Notes

Notes on Startups

194 notes

Sep 2026

Onward compute.

Patrick Collison@patrickc

Some data we recently assembled on entrepreneurship/compute in Europe: eudata.vercel.app.

We hope that one of the useful roles that Stripe can play is in collecting and publishing empirical data pertaining to entrepreneurship and industry in Europe. There's growing appetite to get Europe on a better footing, and cross-sectional comparisons can often shine light on where opportunities lie. If you're interested in this kind of thing, we publish more at stripeeconomics.substack.com.

Dot chart of how founders rate dealing with government, from Switzerland 8.2 and the US 7.6 down to Spain 3.3
Bar chart of founders who would incorporate in the same country again, led by the US at 85% and Spain lowest at 25%
Line chart of monthly payment volume of AI businesses on Stripe, with the US soaring from 2023 to 2026 while the EU stays flat
Bar chart of data centre capacity by country in gigawatts with the US above 100 including pipeline additions
View post (opens X)

Jul 2026

Congrats @JerLevine ! Seems like a solid exit.

Dustin Gouker@DustinGouker

News: Underdog sells to IG Group for up to $1.3 billion with "up to $850 million for eligible Underdog employees."

That's a lot of money

IG Group announcement of its proposed acquisition of Underdog for up to $1.3 billion to lead in US prediction markets
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Jun 2026

Thread · 2 posts

Software businesses used to naturally move horizontally across a given function because software was hard and expensive. So you built one tool like a CRM and sold it to everyone.

Agents change the entire dynamics. Software is cheap. This means you can build a great business for a narrow market. Industry expertise is the wedge.

Feb 2020

Company size is probably the most important factor in determining whether startup advice is applicable. SidePrize had different needs at 3 vs 10 people, which was very different than SalesLoft at 100 or 500 people.

Feb 2019

Sep 2018

Aug 2018

Jun 2018

May 2018

Thread · 2 posts

For Direct to Consumer businesses to work the product has to be exceptional—so exceptional that people will seek it out as opposed to just ordering an equivalent from Amazon or Walmart. buff.ly

Sep 2017

Why Does Sweden Have So Many Start-Ups? Mostly, because it is easier to take risks. buff.ly

Aug 2017

Jul 2017

Oh man, this is an incredible idea. I remember spending a ton of time on TacOps clan forums back in the day. guilded.gg

Jun 2017

Jan 2017

Interesting thoughts on company structure. Though I am not sure about separating customer and product. feld.com

Dec 2016

Sad day. I was hoping this was going to be a consumer hit for Atlanta—Yik Yak lays off 60 percent of employees theverge.com

Nov 2016

Oct 2016

Fascinating post about influencer marketing and subscription perfume—How we got from $0 to $75k MRR with zero budget buff.ly

The outrage at YC for not breaking off ties to Peter Thiel seem pretty overblown to me. I thought @sama's response was reasonable.

Aug 2016

Incase you missed it—My conversation with Behance founder Scott Belsky on the implications of the interface layer. buff.ly

Jul 2016

Dollar Shave Club Just sold for the same price as Instagram—pretty amazing.

“...why are so many people devoting so much energy to solving problems that don’t really exist?” buff.ly

Jun 2016

May 2016

Apr 2016

If a university wanted to help students with startups evidence shows the best thing they can do is literally nothing paulgraham.com

Jan 2016

Dec 2015

Nov 2015

Oct 2015

Sep 2015

Aug 2015

If I was going on a tech/startup radio show, what things would you want me to talk about?

Ugh, trying to slug through this MBA book and not a damn thing is applicable to high-growth tech companies.

Jul 2015

Zero to One is an exceptional book. I'm kind of bummed that I'm done with it.

Software startup friends, how do you handle dev shops that won't stop contacting you about open product and engineering positions?

I wish them the best, but have my doubts—Meet Nava, A Startup That Wants To Fix The Government's Crappy Design buff.ly

Jun 2015

May 2015

Apr 2015

Mar 2015

Remember the time a 14-year-old invested in that startup?

Feb 2015

Will startups be more accepting? We'll see—M.B.A. Programs Start to Follow Silicon Valley Into the Data Age buff.ly

Jan 2015

Dec 2014

People have a finite amount of attention. It's smarter to build tools that save time whether than content that takes it.

