Patrick Collison

Stripe · Arc Institute

Patrick Collison is the Irish co-founder and CEO of Stripe, which he started with his brother John in 2010 to make online payments easier. Before Stripe, the brothers built Auctomatic, software for eBay sellers. Collison later said that work exposed the payment problem and taught them to favor real user value over elaborate technology. He grew up in Ireland, studied at MIT and now lives in California. His interests extend from software and economic growth to science, institutions and the arts. With Patrick Hsu and Silvana Konermann, he co-founded Arc Institute in 2021 to support ambitious biomedical research with long-term funding. His writing includes work with Tyler Cowen on progress studies and with Michael Nielsen on scientific productivity. He also publishes reading reviews, essays and lists of questions on his own site.

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Which books are linked to Patrick Collison?

These are examples from the documented shelf. Each label describes the connection; a book on the shelf is not always a recommendation.

The Dream Machine by M. Mitchell Waldrop — Read and recommended. Source
Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens: Frank Oppenheimer and His Astonishing Exploratorium by K. C. Cole — Praised on his bookshelf. Source
Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas by Seymour Papert — Praised on his bookshelf. Source

See the full shelf and source notes

Contents

Career highlights

2007Built Auctomatic with John, working on software for eBay sellers; later described it as where they encountered online payment problems.
2010Co-founded Stripe with John to make online payments simpler.
2016Stripe launched Atlas to help founders form an internet business and obtain banking and payment services.
2018Co-wrote Is Science Stagnant? with Michael Nielsen, examining scientific progress relative to the resources devoted to it.
2019Co-wrote We Need a New Science of Progress with Tyler Cowen, proposing closer study of how progress happens.
2020Worked on Fast Grants, launched during COVID-19 to fund urgent scientific research quickly.
2021Co-founded Arc Institute with Patrick Hsu and Silvana Konermann; its launch offered researchers renewable eight-year funding terms.

Lessons for founders

Solve the user’s problem with the simplest useful approach. In Stripe’s 2024 AMA, Collison contrasts Auctomatic’s complex technology with its small customer base. He says the team learned to put delivered user value first when building Stripe.
Learn standards through direct work with skilled people. In his 2024 Dwarkesh interview, he uses scientific apprenticeships to explain how people learn to choose problems and see what excellent work requires.
Write so future readers can follow the reasoning. He describes Stripe’s writing culture as useful for both the writer and later readers. A written record helps a team preserve how a decision developed, while writing helps the author organize the idea.
Read actively and leave room to change books. In the Knowledge Project interview, he describes skimming, marking pages, switching books and stopping work that is less useful to him. He shares short reviews with friends to remember ideas and receive new leads.
Look beyond the newest books. In the Ferriss interview, he argues that older books have had more time to pass readers’ tests. The Dream Machine is his example of a work whose depth made him buy copies for colleagues and friends.
Examine the mechanism behind a business story. His review of Titan asks how Standard Oil funded acquisitions and why competitors could not do the same. The questions show what a reader can miss when a biography tells events without enough financial detail.
Treat beauty as part of the work. In Why Aesthetics, he says attention to beauty can help Stripe move beyond standard practices and make room for excellent work that has value in itself.

Advice to his younger self (paraphrased)

Develop deep skills in several fields.His advice page addresses people aged 10–20 and encourages them to learn what work they enjoy.
Make useful things while you learn.He distinguishes building under uncertainty from studying a subject.
Read widely.Reading is one of the habits he asks his younger self to develop.
Meet people who are good at the work you care about.He suggests making friends online and seeking direct examples of excellent work.
Practice forming your own view.He asks readers to question inherited beliefs and avoid measuring themselves only against their current peers.