Wow, this guy is amazing. Read his wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Collison
He's also a pilot and pianist and he's only 22. I'm now asking myself where did my life going wrong?
I was thinking this before I read your comment.
Stripe's 22-Year-Old Irish-Born Founder Is Just Getting Started
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Re: Stripe's 22-Year-Old Irish-Born Founder Is Just Getting Started
#12Loosely related with the article, do you need to give significant share to "locals" if you're starting a company in the US? For example, in Malaysia and Singapore (CMIIW), unless you put huge amount of money up front, foreigners are required to partner with locals and give >50% share to them. I.e. foreigners cannot have majority share if they start a "normal" company (not big).
Just to clarify - this is not the case in Singapore. A local director is required if the directors do not have work visas, but the companies can be wholly owned by foreigners.
Re: Stripe's 22-Year-Old Irish-Born Founder Is Just Getting Started
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
He's also a pilot and pianist and he's only 22. I'm now asking myself where did my life going wrong?
He also got his company sold to eBay at the age of 17 for $5 million. Our Dani Fong here has a similar story -- dropped out of Princeton at the age of 17... where she was doing her doctorate . I think the parents of these two need to come out and explain to us what exactly their parenting methods are.
Oh wow I'd never realized that she was from my home town. She's done some pretty spectacular things.
Re: Stripe's 22-Year-Old Irish-Born Founder Is Just Getting Started
#14Patrick and his brother John are two of the smartest cookies on the planet that I know about. These guys will go very far, and I'll be cheering them on all the way. They are not only successful and smart, they're genuinely nice , and that's a pretty rare combination.
+1 I've met John and spoken to Patrick on email. Both super nice dudes.
Re: Stripe's 22-Year-Old Irish-Born Founder Is Just Getting Started
#15Very impressive achievement for his age, though there is of course also a lot of spin-doctoring involved[1]. Stripe seems to be heading into the right direction.
[1] The whole "millionaire at 17" bit decodes to getting a big stock-based exit for Auctomatic with modest cash. Said stock then dropping to pennies shortly thereafter (~40x drop in stock price). Add in the merger and $600k in financing and there probably wasn't left other than a bailout for the investors. http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/LIVC/chart
Re: Stripe's 22-Year-Old Irish-Born Founder Is Just Getting Started
#16Loosely related with the article, do you need to give significant share to "locals" if you're starting a company in the US? For example, in Malaysia and Singapore (CMIIW), unless you put huge amount of money up front, foreigners are required to partner with locals and give >50% share to them. I.e. foreigners cannot have majority share if they start a "normal" company (not big).
No way what you're saying is true for both Singapore and Malaysia. Some shares need to be allocated to locals though if you IPO in the country.
Re: Stripe's 22-Year-Old Irish-Born Founder Is Just Getting Started
#17Wow, this guy is amazing. Read his wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Collison
He's also a pilot and pianist and he's only 22. I'm now asking myself where did my life going wrong?
Not to take anything away from him, but I think his other achievements are far more impressive. Learning to fly or play the piano generally "just" takes time and money. The really hard things are those where you can apply yourself fully and still fail.
Re: Stripe's 22-Year-Old Irish-Born Founder Is Just Getting Started
#18Wow, this guy is amazing. Read his wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Collison
I was born the same year as this guy . How do I reconcile myself to the fact that I may never achieve so much even in my entire life ? Is it a matter of lowering ones expectations ? If this is the kind of brilliance it takes to succeed in the start up world I'm quite discouraged.
Re: Stripe's 22-Year-Old Irish-Born Founder Is Just Getting Started
#19Very impressive achievement for his age, though there is of course also a lot of spin-doctoring involved[1]. Stripe seems to be heading into the right direction. [1] The whole "millionaire at 17" bit decodes to getting a big stock-based exit for Auctomatic with modest cash. Said stock then dropping to pennies shortly thereafter (~40x drop in stock price). Add in the merger and $600k in financing and there probably wa…
So, if we limit the 'millionaire at 17' bit to 'those that made a non-cash exit for 6 figures and up' would that satisfy you?
To take cash or stock is a difficult decision for seasoned business people, I really can't fault a 17 year old for going that route and through no fault of their own see the value of that stock evaporate a short while later.
I've known quite a few people that went bust during the .com debacle in exactly the same way and none of them was 17 or even close to it.
It's easy enough to identify your mistakes after the fact (heck, I've made plenty, just this particular one I've managed to avoid), but the big trick is to predict them ahead of time.
How are you doing?
What company did you sell for any amount when you were 17?
And was that in stock or cash?
Re: Stripe's 22-Year-Old Irish-Born Founder Is Just Getting Started
#20This guy inspired me. I'm just reading about Stripe a while ago and I don't know the founder is just 22!
I'm 20, and I think I need to rush some things. I don't want to be late.