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

Patrick Collison, CEO of Stripe, discusses the evolution of programming paradigms and the potential of AI in software development. He reflects on his early programming experiences with Smalltalk and Lisp, and how those languages influenced his views on development environments. Collison emphasizes the importance of APIs and data models in shaping organizations and business outcomes, citing iOS's early success compared to Android as an example. The conversation touches on Stripe's v2 APIs, the challenges of migrating existing systems, and the need for unified abstractions. He also shares his thoughts on the impact of AI on productivity, the future of economic measures, and his work on foundational models for biology.