Patrick Collison
Stripe cofounder and CEO, Arc Institute cofounder, and a writer and interviewer exploring science, technology, and how progress happens.
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Latest
Patrick’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus their backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Stripe Sessions
Y Combinator
Stripe SessionsOverview
- From
- Ireland
- Based in
- California
- Work
- Stripe cofounder and CEO; Arc Institute cofounder
- Early recognition
- 2005 Young Scientist winner for Croma, a Lisp-based programming language
- Breakout
- Cofounded Stripe with brother John in 2010
- Education
- Attended MIT
Mini bio
How it started.
Patrick grew up in Ireland and studied at MIT. In 2005, at sixteen, he won Ireland’s Young Scientist competition with Croma, a programming language based on Lisp.
Before Stripe.
His early company Auctomatic built software for online auction sellers. Cofounded in 2007, it was acquired by Live Current Media in 2008. Patrick and his brother John went on to found Stripe in 2010, building tools that help businesses accept payments and manage money online.
Making room for science.
Patrick helped start Fast Grants in 2020 to fund COVID-19 research quickly. In 2021, he cofounded the Arc Institute with Silvana Konermann and Patrick Hsu, pursuing a different model for supporting biomedical researchers.
Follow the questions.
His public work stretches from payments to scientific funding, books, and the built environment. In 2019 he coauthored “We Need a New Science of Progress” with Tyler Cowen. His personal site collects reading recommendations, open questions, and examples of projects completed unusually quickly.
Creditschronological, newest first
Companies and research
- 2025Meta board of directorsDirector
- 2021Arc InstituteCofounder
- 2020Fast GrantsCofounder
- 2010StripeCofounder and CEO
- 2007AuctomaticCofounder
Writing
- 2019We Need a New Science of ProgressCoauthor with Tyler Cowen
Awards
Quotes
Hone your curiosity and figure out what it is that compels you in particularPatrick Collison, student Q&A at Stripe YSTE, 8 January 2026
Advice to students on his return to the exhibition where he had won in 2005. Source: https://www.stripeyste.com/media-centre/news/patrick-collison-cofounder-of-stripe-inspires-irelands-next-generation-of-innovators-at-day-two-of-the-stripe-young-scientist-technology-exhibition
Trivia
- His online bookshelf is a catalog of books he owns, and he says he has read about half of them. He marks favourites in green and above-average books in light blue.
- His “Fast” page collects examples of ambitious projects completed quickly, from buildings to scientific work.
- He and Tyler Cowen also started the New Aesthetics grant program.
Find Patrick
Follow Patrick’s posts, reading lists, and questions about progress.
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