

The Story Behind Payment Disruptor Stripe.com And Its Founder Patrick Collison - dko
http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/20/the-story-behind-payment-disruptor-stripe-com-and-its-founder-patrick-collison/

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stevenj
I had the opportunity to meet both John and Patrick recently.

Like most, I've met many people over my life thus far. I'm a social person by
nature. I feel as though I understand people. I've got a good sense for them.
I'm not sure how else to explain it.

When I was with them, something felt different. I just felt like they are
going to do important things with their lives. Have a huge impact (with Stripe
and whatever else they decide to do).

As the article points out, they're both quite intelligent. During our
conversation, it was immediately apparent to me that they're also ambitious.

But what probably stood out to me the most, given the other two qualities, was
their true sense of integrity. They just seemed like nice people.
Unpretentious. Would do anything for their friends that they could, as well as
for well-meaning strangers.

I think Stripe will make it big.

But I'm mostly rooting for them for another reason: for being good people.

For caring.

I think the way in which they apply that quality may be what sets them apart
in the end.

~~~
patrickk
Being from Ireland myself, hugely proud of the Collisons and what they've
achieved. But I'm rooting for them for another reason.

A few years ago when I was in college, I randomly emailed Patrick looking for
advice on where to begin on the path to eventually doing a startup. I was only
half expecting a response, I mean he doesn't know me from Adam and it was an
email out of the blue from me.

Instead, he gave me his mobile number and told me to ring him to have a proper
conversation. I had like a half hour+ conversation, about web frameworks, visa
advice for the US, and so on. Incredibly guy, unbelievable generosity. I was
floored by it.

I've no doubt Stripe will go public some day (unless it gets bought for a huge
sum by Visa or someone), I'll be rooting for those guys all the way.

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jarcoal
Stripe might be considered "disruptive" in the developer community, but I fail
to see how they are beyond that.

They built a very easy to use tool on top of an outdated (though still
commonly used) payment technology.

~~~
garraeth
"They built a very easy to use tool on top of an outdated (though still
commonly used) payment technology."

Could you please expand on this?

And, if possible, describe newer/better technologies?

Thanks!

~~~
jarcoal
Maybe it's just me, but credit cards seem pretty old fashion.

I mean, could you imagine someone inventing a payment technology today that
required you to give away your secret password to each and every person who
needed to bill you? It's no wonder there is so much money lost to fraud.

I think companies like Dwolla are the real future, even if Dwolla itself
fails. The tokens they issue for payments are only good for a certain amount
to a certain recipient. Recipient gets hacked? Sign in to Dwolla and expire
that token, simple as that.

Also CC fees are absolutely astronomical, we've just gotten used to paying
them. We really need a future where money transfer is not controlled by a few
private interests that are capturing 3% of everything.

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robryan
For some reason it feels like this writeup stops at a weird point in the
story. Could have expanded more on what they are doing now, how they are doing
it and what their plans for the future are.

~~~
xpose2000
Completely agree. Just when the story is getting good, it suddenly stops. I
too was expecting a story about Stripes accession and where its headed now.

~~~
trueblueponies
Patrick did a 60-minute interview with me and I took a few pieces that were
particularly interesting and featured them. The video clips filled in some of
the other pieces I didn't write about. If you want the rest I suggest watching
the full interview: [http://startupgrind.com/2012/04/patrick-collison-founder-
str...](http://startupgrind.com/2012/04/patrick-collison-founder-stripe-live-
at-startup-grind-video/)

------
thetron
I am really excited for the day when Stripe will be available in Australia (if
ever). Is anyone aware of any stripe competitors that are available for use in
Australia?

~~~
chexton
I hear pin.net.au are attempting just this, FYI.

~~~
thetron
That's brilliant - I've been searching around for a Australian stripe
equivalent for while. Thanks for the tip!

------
rudiger
Who's the long-haired dude in that picture?

~~~
pg
Francisco Tolmasky.

