STARS OF STRIPE

Creative destruction being entrepreneurial capitalism’s coin of the realm, the appearance of billionaire brothers John (above left) and Patrick Collison on our June/July cover would seem apposite. The Irish brothers have built their online payment processor, Stripe, into a privately held fintech behemoth recently valued at $95 billion. Yet dark economic clouds and relentless competition mean nothing is secure. (Indeed, Stripe reportedly cut its internal valuation by more than a fourth after our story went to press.) The Collisons outlined their plan to navigate choppy seas ahead, including expanding into new markets and fresh tools for their existing user base. Readers were divided. Stripe is “fat and ripe for disruption, methinks,” tweeted @3rdJanuary2009. Others scoffed at the contenders nipping at the brothers’ heels: “Plaid is not going to disrupt Stripe,” riposted @JashSayani. Some wise tech elders, meanwhile, have faith. On Twitter, Asana’s Dustin Moskovitz (late of Facebook) was fulsome: “Whenever people ask me about CEOs I respect the most, I start with @patrickc. And that’s just half the story.”