Charlie Munger, famed investor and business partner of Warren Buffett, and John Collison, co-founder of Stripe, engage in an enlightening conversation covering topics such as multi-disciplinary thinking, investment strategies, gold vs. cryptocurrency, societal implications, the beauty of capitalism, merging entities, unethical behavior in the financial industry, Berkshire's anti-bureaucracy culture, managing cash and share issuance, and making logical decisions. The podcast offers valuable insights from two successful individuals in the world of business and investing.

Patrick and John Collison, co-founders of Stripe, discuss the strategy and culture that attracts ambition, their progress in increasing the GDP of the internet, studying old companies for insights, the challenges ahead for Stripe in expanding their payment services, and reflecting on kindness and gratitude.

Brought to you by Linear—The new standard for modern software development | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security. | Dovetail—Bring your customer into every decision.—Claire Hughes Johnson is the former COO at Stripe, which she helped scale from a small startup to the legendary company it is today. She also spent close to 10 years at Google, where she filled several executive roles, including VP of Global Online Sales and Director of Sales and Ops for Gmail, YouTube, Google Apps, and AdWords. Claire shares invaluable insights from her upcoming book, Scaling People, on how to successfully build and scale organizations. We talk about the importance of building self-awareness, and Claire gives tons of tactical advice on how to say things that are hard to say, as well as how to improve your internal communications, and so much more.Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-scaling-stripe-tacticsWhere to find Claire Hughes Johnson:• Twitter: https://twitter.com/chughesjohnson• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-hughes-johnson-7058/Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/Referenced:• Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building: https://www.amazon.com/Scaling-People-Tactics-Management-Building/dp/1953953212• John Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbcollison/• Patrick Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison/• Discord: https://discord.com/• Toast: https://pos.toasttab.com/• High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People: https://www.amazon.com/High-Growth-Handbook-Elad-Gil/dp/1732265100• Myers-Briggs personality types: https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/• Enneagram types: https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-descriptions• Disc assessment: https://www.discprofile.com/what-is-disc• Conscious Business: How to Build Value through Values: https://www.amazon.com/Conscious-Business-Build-through-Values/dp/1622032020/• Reid Hoffman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reidhoffman/• Eeke de Milliano on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-foster-innovation-and-big-thinking-eeke-de-milliano-retool-stripe/• Running an effective meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIiaFW874q8• Gokul’s S.P.A.D.E. framework: https://coda.io/@gokulrajaram/gokuls-spade-toolkitIn this episode, we cover:(00:00) Claire’s background(04:47) How writing Scaling People helped Claire crystallize learnings(07:58) How she got started writing her book(11:11) Advice that changed the way she operates(15:18) The lack of job titles at Stripe(19:01) Scaling your organizational structure(23:46) What founders need to think about in the early days(26:38) Personal operating principles(29:04) How to crystallize your own values to gain self-awareness(34:29) Advice for saying uncomfortable things(37:12) Being an explorer, not a lecturer(43:57) Come back to the operating system(47:17) Organizational structure using Claire’s house metaphor(50:50) Why some chaos is normal(52:45) Founding documents you need(58:30) The components of a company’s operating system (1:01:31) Finding the right cadence(1:04:48) COOs and which types of businesses need them(1:11:30) Advice on scaling quickly(1:13:56) The importance of internal communications(1:16:03) Running effective meetings(1:17:17) Advice for aligning and making decisions as a managerProduction and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

In a remarkable conversation, Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and a legendary investor, teams up with John Collison, co-founder of Stripe. They delve into the importance of integrity in business practices and the value of multidisciplinary thinking for decision-making. A lively debate unfolds on gold versus cryptocurrency as investment options, underscoring differing views on reliability and volatility. Their reflections on ethical capitalism, innovation, and navigating challenges in today's economy provide invaluable insights for aspiring investors.

John Collison, co-founder and president of Stripe, shares insights from the cutting-edge world of fintech. He discusses the complexities of payment processing and how Stripe's developer-first approach aims to tackle these challenges. Collison delves into the evolving role of cryptocurrency in financial transactions, especially for cross-border payments. He also critiques the transition from private to public markets, highlighting the benefits of staying private for innovation. Plus, he shares his passion for aviation, blending technology with flight safety.

