Interview: Patrick Collison talks start-ups, Stripe and years waiting for overnight success (video)

17 Oct 2012

Irish-made tech entrepreneur Patrick Collison took to the stage at the Dublin Web Summit today to talk about the genesis of a start-up – his start-up, Stripe. Siliconrepublic.com caught up with him afterwards to find out more.

Patrick and his younger brother John Collison established their online payments engine when they were both still in their teens and their journey from Limerick to Silicon Valley has been well-documented by Siliconrepublic.com. Now 23 years old, the elder Collison took to the stage today to tell the story of the two and a half years it took to become an ‘overnight’ success.

Afterwards, we spoke to Collison about where Stripe is now, what the plans are for the future, and what it takes to compete in the online payments arena, where major players and innovative start-ups meet.

As far as advice for start-ups, Collison warned it’s tough, but two key ingredients will make it work: “If you have a really good product and you hire really good people, it’s very hard for it to go wrong,” he said.

Elaine Burke is the host of For Tech’s Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network. She was previously the editor of Silicon Republic.

editorial@siliconrepublic.com