[kalu]

What are the chances that Stripe paid Balanced to shut down? For Stripe, it seems like good business to "buy" your competitors when they are young. Plus, they would get a bundle of customers. And for Balanced, if the payment was high enough, a decision to wind down could make sense for the investors.

Competition is generally good for customers. In the short run it seems trivial... but in the long run it could matter in a big way.

Stripe: did you pay for Balanced's customers? If so, was it your idea to buy or did Balanced bring it up?

[sumedh]

I dont think Stripe paid Balanced to shut down because the both the parties would look bad.

Stripe could have just acquired Balance allowing the founders of Balanced save face and Stripe gets Balanced's customers very cheap.