My guest today is John Collison, the Co-Founder of the digital payments company Stripe. Stripe’s mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, a lofty and deeply interesting pursuit. John is clearly a voracious learner across business and investing, which you’ll hear instantly. He started Stripe with his brother Patrick when he was just 19 years old, and has grown it to, at last valuation, a $36B business. In our conversation, we discuss conglomerates, the internet economy, the power of writing, and why board members are like Pokémon characters, each with different powers. It’s a lively and wide-ranging conversation with one of the entrepreneurs I’ve most enjoyed speaking with. Please enjoy.   For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag   Show Notes (1:30) – (First question) – Interest in industrial conglomerates (9:10) – Their thinking on acquisitions vs starting new companies (11:42) – How the payment landscape looked when Stripe was started (15:55) – View on the internet economy (20:09) – Exciting possibilities for the future of the internet economy (22:11) – The forces of size vs speed among startups (26:53) – Driving reasons why employees choose Stripe starting with clear communication (28:55) – Tips for better internal communications (30:09) – The importance of rigor in Stripe’s corporate culture (32:15) – Investors and investing styles that are most intriguing to him (36:02) – Teaching vs experiencing business lessons (37:56) – Lessons from going to market with new ideas (50:58) – Allowing teams to explore new ideas at Stripe (44:11) – Best startup companies to study to understand the history of this space             (44:52) – Softwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle             (48:18) – Cable Cowboy: John Malone and the Rise of the Modern Cable Business (48:43) – Infrastructures of internet businesses that are missing (52:03) – Does general accounting practices need to change to capture the true value of a company like Stripe (1:01:53) – Shared playbooks in Silicon Valley (1:02:02) – The transition to the no code movement (1:08:22) – Other businesses that pique his interest outside of software (1:10:21) – Future trends that excite him (1:11:10) – First memory when he felt like he was participating in the tech economy (1:12:46 – The role of board members (1:15:48) – Kindest thing anyone has done for him (1:18:49) – Advice for young people Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.  Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag

Brothers Patrick and John Collison, founders of Stripe, discuss building a software company for seamless online payments. They share insights on entrepreneurship, overcoming challenges, and the evolution of payment systems. The podcast also features a story of turning a grandma's cookie recipe into a successful business.

My guest today is Doug Colkitt. Doug has spent his career searching for and trading inefficient markets, first at Citadel’s high-frequency trading group, then for himself, and then as an operator building CrocSwap - a decentralized exchange or DEX designed to bring modern functionality to crypto markets, which is closer to what large traders have come to expect from a modern electronic market like the NASDAQ.  My interest in market infrastructure has continued to grow since my great conversation with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. So my conversation with Doug covers the evolution of market and trading infrastructure. We unpack the trading stack as it exists today, dive into DeFi’s innovations, and explore the new category of single contract DEXs that Doug is creating. After learning so much from Doug about how markets function and how crypto markets should function, I became an investor in his new business via my venture capital firm Positive Sum. Please enjoy this great conversation with Doug Colkitt. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. -----Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes[00:03:31] - [First question] - Doug’s career and history working with markets[00:08:55] - Defining what a trading stack is [00:13:41] - How HFT firms are such reliable money-making models[00:16:27] - What’s at the cutting edge of traditional markets that provides an edge[00:18:45] - The mechanical parts of infrastructure involved in building an exchange[00:21:00] - Classes of data that matter for operating an exchange[00:22:11] - Capacity and what good returns are as an HFT firm[00:28:45] - Overview of the mechanics of an AMM[00:31:53] - Earning a yield as a liquidity provider[00:33:59] - Other ways to think about AMMs and liquidity providers[00:36:42] - Key players in the AMM space and the evolution of them[00:41:20] - How asset holders can approach DEX tools and be liquidity providers[00:42:55] - The function of an exchange’s native token[00:45:25] - Token distribution and how to earn them without buying them[00:48:31] - How you receive payment for providing liquidity[00:51:31] - What CrocSwap will do and what a single contract DEX unlocks[00:57:36] - How CrocSwap is able to do this when other exchanges can’t[00:59:27] - What single contracts will improve for users [01:00:43] - The impact CrocSwap will have for all participants writ large[01:02:28] - Whether or not CrocSwap will cultivate an ecosystem[01:03:30] - What’s next for CrocSwap in the near future[01:04:58] - The promise of DeFi and the future of blockchain technology[01:07:04] - Whether or not DeFi is a threat to centralized exchanges[01:09:52] - Defining what MEV is and why it’s important for DeFi[01:13:04] - Missing pieces in the DeFi world and how we can address them[01:15:24] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Brothers Patrick and John Collison founded and sold their first company before they turned 20. They created software to help eBay users manage inventory online, which set them on a path to help make e-commerce frictionless. Today, John and Patrick are the founders of Stripe, a software company that used just a few lines of code to power the payment system of companies like Lyft, Warby Parker, and Target. PLUS in our post-script "How You Built That," we check back with Kirby Erdely, who saw a problem with flying beach umbrellas and developed a new kind of tent stake—with a twist. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

John Collison, cofounder of Stripe, discusses his entrepreneurial journey alongside his brother Patrick, who both dropped out of college to create a fintech giant. They share their humorous story of rebranding from a technical name to 'Stripe' and the evolution of payment processing for internet companies. John reflects on the complexities of remaining private in the tech sector and the sibling dynamics that contribute to their success. He also emphasizes the importance of diversity in tech and their ambitions to revolutionize global payment systems.