.@stripe's keynote was absurdly impressive.

Tons to admire. My 10 ten takeaways πŸ‘‡πŸ”₯
1. Covid was a huge pull-forward

To be expected. But still, impressive.

Stripe brought on *2 million* new companies since the start of 2020, aided by e-commerce gaining share.
2. Stripe has scaled but retained performance

The company had 173 *billion* API requests. Performance is seemingly unaffected, even during busy days.
3. Stripe scaled geographically

The company announced it had opened in 11 new countries. Brazil, Indonesia, and Thailand are high-priorities.

I predicted Brazil and Indonsia would be priorities in Sunday's piece. (Fairly self-evident.)

readthegeneralist.com/briefing/stripe
4. They added payment methods

Stripe added 14 in total.

This is place where Adyen has a pretty significant lead. It's good to see Stripe close it.

Doing cool stuff with BNPL providers like
@afterpay_au and super apps like Grab.
5. They added iDEAL

Low-key, kind of a big deal. It's a Dutch payment method, which means it's right in Adyen's backyard.

It makes a huge difference in that country (as other methods have elsewhere).

Stripe is starting to go deep, not just broad.
6. Tax and Identity are the big adds

The two big product releases are Tax and Identity. Both are big deals and open up huge new markets.
7. Paystack seems to be paying off

"The @paystack team have been on an absolute tear." β€” @collision

Apparently, processing *more than 1/2* online transactions in Nigeria?!
8. They showcased a new product paradigm

Stripe organized its product stack into these layers. It's a useful framework.

We should expect tons more "business solutions" in years to come.
9. They make hardware now?

Stripe isn't giving up the offline game. Instead, they've stepped up their efforts by adding their own hardware to Terminal.

Expect to see more of these at stores near you...
10. There classic moments of delight

For example, when one speaker talked about the tax on bagels, this little CTA appeared at the bottom of the screen.

Classic Stripe.
Stripe might be the most interesting company in the world.

If you want to better understand it, join +36,000 others and check out this free report :)

readthegeneralist.com/briefing/stripe
Oh, also I was rushing to take a screenshot and accidentally took this gem

too funny not to share πŸ˜‚

β€’ β€’ β€’

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More from @mariodgabriele

16 Jun
Forbes 30U30 makes uniquely *zero* sense for VC.
I remember folks worrying about getting selected while I was a junior VC.

Hopefully, this has changed.

Because it is truly nonsensical, for several reasons.
1. VC's feedback cycle is long

If you invest in a seed round, you won't know if the co's a "success" for years.

Sure, there will be proxy indications (up rounds), but these are often disconnected from real financial progress.

You don't know if you're good for a long time.
Read 10 tweets
13 Jun
Stripe is insane.

It's not just a company. It's a civilization in the making.

Here are the 10 things that make the company so impressive.

readthegeneralist.com/briefing/stripe
1. The Collisons think super long-term.

Employees talk about how the company doesn't think in years...it thinks in decades.

That comes from the top.
2. They are hyper-patient recruiters

In an interview with @johnolilly, @patrickc talked about how he courted key recruits for *more than three years* before they joined Stripe.

They are "painfully persistent."
Read 12 tweets
2 Jun
This is my best Walt Disney impression. Here's where I hope The Generalist goes.

- Play w boundaries of "audience" + "creator"
- Multiplayer by default
- Build, invest, write in public
- Decentralize decision-making to community
- Be the platform for smart ppl to share thoughts
Since I'm not a very good artist, I can't compete with Disney's amazing original.

But I've done my best...

Meet some characters below ;)
First, the "Blue Whiskered Job Fox."

He just wants to get people into careers they really like.

The more people he helps find a job, the longer his whiskers grow.
Read 10 tweets
30 May
Tbh I was sleeping on the world of "calm funding"...

- Early-stage investing focused on value
- Outperforms 95% of traditional VC
- Firms: @earnestcapital, @indievc, @collab_capital

Had a lot of fun learning about this with @tylertringas.
readthegeneralist.com/briefing/calmf…
1/

What is "calm funding" (CFs)?

There's some disagreement over terminology. Some prefer "funds for bootstrappers" or "indie venture."

In short: investing in co's that don't risk survival for growth. Instead, calm businesses look to achieve sustainability and independence.
2/

Who are some "calm companies"?

They can be profitable "lifestyle" businesses, or become massive public companies.

- @zapier: $5B val, raised $1.3M
- @atlassian: $58B val, raised after 9 yrs
- @1Password: $1B, raised after 14 years

Scores of others
Read 10 tweets
25 May
Hearing of more founders selling secondary shares.

Some really interesting new incentives to think about:

- Founders don't have to sell to get rich
- Can 'swing for the fences' more
- Less downside in raising beyond means
- Upside in constant raising to πŸ”Ό secondary prices
If I were an employee of a company where the CEO was aggressive at selling secondaries...I'd have a lot of questions.

- Should I be trying to sell my shares?
- Does the CEO believe in this long-term?
- What kind of signal does this put out to the market?
I think we're going to see a class of mega-wealthy founders that built...a fundraising company.

Folks that understand VC dynamics well enough to exploit them.

The result may be something like a "VC Ponzi Scheme."

A co that looks unbelievable on paper, but doesn't do much.
Read 9 tweets
23 May
Nubank is the biggest digital bank in the world.

- 40 million users
- $1.5B in projected revenue
- Growing +100% annually
- Disrupting lazy incumbents

It’s a story that could only have happened in Brazil.
readthegeneralist.com/briefing/nuban…
/1

David VΓ©lez founded Nubank in 2013.

Most people thought he was crazy to try and build a neobank in Brazil. Why?

Because of the β€œBig Five,” incumbent banks with huge control.
/2

Stats on the Big Five:

- Controlled +80% of assets
- Held +85% of loans
- Interest rates of up to 450% per year (!)

These banks had oligopolistic power, as well as regulatory and political influence. Trying to disrupt them was considered as possible.
Read 21 tweets

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