Stripe

A few Fridays back, I got to do something pretty surreal: join Stripe’s Friday Fireside company all hands with John Collison and William Gaybrick to talk about what we're building at Venue.ink In the last two years: * We went from processing a $75 deposit to $2M+ in monthly volume * A tattoo now gets booked through Venue every single minute * We've grown revenue nearly 10x this year And we're just getting started. Stripe has been instrumental in making this possible. Their tools let us offer artists things like: * Instant payouts (10% of all payouts happen instantly - huge for cash flow) * A real path toward financial services in an industry that's lived offline forever * The infrastructure to finally digitize the 4 out of 5 in-person payments that happen after appointments I also shared some candid feedback - the wins and the challenges - because fast-growing vertical platforms hit unexpected complexity. Things like modeling economics across products and geographies, navigating enterprise support as a young startup, and the reality that "global simplicity" gets complicated fast when you're actually operating globally. Huge thanks to the Stripe team for the invitation and for shining a light on what we're building. And to the thousands of artists trusting us with their businesses; this is for you. We're building the financial and operational backbone you deserve. If you're building vertical SaaS or going deep in an overlooked industry, let's connect. I genuinely believe the next decade belongs to founders who aren't afraid to go deep where others see "niche." ----- A special thank you to the folks at Stripe who have been helping me along the way: Laura Buhler Cillian Lynch Diana (Swanson) Bell Matthew B.

We’re working with Microsoft to power shopping in Copilot. Users in the US can now buy from Etsy, Urban Outfitters, and Anthropologie without leaving the chat. https://lnkd.in/ebittSWH.

Atlas now incorporates one in five Delaware corporations, giving us visibility into how quickly founders generate revenue, how they structure teams, and how many countries and customers they reach in their first months. We analyzed data from the 80,000 Atlas startups and discovered that founders launched more companies and generated revenue faster than ever before in 2025. See our findings: https://lnkd.in/ggEBBtpr.

Tacit is a new mini-docuseries from Stripe Press. In the first two episodes of Tacit we follow two masters of disparate worlds: Fingal Ferguson, a fifth-generation knifemaker in West Cork, Ireland, and Christophe Laudamiel, a master perfumer in New York City. Tacit explores how their mastery develops through repetition and proximity—and why it matters in an age of automation. These films show what machines still struggle to replicate: judgment shaped by experience, care, and embodied understanding. Watch the first two films: https://lnkd.in/g57vnAuN.

🆕 Access your funds faster with next-day settlement. Available for US businesses in the Stripe Dashboard: https://lnkd.in/gCDmfuWA.

We started Stripe Capital because SMBs told us that access to financing was the #1 thing blocking them from growing. So now that we've been around a while, it's relevant to ask: is Stripe Capital actually driving more revenue growth for SMBs? We just wrapped up a randomized trial and the answer is an emphatic yes. We found a strong causal relationship between accepting financing through Stripe Capital and revenue growth on Stripe, as SMBs put these funds towards launching new product lines, acquiring inventory, and hiring more employees. This is especially exciting for platforms, because it means that by embedding capital into your product, you help your users grow faster and unlock a new revenue stream at the same time. Read more about our study here, and reach out if you're interested in building Capital!

There are bps of growth yet to be unlocked in every crevice of the economy. We spoke to a handful of the companies applying emerging technologies to lesser known frontiers: → Archistar.ai: accelerating permitting by 50% with AI → Atomic Industries: creating physical goods at the speed of bits → Katalyst: techwear that intensifies your workout 6x → Light: building infrastructure for a future powered by renewable energy → Lucid Bots: drones for dangerous cleaning jobs → Masquerade NYC: redefining live theater with immersive technology  → Playdate by Panic, Inc.: bringing joy back to handheld hardware with their crank-operated console → Sorcerer: collecting 1000x more data points for accurate weather forecasting