Cool product a friend of mine has been working on the last few years—Nugget: The Easiest Couch Ever buff.ly

Nov 2014

The Recipe For Building A Startup Scene In Any City—Attracting developers to the city is another thing. buff.ly

Great companies don't outsource core competencies. That includes design—Silicon Valley Killed the Design Agency zurb.com

Oct 2014

A $500 mil series B? Magic Leap must either be the next Apple or the next Segway.

Sep 2014

Aug 2014

Brilliant! Law students get real-world experience, startups get free legal defense, and patent trolls get nothing. buff.ly

Jul 2014

Great information about launching and app in here—if you have or work at a startup, do yourself a favor and read this buff.ly

Be careful when naming your company. Sociali.st and PayWithIsis are the Experts Exchange of today.

Jun 2014

May 2014

And this is exactly why you should canibalize your own product. If you don't, someone else will. buff.ly

Apr 2014

The American citizens aren’t our customers—about 400 junk mailers are. Your service hurts our ability to serve them. buff.ly

Nobody loves their wireless carrier. They love their iPhone—The flawed logic behind the failure of Better Place buff.ly?

Mar 2014

A startup culture renaissance in Atlanta is birthing several tech hubs.

Feb 2014

Of all the journalism (or content) startups out there, Pando is by far the most interesting.

B2B businesses help people save time, B2C businesses help people waste time. Considering there is a finite amount of time, B2B is appealing.

Jan 2014

An in-depth growth case study—How Huckberry is transforming the future of e-commerce. buff.ly

One of the most interesting articles on Jason Calacanis I've seen.

Dec 2013

Nov 2013

All I see here is that two thirds of billion dollar startups didnt have one MBA on their team. buff.ly

There is a startup idea here. Filters for PR spam emails—Swatting at a Swarm of Public Relations Spam buff.ly

If this is true, it is a pretty poor move. Acquisition is SnapChat's only way out—Facebook offered Snapchat 3 billion usatoday.com

Oct 2013

Ooomf Founder Mikael Cho talks with me about why founders need to care about the problem their company is solving. signaltower.co

Sep 2013

Aug 2013

The number one reason software startups fail is because they build products that their customers don't want.

Jul 2013

Jun 2013

Incubators are not competing with venture capitalists, they are competing with traditional business schools.

May 2013

Finished a great group of interviews. The hurdles of healthcare startups, path to becoming a designer, and more this week on @SignalTower

It is even more unfortunate for the entrepreneurs who raised capital for their #CrowdFunding startups based on that deadline.

It is unfortunate to see the SEC dragging its feet on #CrowdFunding . The JOBS Act passed well over a year ago.

Apr 2013

Mar 2013

“It’s just a fucking badass event tool — the most powerful shit ever created for event planners, ever.” pandodaily.com

What the smartest people do on the weekend is what everyone else will do during the week in ten years. is.gd

Feb 2013

Jan 2013

Dec 2012

Nov 2012

Oct 2012

Just met a mysterious gentleman on walk to Merch Mart. Knew we were headed to 1871, knows people in tech in Irvine.

Aug 2012

Jul 2012

Startups, beer and tacos. #TCATL at the Sweetwater Brewery.

Jun 2012

May 2012

Apr 2012

@KyleDeTullio Where was that article you sent me about using Twitter to validate startups? Im doing a post and want to give credit.

@Resultly I am writing a post on using Twitter as a startup validation tool. Would you be interested?

Mar 2012

#JOBSAct "Raises no taxes, costs government no money, and will certainly create jobs" shar.es

Feb 2012

Jan 2012

Awesome RT@clarkaldrich Lorem Ipsum this buddy! I love using this dummy text, peppered with Business 2.0 start-up terms startupipsum.co

Dec 2011

Nov 2011

I am supposed to be doing school work, but I can't stop thinking about awesome ways to put @launchrock to use.

Oct 2011

Sep 2011

@DaleJStephens If business is better learned from those who have started businesses could the future of a business education be incubators?

Impressed, Farmigo uses crowd sourcing to help sell organic food at supermarket prices. ( #tcdisrupt live at ustre.am)

I just checked into TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2011 on Ustream. Come watch and chat with me here ustre.am

Aug 2011

"The problem with the Internet startup craze isn’t that too many people are starting companies; it’s..." tumblr.com

Jun 2011

Mar 2011

@IncMagazine Are there any insurance companies that do not profit from basic healthcare? If not what do you think of that as a startup?