# Stripe: Patrick and John Collison

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2018-05-07
- Length: 41m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-05-07-stripe-patrick-and-john-collison

## Summary

Patrick and John Collison, founders of Stripe, explain how they identified the friction in online payments and built a developer-focused API to solve it, starting with a prototype in 2009 and launching publicly in 2011. They discuss overcoming investor skepticism by partnering with Peter Thiel, navigating complex financial regulations, and building relationships with banks to create a scalable payment infrastructure for companies like Lyft and Shopify. In a separate segment, Robert Armstrong, founder of G Mommas, describes turning his grandmother's cookie recipe into a commercial product, detailing the challenges of scaling from home baking to industrial manufacturing and securing retail distribution in the Southeast U.S.

## Chapters

- [0:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-05-07-stripe-patrick-and-john-collison#t=58) Introduction: Stripe's Origin and the Collison Brothers
- [8:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-05-07-stripe-patrick-and-john-collison#t=532) Optomatic: The First Company and Sale
- [11:28](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-05-07-stripe-patrick-and-john-collison#t=688) Identifying the Payment Problem and Building the Prototype
- [17:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-05-07-stripe-patrick-and-john-collison#t=1055) Fundraising, Peter Thiel, and Investor Skepticism
- [23:02](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-05-07-stripe-patrick-and-john-collison#t=1382) Stripe's Product Strategy and Early Customers
- [38:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-05-07-stripe-patrick-and-john-collison#t=2295) G Mommas: From Grandma's Recipe to Retail
- [41:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-05-07-stripe-patrick-and-john-collison#t=2506) Scaling G Mommas and Retail Distribution

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)
- [Retail, wholesale & distribution](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/retail-and-distribution)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Stripe (company)
- Optomatic (company)
- Lyft (company)
- Shopify (company)
- PayPal (company)
- Peter Thiel (other)
- G Mommas (product)
- Publix (company)
- Walmart (company)

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- [Garrett McCurrach and Canon Reeves (Co-Founders, Pipedream Labs)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/just-gonna-send-it/2025-12-17-garrett-mccurrach-and-canon-reeves-co-founders-pipedream-labs) (Just Gonna Send It)
- [Founder Feature: Liv Truesdell of FROST Buttercream](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2025-12-12-founder-feature-liv-truesdell-of-frost-buttercream) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [Founder Feature: Stephanie Berwick of Pastazerts](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2025-05-23-founder-feature-stephanie-berwick-of-pastazerts) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [Oddball's Path From Idea to Funding a Nationwide Target Launch](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2026-07-11-oddballs-path-from-idea-to-funding-a-nationwide-target-launch) (The Startup CPG Podcast)

## Citing this page

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