And it's not a PR-designed-totally-artificial-image like Sheryl Sandberg. But they seem to be the real deal.
Wish you guys the best!
the best marketing doesn't feel like marketing. of course it helps that the marketing is backed by a genuinely great product and competent team. but at one time, Google used to be that way and if Stripe ever loses customer trust, their branding will ring just as hollow as Googles "don't be evil" does today.
It's a misconception that all PR initiatives are attempts to mislead or lie to people. The best PR work is completely transparent.
It's the collection of anecdotes like that, the absence of counter-anecdotes, and little things like Patrick still sometimes commenting on HN that paint a fuller picture. Such a person could still potentially be hiding a darker side, but I think it decreases the probability.
People who care about status see "intern" as a low-status label, and well below their "CEO" high-status label.
The fact that he spent time with an intern indicates that he doesn't care particularly about the status of these labels. In many cases this is called "being nice".
I worked at a company with a CEO that did something similar and asked interns to come to his desk to chat, which I did. This practice didn't exactly shield him from being cast as an out of touch billionaire when he ran for President.
no it isn’t. I met one of them, he was super nice. and I’m a very critical person.
chill out. sometimes it just is what it looks like.
> It's not really an either-or situation. They can be genuine, but also heavily trained and coached by PR professionals. It's a misconception that all PR initiatives are attempts to mislead or lie to people. The best PR work is completely transparent.
I’m not casting stones or claiming anyone is being disingenuous. They are both nice people and good at PR.
They both have 'natural born PR' instincts so it's both disingenuous and honest at the same time.
Patrick is open, and way over-intellectual in many circumstances, I see that quite a lot in the Valley where nobody respects anyone else unless they are sure if their IQ/chops. And so you see a lot of overt displays of slightly off topic, overly specific, quixotic communication style, like an professor thinking faster than they can speak. And it's on purpose.
His brother is a more natural corporate communicator.
I'm not saying anything against them, but they are definitely putting on a display.
Without knowing a single thing about their upbringing or personal heritage, I would wager that it's a learned trait ie 'it's their upbringing'.
17 year old kids don't sell their companies alone, usually, their parents are behind the scenes.
Microsoft's 1st important sale to IBM was related to the fact his mother was a colleague of IBM board members, i.e. 'elite networks'.