The a16z Show John and Patrick Collison on Stripe's Growth, Agent Commerce, and the Future of Software
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Apr 28, 2026 
Patrick Collison, Stripe co-founder and tech writer, joins John Collison, Stripe co-founder and payments infrastructure builder, for a fast-moving chat on Stripe’s 34% growth, AI startups driving new demand, agent commerce, stablecoins, blockchains built for massive throughput, retail catalogs becoming buyable inside AI apps, and why software may be shifting toward bespoke, on-demand creation.
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Stripe Sees A Strong Economy Beneath Market Noise
- John Collison says Stripe’s data shows the real economy looked healthy over the last two years despite market volatility and AI drama.
- He attributes part of Stripe’s outperformance to innovators choosing Stripe when launching new products, countries, stablecoin support, and AI-enabled systems.
Agentic Commerce Pushes AI Toward Stablecoin Rails
- Patrick Collison argues stablecoins and AI converge because large-scale agentic commerce will need new payment infrastructure, not just today’s rails.
- He says agents can use Stripe cards now, but future volume will require high-throughput blockchains built for torrents of machine-driven transactions.
Stripe Thinks 2025 Marked An AI Phase Transition
- John Collison says Stripe’s 2025 business cohort marked a phase transition, with more companies starting and the median company performing better.
- He says early 2026 looked even stronger, making Q1 2026 a plausible candidate for the first quarter where AI visibly hits real purchasing behavior.