Patrick's Work I
Stripe & Arc Institute
Stripe: Building Economic Infrastructure for the Internet
The Genesis
In 2010, Patrick and his brother John co-founded Stripe after experiencing firsthand the difficulties developers face when implementing online payments[11]. During their work on Auctomatic, they discovered that the online payments industry was "an unusually compelling example of an entire industry that is going to have its lunch eaten"[4].
The problem was clear: existing payment solutions required businesses to obtain licenses, strike deals with various banks, and navigate complex fee structures that often ran more than one page[21]. Stripe simplified all of this—accepting payments on any app or website became as simple as integrating an API, with a transparent 2.9% fee.
Early Success & Growth
In 2011, Stripe received $2 million in investment from PayPal co-founders Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, along with venture capital firms Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and SV Angel[1]. Their first users were fellow Y Combinator companies, which provided crucial early traction.
By November 2016, the Collison brothers became the world's youngest self-made billionaires, with Stripe valued at $9.2 billion[1]. By 2017, they were each worth at least $3.2 billion. The company continued its rapid ascent: a September 2019 funding round valued Stripe at $35 billion[1], and by 2022, it reached a public valuation of $95 billion[4].
Mission: Increasing the GDP of the Internet
"When we talk about growing the GDP of the internet, it's not like: 'Get the existing GDP onto our rails'—it's sort of: 'Where on the margin can we cause there to be economic activity that isn't already occurring?'"
— Patrick Collison[11]
Stripe's vision extends far beyond processing payments. The company aims to unlock entrepreneurship and economic activity that wouldn't otherwise occur. Initiatives like Stripe Atlas help new companies get started globally, while Stripe Climate has become the largest coalition of carbon removal purchasers in the world[12].
Impact: Paystack Acquisition
In 2020, Stripe acquired Paystack, a Nigerian payments company, signaling the company's commitment to expanding economic infrastructure globally. This acquisition demonstrated that ambitious African entrepreneurs can build world-class companies that attract international attention and investment.
Arc Institute: Reimagining Biomedical Research
A New Model for Scientific Discovery
In 2022, Patrick co-founded the Arc Institute with his wife Silvana Konermann and other leading scientists[1]. Arc represents a fundamental rethinking of how biomedical research is conducted—moving away from traditional academic constraints and toward a model that prioritizes long-term, ambitious projects.
Key Innovations
Long-term Focus
Scientists are given extended timelines to pursue ambitious research without the pressure of constant grant applications or publish-or-perish cycles.
Stable Funding
Researchers receive reliable, long-term funding that allows them to take risks and pursue high-impact questions without worrying about short-term results.
Collaborative Environment
The institute fosters deep collaboration across disciplines, bringing together experts in different fields to tackle complex biological problems.
Scientific Breakthroughs
Recent work includes Patrick Hsu's announcement of bridge editing—a new recombinase technology for inserting DNA into genomes[11].
Philosophy
Arc Institute embodies Patrick's belief that we need new institutional models to accelerate scientific progress. Rather than accepting the status quo of how science is funded and conducted, Arc asks: What would research look like if we optimized for breakthrough discoveries rather than incremental publications?
Fast Grants: Accelerating COVID-19 Research
In 2020, Patrick co-founded Fast Grants with economist Tyler Cowen to accelerate scientific research related to COVID-19[5]. The initiative distributed substantial funding to researchers within days rather than the months typically required by traditional grant processes.
Fast Grants demonstrated that when bureaucratic friction is removed, scientists can move much faster on critical problems. The program became a model for how emergency science funding should work in crisis situations.
Craft, Beauty & Excellence
"I think the best people in the world in any domain treat their craft as a craft. It's not just something to get through the day or to pay the bills."
— Patrick Collison[20]
Patrick believes deeply in the value of craft and beauty in work. At Stripe, this manifests in carefully designed APIs, elegant documentation, and attention to detail in every product. John Collison explains that "beauty has a value and a morality of itself"—it makes work more satisfying and enables teams to sustain ambitious efforts over decades[20].