Two brothers John and Patrick Collison began working on the company that became Stripe in 2010. It originally began as a side project but they quickly began to shift their focus toward it after discovering how difficult it was to process payments for goods and services over the internet. After a short period of development they quickly created a prototype. The duo quickly discovered that gaining legitimacy was the biggest hurdle for the company to grow. The brother’s tackled this issue by first harnessing word of mouth about their product to build a user base that eventually allowed them to partner with major tech companies and allow their company to grow into the tech giant that it is today. The Collison brothers provide and excellent example for entrepreneurs to learn from in how to overcome adversity. The brothers found a problem with something that has a massive user base like the internet and found a way to create a product that helps others and makes a profit at the same time. The brothers also provide a great example for how to overcome challenges in order to grow your business.
This is a different approach to everything that we have seen throughout the year. Finding a problem and fixing it is exactly what we see entrepreneurs do every time they create a new company. This is exactly how I want to go about doing business, find a problem and fix it.
I think this is a really interesting idea and concept. So many have trouble finding the tools to start their own businesses or even to grow off of their ideas. This can encourage people that mistakes are going to be made along the way, but now there is a tool to help your business grow despite the mistakes.