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Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

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Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#101

Post by carapace »

tlrobinson wrote: post #39
JaakkoP wrote: post #10

I love the quote from John Collison: "This is digital migration in a very compressed period of time, for both businesses and customers," Collison adds. "My mom recently asked me if I'd heard of 'this Instacart thing.' Yeah mom, I have."

Sadly, it’s also likely one of the largest and fastest transfers of wealth from small businesses to large corporations. As Amazon hires 100,000+ workers how many small businesses are shuttering for good? Stripe is one of the “good” tech companies in this respect by helping to level the playing field for smaller businesses, but it’s not going to be enough.

I keep thinking about a line from "Small is Beautiful":

> Rather than mass production we need production of the masses.

Something like that.

Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Is_Beautiful

> First published in 1973, Small Is Beautiful brought Schumacher's critiques of Western economics to a wider audience during the 1973 energy crisis and the popularisation of the concept of globalization. In 1995 The Times Literary Supplement ranked Small Is Beautiful among the 100 most influential books published since World War II.

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#103

Post by mv4 »

pc wrote: post #97
Beefin wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey Patrick, understood that this is an extension of a previous round, but do you have any comments on the timing of this capital raise /w covid? I imagine, with the huge spike in ecommerce, your platforms are crushing it, but curious to hear your take.

We've noticed a few things -- - Enterprises pivoting -- brands going direct-to-consumer, malls pivoting to online business models (seriously), and other things like that. - SMBs going online: see this thread[0] from a French fruit seller, for example, or this thread[1] from a bar in Milwaukee. The restaurant down the street from where I used to live is now running a rapidly-growing online wine club. - Totally new sta…

wondering which of these new patterns are here to stay

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#104

Post by raiyu »

core-questions wrote: post #83
malandrew wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand this idolization of small over large (or vice versa for others). The thing that matters most is that businesses best satisfy their customers, whether they are small or large. There's no benefit to having a small business that provides inferior products or inferior service relative to a large company. I buy from small companies all the time and many of those that I do will likely survive because the…

> There's no benefit to having a small business that provides inferior products or inferior service relative to a large company. Sure there is - in terms of where the profit goes. The profit in a small business goes to the owner(s), who usually live somewhere in the local community, and in turn that money stays within the community to be spent on other businesses there. When a Walmart comes along, the profits all mov…

While this is true, I would be curious of the overall economic impact.

A business owner can have a successful business but they aren't really making tremendous profit, so how much of that money really remains in the local community.

The other aspect is also that real estate taxes need to be increased, which is the best way to ensure that funds inside a community stay there.

This way as more work moves remotely, through real estate taxes the local communities are still able to thrive.

I'm not disagreeing with what you are saying, but it isn't so black and white.

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#105

Post by schnevets »

core-questions wrote: post #83
malandrew wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand this idolization of small over large (or vice versa for others). The thing that matters most is that businesses best satisfy their customers, whether they are small or large. There's no benefit to having a small business that provides inferior products or inferior service relative to a large company. I buy from small companies all the time and many of those that I do will likely survive because the…

> There's no benefit to having a small business that provides inferior products or inferior service relative to a large company. Sure there is - in terms of where the profit goes. The profit in a small business goes to the owner(s), who usually live somewhere in the local community, and in turn that money stays within the community to be spent on other businesses there. When a Walmart comes along, the profits all mov…

Smaller businesses are also more swift and responsive to needs in their environment (when they have enough resources). While big companies are prone to take risk-averse actions (layoffs, outsourcing, store closures), smaller businesses have less layers of management, so pivots and benevolent actions are more likely.

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#106

Post by samg »

belzebalex wrote: post #100
pc wrote: post #75

Stripe cofounder here. This isn't really new -- it's an extension of our last round ( https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/19/fintech-start-up-stripe-notc... ). That said, we've seen a big spike in signups over the past few weeks. If any HN readers have integrated recently and have feedback, we're always eager to hear it. Feel free to email me at patrick@stripe.com and I'll route to the right team(s). As always, thank you to…

Is there any way coupons could be added directly on Checkout in the future?

Yes, coming soon! Email me at sgerstenzang@stripe.com if you'd like to try this feature out early.

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#107

Post by tlrobinson »

malandrew wrote: post #64
tlrobinson wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sadly, it’s also likely one of the largest and fastest transfers of wealth from small businesses to large corporations. As Amazon hires 100,000+ workers how many small businesses are shuttering for good? Stripe is one of the “good” tech companies in this respect by helping to level the playing field for smaller businesses, but it’s not going to be enough.

I don't understand this idolization of small over large (or vice versa for others). The thing that matters most is that businesses best satisfy their customers, whether they are small or large. There's no benefit to having a small business that provides inferior products or inferior service relative to a large company. I buy from small companies all the time and many of those that I do will likely survive because the…

I admire people willing to take risks starting their own business instead of being another cog in the machine.

I guess you could say I’m privileged to be able to value more diverse offerings over the absolute lowest prices, but culture suffers when all you have are same 5 retailers and 20 restaurant chains in every town.

Also, economies of scale put small businesses at a disadvantage, even if their product isn’t inferior.

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#108

Post by wyxuan »

samschooler wrote: post #86
pc wrote: post #75

Stripe cofounder here. This isn't really new -- it's an extension of our last round ( https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/19/fintech-start-up-stripe-notc... ). That said, we've seen a big spike in signups over the past few weeks. If any HN readers have integrated recently and have feedback, we're always eager to hear it. Feel free to email me at patrick@stripe.com and I'll route to the right team(s). As always, thank you to…

Do you know why that big spike happened? Is it possibly related to people being furloughed + having new side hustles they are just now working on/starting?

idk, maybe easy access to contactless payments?

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#109

Post by mopsi »

malandrew wrote: post #81
lisper wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMHO it is time to start promulgating the idea that electronic money transfer should be considered a basic human right just like free cash transactions have been since the invention of money. It already is that way in many advanced countries where electronic money transfer is a service provided by the government. It is only in the U.S. where a private monopolistic cartel is allowed to impose a private tax on all reta…

Without any profit, what's going to support the creation of such service and pay for the talent that is going to make it cheap and reliable? The only answer is likely to have taxes pay for it, but then you're still paying a tax and then you're in the situation where you can't switch to a new company providing a better service. A service being provided by the government doesn't make it free. You're still paying for it…

> Without any profit, what's going to support the creation of such service and pay for the talent that is going to make it cheap and reliable?

Lending. Money sitting idle in accounts (moved into an account and not yet sent, or received, but not yet moved out) can be lent out to earn interest. That's how my bank can offer free transactions to all customers, both private and business.

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#110

Post by prawn »

pc wrote: post #97
Beefin wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey Patrick, understood that this is an extension of a previous round, but do you have any comments on the timing of this capital raise /w covid? I imagine, with the huge spike in ecommerce, your platforms are crushing it, but curious to hear your take.

We've noticed a few things -- - Enterprises pivoting -- brands going direct-to-consumer, malls pivoting to online business models (seriously), and other things like that. - SMBs going online: see this thread[0] from a French fruit seller, for example, or this thread[1] from a bar in Milwaukee. The restaurant down the street from where I used to live is now running a rapidly-growing online wine club. - Totally new sta…

We started https://do.delivery/ to offer an online ordering option to locked down businesses, using Stripe Connect. Now all I can think about is other ways to use Connect. Many established businesses have broader e-commerce needs but I’ve seen farmers offer vege boxes and meal packs to great local support. Many smaller businesses are wary of investing much to start.
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