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Patrick Collison: “Working with people you’re close to is underrated.”

May 01, 2025

Patrick started Stripe with his brother John and Arc Institute with his wife Silvana. He offers founders the following advice:

“I think working with people you’re close to is underrated… For all of the ventures of any significance in my life, they’ve been with people that I’m very close to and who I had and would like to have an enduring relationship with. Sometimes one hears the advice that you shouldn’t work with friends or your partner, and all of these things are idiosyncratic and there are instances of every possible permutation, but for me it has been a really rewarding experience.”

He continues:

“I think John and I can work together for, you never know, life. But I think we’ll probably work together for decades. For us, it has been both an important source of meaning and fulfillment, but I also think there’s a real complementarity.”