
The Story of Stripe (2018) - lowmemcpu
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/stripe-payments-apple-amazon-facebook
======
julianeon
So, where did Stripe go wrong?

It says in the article (and I've heard this in other places) you could start
using Stripe "with only seven lines of code." Sounds like a JavaScript snippet
you drop in, so the whole thing could be contained in one 15 line HTML page.

It's not like this now.

I recently set up Stripe and used AWS with a Lambda function, following a
tutorial, to accept the token and the message back from the server and etc.
You know the drill.

I mean it's not insanely hard but it's sure as hell not "seven lines of code."
It is definitely hard enough to deter junior devs who can code up HTML+CSS and
basic JS, and maybe even a simple React page. I can easily see someone reading
about the API token and responding to the API token on your server and being
like "oh shit" and dropping out.

So why can't it be like that anymore? It's funny, all these services say "we
want payments to be easy" and eventually develop to a point where payments are
no longer easy. It seems like either it's a credit card or it's complicated -
nothing in between.

~~~
stu2b50
It can be 7 lines, if that's what your business is. If you run a service where
you mail people orders, for instance, then 7 lines of checkout is enough. The
order will show up on your dashboard and you can mail them the goods.

If you run a digital service where you need to automate payment confirmation,
of course that will require communication between your server and their
server. What do you expect.

~~~
julianeon
I expect it to be easy: actually, "seven lines of code" easy (look that up and
see how many results it gets). They are getting traction and users off this
claim. I expect them to live up to it - simple as that.

If it's harder than that: I expect them to devote engineers and brainpower to
the problem until it's not. They should solve it - that's their business.

I tried just now searching for 7 line checkout code, finding the code for it.
(It's fine if it's 12, that's not the sticking point - but I can't find 12
either). It's not there.

The simplest result is this one.

[https://stripe.com/docs/payments/checkout/accept-a-
payment](https://stripe.com/docs/payments/checkout/accept-a-payment)

Note the "client and server flowchart" diagram, with its 6 boxes.

[https://github.com/stripe-samples/checkout-one-time-
payments...](https://github.com/stripe-samples/checkout-one-time-
payments/blob/master/client-only/client/html/README.md)

I think the closest to 'simple install' I can get is this code, which was not
easily discoverable, in my opinion.

[https://github.com/stripe-samples/checkout-one-time-
payments...](https://github.com/stripe-samples/checkout-one-time-
payments/blob/master/client-only/client/html/index.html)

It stand by what I said: it's a hell of a lot harder than 7 lines of code. I
find the claim irritating because the reality is it's blatantly untrue.

~~~
fragmede
The modern-day equivalent of the "7-lines of code" is the stripped down,
client-side only integration at:

[https://stripe.com/docs/payments/checkout/client](https://stripe.com/docs/payments/checkout/client)

tl;dr, click on the stripe website a bunch, then copy and paste the generated
html+js (which includes your api key, so you, the user don't have to mess with
that) into your own website.

The demo UX is here:

[https://70p1h.sse.codesandbox.io/](https://70p1h.sse.codesandbox.io/)

~~~
voidray
Good find, and IMHO this should probably be the default integration in their
docs; the first tutorial listed here is for the Payment Intents API, which is
a more complicated version of the Charges API:
[https://stripe.com/docs/payments](https://stripe.com/docs/payments)

------
DenseComet
$35 billion and 11 years old. How can Stripe still be considered a startup?
Even at the time of writing, it was 9 years old and worth $20 billion.

~~~
aeyes
You stop being a startup when you start spending your own money.

~~~
noir_lord
Hmm. I like that but how about.

> You stop being a startup when you start spending only your own money.

Lot's of growth based VC backed startup's have some token income you could
argue they are spending.

------
conroy
Discussion from 2018:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18153909](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18153909)

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ciguy
Since when has Stripe ever been even remotely "secretive"? They've been highly
publicized in the tech community since the beginning. Just because they
weren't mainstream in the beginning doesn't mean they're secretive.

~~~
dang
Perhaps they are "secretive" in the same sense that their story is "untold":
not particuarly.

------
sky_rw
Secretive?

~~~
noir_lord
To non-developers perhaps.

They marketed (very well) a good product directly at developers realising that
would give them a foothold when business person said "who should we use?" and
dev thought...well I can deal with paypal or stripe.

------
rattray
Title needs a (2018)

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nickff
Title should include [2018]

~~~
dang
Added. Thanks!

