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Stripe sets one-year timetable to decide on going public

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Re: Stripe sets one-year timetable to decide on going public

#71

Post by TylerE »

abigail95 wrote: post #39
changoplatanero wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe your credit card number was stolen without your knowledge and they took care of it for you without you even being aware

That would be whoever made the cards fault. We don't give credit for cleaning up your own mess, that's the minimum standard for engaging in a beneficial relationship. It's not a value proposition from gmail that you can't access my inbox just from knowing my address. I can't believe you can be a $400B company and the value comes from stopping fraud that you enabled by your own product design.

Much of the fraud is merchants defrauding their customers.

Re: Stripe sets one-year timetable to decide on going public

#72

Post by TylerE »

rglover wrote: post #30
methodical wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And by using Bitcoin to automate all these transactions you get a bunch of very cool features such as constantly being at risk of losing your life savings due to phishing, scamming, hacking, etc., etc., etc. unless you store a hard wallet in your intestines and memorize the recovery words (better hope you don't forget any or your life savings is gone!). The cool thing about all of this is that it's a feature of Bitco…

> And by using Bitcoin to automate all these transactions you get a bunch of very cool features such as constantly being at risk of losing your life savings due to phishing, scamming, hacking, etc., etc. All lies. > unless you store a hard wallet in your intestines and memorize the recovery words (better hope you don't forget any or your life savings is gone!) Lies. Just write them down and store them securely. You c…

This sort of vague handwaving of valid concerns is the definition of noise.

Re: Stripe sets one-year timetable to decide on going public

#73

Post by chimeracoder »

calr wrote: post #65
lbotos wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume Stripe is giving out "Double Trigger RSUs" then? https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/equity-for-software-engin... Otherwise people are getting taxed now anyway if they are getting RSUs at a private Stripe, right?

Noob question that I am sure is answered many times. What are the catalysts for a private company switching from options to RSUs (double trigger). In my previous role I got RSUs (double trigger), but now at a much smaller startup I have an option package. As an employee RSUs are a bit easier to make sense of, but both are equity instruments at the end of the day. When, and why does that transition happen? Edit this i…

> What are the catalysts for a private company switching from options to RSUs (double trigger).

For employees at very early companies that are going the venture route, ISOs are a no-brainer. The company is small enough that the strike price isn't too onerous, the company is too small to hit up against the IRS limits, and they provide pretty good tax treatment under the assumption that the company will grow massively in value - like, 100,000x - which is the the optimistic case that everyone wants to optimize for.

For employees at late stage companies (e.g. last funding round before IPO), ISOs are a rough deal. The strike price is large, so the only people who can afford to exercise them before a liquidity event are people who are already independently wealthy. The tax benefits are also still present, but smaller, because the expectation is that the company might grow 10x in valuation, but not 100x or 100,000x (most $100M companies are not going to grow to $10 trillion in valuation).

RSUs avoid that problem, by requiring zero cash up-front, in exchange for less favorable tax treatment in the "company grows 100x-100,000x" case - which is fine, because that's less relevant.

Of course, the billion dollar question is where the inflection point happens - when do RSUs become a better deal than ISOs? There's no universal answer to that, and some of that depends on specifics of the company, and some of that also depends on who you ask (certain people will benefit more than others from the switch at different points, so it depends on how much the company is weighing each of those [metaphorical] stakeholders).

ISOs also have one other advantage for companies: because they have to be exercised within 90 days of departure, a large portion of ISOs that are granted will never actually be exercised (the employee will choose to leave them unexercised, either because they don't have the money to pay for the exercise price + taxes or because they don't want to). So every option granted is With RSUs, every RSU granted is 1 share actually given up (except in the case where the RSUs expire, which makes the company look bad).

Re: Stripe sets one-year timetable to decide on going public

#74

Post by methodical »

abigail95 wrote: post #48
methodical wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And by using Bitcoin to automate all these transactions you get a bunch of very cool features such as constantly being at risk of losing your life savings due to phishing, scamming, hacking, etc., etc., etc. unless you store a hard wallet in your intestines and memorize the recovery words (better hope you don't forget any or your life savings is gone!). The cool thing about all of this is that it's a feature of Bitco…

It's a different kind of cash (like banknotes). It has different security tradeoffs because the owner is the custodian and you aren't paying a chain of intermediaries. It's not a feature of cash that it can be stolen, every object can be stolen. The distinctive attribute is transactions are public and immutable. A car can be driven by its owner anywhere they like. If someone described a car to you as a suicide box yo…

The difference of course between all of the rubbish that crypto/Bitcoin is (since they are, at the end of the day, in the same boat), is that by entrusting central parties to handle financial transactions in our traditional financial systems we have methods by which we can reverse transactions, whereas in any blockchain system there is no real authority, by design, so any stolen assets are lost forever. There aren't security "tradeoffs", because there is not a way in which any blockchain based currency is any more secure than current finances, outside of the fact that no bank or government entity could take your digital beanie babies because they don't have the token, which isn't an issue in traditional banks either unless you're a criminal for the most part. And in order to get this "advantage" of blockchain, you have to completely remove its ability to be used as a currency since for any amount of crypto or Bitcoin to be useful in the real world it almost always has to be converted back into fiat, once again centralizing it. The whole concept is extremely flawed, hasn't really gained any ground outside of FOMO'ers, and will likely die out again soon, thankfully.

