The a16z Show

Patrick Collison on Stripe’s Early Choices, Smalltalk, and What Comes After Coding

20 Feb 2026

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Michael Truell, CEO of Cursor, sits down with Patrick Collison, CEO of Stripe and an investor in Anysphere, to talk about Collison's history with Smalltalk and Lisp, the MongoDB and Ruby decisions Stripe still lives with 15 years later, why he'd spend even more time on API design if he could do it over, and whether AI is actually showing up in economic productivity data. This episode originally aired on Cursor's podcast. Resources: Follow Patrick Collison on X: https://twitter.com/patrickc Follow Michael Truell on X: https://twitter.com/mntruell Follow Cursor: https://www.youtube.com/@cursor_ai Stay Updated:Find a16z on YouTube: YouTubeFind a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Show on SpotifyListen to the a16z Show on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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The a16z Show

Patrick Collison on Stripe’s Early Choices, Smalltalk, and What Comes After Coding

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Other episodes from The a16z Show

Energy, Minerals, and the Physical Stack Behind AI

Lloyd Blankfein on Risk, Crisis, and Leadership

Marc Andreessen on Builder Culture in the Age of AI

Ben Horowitz on the Next Technology Era

The New Space Race: NASA, Artemis, and the Race to the Moon

Building Blackstone, Backing Costco, with Tony James

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