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Stripe valued at $159B, 2025 annual letter

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Re: Stripe valued at $159B, 2025 annual letter

#71

Post by colesantiago »

tptacek wrote: post #44
triceratops wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something like 20% of American households meet the accredited standard. It isn't some ultra-elite bar. Stripe being able to find all the capital they need in private markets is the actual indicator of wealth disparity.

Not to mention: Stripe doesn't want your money, whether or not you're accredited.

"Private markets is where the wealth is (if you invested at the bottom)"

Stripe might not need your money now, but they certainly needed it at the pre-seed, seed stage where if you were an angel/seed investor you would have been able to participate.

Re: Stripe valued at $159B, 2025 annual letter

#72

Post by derektank »

thinkingtoilet wrote: post #29
baxtr wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s sad. Public companies allow the rest of us to participate in a success story like this. Until IPO it’s only a selected group of affluent people who have access to these private companies.

IPOs really only benefit already wealthy people as well. It's not like poor people can dump tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock.

Working class people have 401ks and pension plans

Re: Stripe valued at $159B, 2025 annual letter

#74

Post by colesantiago »

paxys wrote: post #42
colesantiago wrote: post #17

Private markets is where the wealth is (if you invested at the bottom), as soon as Stripe goes public you're getting dumped on. Unfortunately you need to be an accredited investor to access these markets. This is the real gatekeeping here as rich pop stars, actors, sports stars and musicians who aren't versed in tech has more access to investing in these private companies than the academics, students in europe creati…

You need an annual income of $200K to become an accredited investor. If you don't have that, you anyways shouldn't be participating in risky private markets. If anything they should also restrict options trading, sports gambling, prediction markets etc. to accredited investors.

Why don't we extend this to the risky public manipulated stock market?

Re: Stripe valued at $159B, 2025 annual letter

#75

Post by toast0 »

malfist wrote: post #43
tyre wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope they never go public (also as an ex-Stripe!) I can't really see a net-positive benefit to having public shareholders and reporting requirements. Do we think Stripe's leadership needs feedback from random investment advisors or analysts? Do employees need the distraction of daily-updating stock prices? Would quarterly reporting incentivize better decision making? In my opinion: ehhhhhhhhhhhh I see the benefit,…

Do very many companies provide daily liquidity? Most of my time getting RSUs have had trading windows, once a quarter if you're lucky.

When I was an employee of a subsidiary of Infospace, my RSUs were always worthless (honestly, I don't remember if any vested while I was there), at Yahoo, we could generally trade, although one shouldn't trade immediately after earnings, but I don't remember if this was enforced at the affiliated brokerage. At Facebook, I think it was typically a three week window every quarter.

Of course, if you quit, the windows are no longer in force, although if you have material non-public information, you're still not allowed to trade. Maybe there'a a share price where you'd rather quit and sell than hold on until the window opens.

Re: Stripe valued at $159B, 2025 annual letter

#76

Post by bryanlarsen »

cwbrandsma wrote: post #12
baxtr wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s sad. Public companies allow the rest of us to participate in a success story like this. Until IPO it’s only a selected group of affluent people who have access to these private companies.

IPOs also kill a lot of companies. Now you have a new list of investors you are obligated to attend to, and what those investors what is not always to make your company more successful, if it can make more money now.

The reverse is much more true. When private equity takes a public company private, there's a 50% chance they'll kill the company.

Also, private companies fail at a much higher rate than public ones do.

Re: Stripe valued at $159B, 2025 annual letter

#77

Post by baxtr »

cwbrandsma wrote: post #12
baxtr wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s sad. Public companies allow the rest of us to participate in a success story like this. Until IPO it’s only a selected group of affluent people who have access to these private companies.

IPOs also kill a lot of companies. Now you have a new list of investors you are obligated to attend to, and what those investors what is not always to make your company more successful, if it can make more money now.

So keep the profits only for the rich then? I rather see more IPOs for the rest of us.

Re: Stripe valued at $159B, 2025 annual letter

#78

Post by OGEnthusiast »

baxtr wrote: post #77
cwbrandsma wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IPOs also kill a lot of companies. Now you have a new list of investors you are obligated to attend to, and what those investors what is not always to make your company more successful, if it can make more money now.

So keep the profits only for the rich then? I rather see more IPOs for the rest of us.

[dead]

Re: Stripe valued at $159B, 2025 annual letter

#79

Post by baxtr »

j45 wrote: post #67
baxtr wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s sad. Public companies allow the rest of us to participate in a success story like this. Until IPO it’s only a selected group of affluent people who have access to these private companies.

Private companies have the right to be private until if or when they decide not to be private. Navigating the risk and growth allows them to navigate their growth and rewards while maybe in the drivers seat a bit more.

No one said they don’t have the right.

But for the good of all of society, it would be better if they did.

Re: Stripe valued at $159B, 2025 annual letter

#80

Post by dyauspitr »

aliljet wrote: post #25

The public can absolutely participate in this by way of syndication deals. Those syndicates are what's covering up the true extent of ownership and they're essentially charging for access with their fees. It's oddly shady, poorly regulated, and more expensive than just being public, but everyone can ride this ride.

How exactly?
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