Transcript
Introduction
Patrick
My guest today is John Collison. The co-founder of the digital payments company Stripe. Stripe's mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, a lofty and deeply interesting pursuit. John is clearly a voracious learner across business and investing, which you'll hear instantly. He started Stripe with his brother, Patrick, when he was just 19 years old and has grown it to at last valuation, a $36 billion business. In our conversation, we discuss conglomerates, the internet economy, the power of writing and why board members are like Pokemon characters, each with different powers. It's a lively and wide ranging conversation with one of the entrepreneurs I've most enjoyed speaking with. Please enjoy.
Industrial Conglomerates
John
John, I think a fun place to begin this conversation would be probably unexpected to the audience, which is with industrial conglomerates. I'd love you to explain why you've been interested in industrial conglomerates in some of your research. And then I want to talk about some of these principles applied to technology companies, but first, explain why you're so interested in this interesting niche of public companies.