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The Collison brothers plan to run Indie Hackers independently of Stripe.
E-payments player Stripe has acquired Indie Hackers, a knowledge-sharing site for entrepreneurs, for an undisclosed sum.
Stripe, which was recently valued at $9bn, is emerging as one of America’s fastest-growing tech brands, and is hurtling steadily towards becoming a 1,000-person company.
Last week, the company revealed it was bringing its Atlas tool to US businesses to enable them to start up quickly by removing bureaucratic frictions.
Growing the GDP of the internet
John and Patrick Collison. Image: Stripe
The acquisition of Indie Hackers appears to be along the same vein – sharing entrepreneurial knowledge among founders.
Indie Hackers was founded by Courtland Allen a year ago, as a forum to share stories and insights, where aspiring entrepreneurs could go for inspiration and advice.
“At its heart, Indie Hackers is a place for having honest and transparent conversations about starting and growing online businesses,” Allen said.
Very quickly, Indie Hackers started bringing in revenues of $6,000 a month.
However, Allen was juggling the responsibilities of filling ad inventory every month with producing content such as interviews and podcasts.
“Then, in early March, I received a surprising email. I had just stepped off the plane after a long flight to Mexico, and I was waiting in line for a taxi when my phone buzzed. The email was from Patrick Collison, the CEO of Stripe, and the subject was ‘acquire indie hackers’.”
Allen, an admirer of Stripe and the Collisons, said the acquisition will enable him to focus his efforts on improving Indie Hackers in the same way Y Combinator stewards Hacker News.
So what’s in it for Stripe? Well, according to Allen, the company is on a mission to “grow the GDP of the internet.”
He said: “As crazy as it may seem, it’s not a stretch to say that anything that gets more people to start businesses and that helps those businesses succeed is a win for Stripe. Indie Hackers is a natural home for inspiring founders and empowering their growth.”