Re: Stripe sets one-year timetable to decide on going public

#75

Post by methodical »

TylerE wrote: post #72
rglover wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And by using Bitcoin to automate all these transactions you get a bunch of very cool features such as constantly being at risk of losing your life savings due to phishing, scamming, hacking, etc., etc. All lies. > unless you store a hard wallet in your intestines and memorize the recovery words (better hope you don't forget any or your life savings is gone!) Lies. Just write them down and store them securely. You c…

This sort of vague handwaving of valid concerns is the definition of noise.

Almost like handwaving is the only way to disregard any of the real concerns people bring up about Bitcoin or crypto because there's not really any good way to dispel them with much logical proof.

Re: Stripe sets one-year timetable to decide on going public

#76

Post by rglover »

lxgr wrote: post #67
rglover wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How would that not lead to the inevitable concentration of economic activity in a few trusted platforms? Because it would force people to be honest in order to eat. Economic activity as a whole would become a lot more transparent because people will avoid hiring you or buying from you if you have a bad reputation. The inverse is also true, rewarding the business owner who invests in quality and customer service. >…

> [...] it would force people to be honest in order to eat. But how do I detect honesty in first interaction with an unknown party? > [...] people will avoid hiring you or buying from you if you have a bad reputation [...] As a merchant, what if I have no reputation? How do I ever get my first customer? > EBay has already proven, too, that most people are honest by default [...] ...on a centralized platform that can…

> But how do I detect honesty in first interaction with an unknown party?

It should be obvious. The guy who shows up to your intro meeting well-dressed, prepared, etc with references is going to be preferable to the guy who shows up smelling like vodka in tattered clothes.

> As a merchant, what if I have no reputation? How do I ever get my first customer?

The same way you do under the current system. Go work for someone else to build up credentials/experience, or, offer to do stuff for free in exchange for referrals and testimonials.

> on a centralized platform that can arbitrate trust!

Can, but often doesn't need to.

Re: Stripe sets one-year timetable to decide on going public

#77

Post by agloeregrets »

objclxt wrote: post #61
agloeregrets wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This assumes Stripe is not outperforming expectations. .which seeing the Amazon deal....

It’s unclear that the Amazon deal is outperforming expectations versus a quid pro quo on AWS hosting.

Either is an upside. That’s a huge contract that any payment processor would kill for.

Re: Stripe sets one-year timetable to decide on going public

#78

Post by treis »

fragmede wrote: post #16
TekMol wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what is the value they provide, which justifies their earnings and therefore market cap?

by being the digital rails. without visa/mc, all you have in your wallet is a piece of useless plastic. there's huge value in the convenience of not having to use cash, and then the rewards programs on top of that.

Sure but that's not why Visa/MC are worth that much. They're worth that much because they're a duopoly that can dictate prices.

Re: Stripe sets one-year timetable to decide on going public

#79

Post by rglover »

lxgr wrote: post #66
rglover wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Are you suggesting that either all sellers know a) the credit worthiness of their customers or b) don’t extend any credit? That's up to the business owner, but considering the utter destruction its done to the world I would say most businesses should not extend any credit. The nice thing about Bitcoin is it's a transaction layer and people can build services on top of it. Someone could start a guarantor business th…

> Bitcoin is it's a transaction layer and people can build services on top of it The transaction layer is arguably the least interesting service the credit card and other incumbent transaction/payment networks provide. Deciding whether to move money, and possibly whether to move it back, is where the value is created.

> The transaction layer is arguably the least interesting service the credit card and other incumbent transaction/payment networks provide.

It isn't until you can't transact over it because your government blocked it or received an international sanction that prevents you, an innocent citizen from transacting. Or, if you reside in a country where that network does not exist.

> Deciding whether to move money, and possibly whether to move it back, is where the value is created.

Incorrect. The ability, not the decision, is where the value resides. I can decide all I want that I'd like the bank to send $20K to someone overseas for me, but that likely means jumping through several hoops to do it. With Bitcoin, I can just do it.

Re: Stripe sets one-year timetable to decide on going public

#80

Post by methodical »

rglover wrote: post #30
methodical wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And by using Bitcoin to automate all these transactions you get a bunch of very cool features such as constantly being at risk of losing your life savings due to phishing, scamming, hacking, etc., etc., etc. unless you store a hard wallet in your intestines and memorize the recovery words (better hope you don't forget any or your life savings is gone!). The cool thing about all of this is that it's a feature of Bitco…

> And by using Bitcoin to automate all these transactions you get a bunch of very cool features such as constantly being at risk of losing your life savings due to phishing, scamming, hacking, etc., etc. All lies. > unless you store a hard wallet in your intestines and memorize the recovery words (better hope you don't forget any or your life savings is gone!) Lies. Just write them down and store them securely. You c…

> All lies.

Doesn't bother to point out what part of it was a lie (because it isn't a lie)

> Lies. Just write them down and store them securely.

Welcome to the future of finance, make sure you don't lose your seed phrases written down on paper (it's the future, trust me bro)

> Yes, you can't be utterly careless

Contradicts saying that I was lying that you can lose your life savings due to phishing, scamming, or hacking, and that if you lose your seed phrases and can't access the wallet then your digital doubloons are gone forever

etc.

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