Patrick Collison
| Patrick Collison | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
9 September 1988 Limerick, County Limerick, Ireland |
| Residence | San Francisco, California, United States of America |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Alma mater | Castletroy College; Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Known for | Auctomatic; Croma; Stripe |
| Notable awards |
Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (2004) BT Young Scientist of the Year (2005) |
Patrick Collison (born 9 September 1988), is an Irish entrepreneur from County Limerick. Patrick is the cofounder and CEO of Stripe, which he started with his brother John Collison in 2010. He was the winner of the 41st Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2005 at the age of sixteen. He lives in San Francisco.
Early life
Patrick Collison was born to Lily and Denis Collison in 1988. The eldest of three children (two younger brothers, John and Tommy), Collison took his first computer course when he was eight years old at the University of Limerick and began learning computer programming at the age of ten.[1]
Collison was educated in Gaelscoil Aonach Urmhumhan, Nenagh, before attending Castletroy College in Castletroy, County Limerick.[2]
Young Scientist
He entered the 40th Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition with his project on artificial intelligence (nicknamed 'Isaac' after Isaac Newton, whom Patrick admired), finishing as individual runner-up.[2] He re-entered the following year, and won first place at the age of sixteen on 14 January 2005.[3][4] His project involved the creation of Croma, a LISP-type programming language.[4] His prize of a €3,000 cheque and a trophy of Waterford Crystal was presented to him by President Mary McAleese.[1] His younger brother Tommy participated with his project on blogging in the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2010.[5]
Auctomatic
After attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States for a time Collison dropped out.[1] In 2007 he set up software company 'Shuppa' (a play on the Irish word 'siopa') in Limerick with his brother John Collison.[6] Enterprise Ireland did not allocate funding to the company, prompting a move to California after Silicon Valley's Y Combinator showed interest. Here, they merged with two Oxford graduates, Harjeet and Kulveer Taggar, and the company became Auctomatic.[6]
On Good Friday of March 2008 Collison, aged nineteen, and his brother, aged seventeen, sold Auctomatic to Canadian company Live Current Media, becoming overnight millionaires.[6][7] In May 2008 he became director of engineering in the company's new Vancouver base.[1][6] Collison attributes the success of his company to his win in the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.[1]
Recent events
Both Collison and his younger brother John were featured on a young Irish persons rich list aired on an RTÉ television show during the 2008 Christmas period.[8]
On 18 July 2009, at the age of 20 and following the publication of McCarthy Report, Collison outlined his ideas for the future of Ireland on popular talk-show Saturday Night with Miriam.[3]
In 2010, Patrick cofounded Stripe, which received backing from Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and Sequoia Capital.[9]
In 2015, Patrick was on the cover of Forbes magazine.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 John Costello (7 January 2009). "Million dollar boy who changed the face of the web". Evening Herald. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
- 1 2 "Maths project wins Young Scientist". RTÉ. 9 January 2004. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
- 1 2 "Saturday Night with Miriam". Saturday Night with Miriam. 18 July 2009. Archived from the original on 1 August 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
- 1 2 Emma O'Kelly (14 January 2005). "Young Scientist of the Year is chosen in Dublin". RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
- ↑ Tommy Collison. "Young Scientist Report on Blogging". Retrieved 8 February 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 "Limerick brothers sell company for millions". RTÉ. 27 March 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
- ↑ "Teenagers become web millionaires". BBC. 27 March 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
- ↑ "Three to Watch". Inside View from Ireland. 5 January 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
- ↑ "Stealth Payment Startup Stripe Backed By PayPal Founders".