 'Ye reference.

hyp02• 12 years ago

Does everyone else have an FT subscription? I'm hitting a paywall...

namenotrequired2• 12 years ago

No paywall for me, but does this link work maybe? This has gotten me around paywalls before.

https://www.google.nl/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd...

hyp02• 12 years ago

Thanks for the link! Unfortunately, it doesn't work for me.

Maybe the paywall is because I'm not in the US (Australia).

jroseattle• 12 years ago

Just read this after reading a short essay on the damage a narcissistic person can have on the culture of a small company.

These fellas are a breath of fresh air. Here's to hoping these nice guys do not finish last.

pallavkaushish• 12 years ago

In another corner, white mattresses are propped up against the wall ready for use by employees who need a place to stay when they are visiting San Francisco<

Mostly this happens in early stage startups but continuing it at a level when your company is $1.75B is absolutely phenomenal. The effect of this type of culture is what attracts talented people and makes sticking around worth it.

I would personally kill to be part of an organization which brews a culture like this.

untilHellbanned• 12 years ago

An article touting that these two young guys are worth $1.75B and then shows pictures of their home address, WTF journalist? Seems way unnecessarily inviting.

CamperBob2• 12 years ago

They're trying to take some of the heat off of Dorian Nakamoto, maybe.

The Collison brothers and $1.75B online payments startup Stripe

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