[atonse]

My favorite thing about the Collisons is how down to earth they seem in spite of their incredible success. And that humility seems to permeate throughout the corporate culture of the company as well. I have not seen a single comment on HN by a Stripe that broke that image.

And it's not a PR-designed-totally-artificial-image like Sheryl Sandberg. But they seem to be the real deal.

Wish you guys the best!

[zaptheimpaler]

No complaints about Stripe from me, but I have no doubt their image is very carefully orchestrated and managed. It's not a spontaneous accident, its just great PR.

the best marketing doesn't feel like marketing. of course it helps that the marketing is backed by a genuinely great product and competent team. but at one time, Google used to be that way and if Stripe ever loses customer trust, their branding will ring just as hollow as Googles "don't be evil" does today.

[jariel]

This is true but with the caveat that it's not contrived.

They both have 'natural born PR' instincts so it's both disingenuous and honest at the same time.

Patrick is open, and way over-intellectual in many circumstances, I see that quite a lot in the Valley where nobody respects anyone else unless they are sure if their IQ/chops. And so you see a lot of overt displays of slightly off topic, overly specific, quixotic communication style, like an professor thinking faster than they can speak. And it's on purpose.

His brother is a more natural corporate communicator.

I'm not saying anything against them, but they are definitely putting on a display.

Without knowing a single thing about their upbringing or personal heritage, I would wager that it's a learned trait ie 'it's their upbringing'.

17 year old kids don't sell their companies alone, usually, their parents are behind the scenes.

Microsoft's 1st important sale to IBM was related to the fact his mother was a colleague of IBM board members, i.e. 'elite networks'.

[tessierashpool]

> their image is very carefully orchestrated and managed

no it isn’t. I met one of them, he was super nice. and I’m a very critical person.

chill out. sometimes it just is what it looks like.

[zaptheimpaler]

Another comment in this thread summarizes my position:

> It's not really an either-or situation. They can be genuine, but also heavily trained and coached by PR professionals. It's a misconception that all PR initiatives are attempts to mislead or lie to people. The best PR work is completely transparent.

I’m not casting stones or claiming anyone is being disingenuous. They are both nice people and good at PR.

[GhostVII]

Based on my interactions with Patrick it seems to be genuine. When I interned at Stripe he randomly sat down with me at lunch and we talked about taxes for half an hour.

[akhilcacharya]

As an intern you're already part of a chosen elite (top school or top companies on your resume) so this isn't great evidence imho.

[hoten]

Oh lordy. What's the assumption here, that yeah he's sociable with interns but maybe he yells at waiters?

[akhilcacharya]

It’s plausible - it’s not a terribly illuminating anecdote

[meowface]

I think the founder and CEO of a large, valuable company randomly sitting down with an intern to discuss some topic for 30 minutes illuminates something about their personality, even if that alone isn't proof they're a saint or anything.

It's the collection of anecdotes like that, the absence of counter-anecdotes, and little things like Patrick still sometimes commenting on HN that paint a fuller picture. Such a person could still potentially be hiding a darker side, but I think it decreases the probability.

[nl]

This isn't correct.

People who care about status see "intern" as a low-status label, and well below their "CEO" high-status label.

The fact that he spent time with an intern indicates that he doesn't care particularly about the status of these labels. In many cases this is called "being nice".

[akhilcacharya]

I really don't think they see intern as a low status label, especially if they have an MIT jacket on, for example.

I worked at a company with a CEO that did something similar and asked interns to come to his desk to chat, which I did. This practice didn't exactly shield him from being cast as an out of touch billionaire when he ran for President.

[matchbok]

What a myopic and inaccurate thing to say.

[eloff]

Or maybe they're just being genuine. If I were in their shoes, I like to think I would just keep being me and not have any role as the company for crafting my PR image. I'm sure some founders are like that.

[PragmaticPulp]

It's not really an either-or situation. They can be genuine, but also heavily trained and coached by PR professionals.

It's a misconception that all PR initiatives are attempts to mislead or lie to people. The best PR work is completely transparent.

[kaycebasques]

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWyCCJ6B2WE

[shafyy]

Agree! Tobi Lütke and Shopify make a similar impression to me.