patrick collison

Stripe's Atlas incorporation data shows new business starts up ~2x year-over-year — the largest relative jump ever recorded — with median business performance improving and time to revenue declining, indicating a historically favorable environment for company building.

Stripe's real-time payments data reveals new business formation running at roughly 2x year-over-year — the largest relative jump ever recorded — while median business performance, time-to-revenue, and probability of hitting revenue milestones are all improving, suggesting AI is lowering barriers to entry and accelerating success rates.

Block's significant workforce reduction attributed to AI efficiency gains signals aggressive AI adoption in fintech, though the broader productivity impact across roles remains unclear.

Stripe's transaction-based pricing model creates vertical alignment with merchants; the company actively pushes customers to adopt revenue-maximizing features like local payment methods because both parties share in the outcome.

Stripe's network effects are compounding as AI-driven business formation accelerates; 86% of Forbes AI 50 and 90% of Dow Jones companies already on platform, creating a data moat for fraud, conversion, and agentic commerce products.