Question 1

True or false: John Collison’s first startup, Auctomatic, was sold for $5 million when he was 17.

Accepted Answer

True. He co-founded Auctomatic with Patrick at age 16; it was acquired by Live Current Media for $5 million in 2008.

Question 2

True or false: John Collison co-founded the online payment platform Stripe with his brother Patrick.

Accepted Answer

True. John and Patrick Collison launched Stripe in 2010, revolutionizing online payments and becoming one of the most valuable private tech companies.

Question 3

True or false: John Collison dropped out of Harvard to co-found Stripe with his brother Patrick.

Accepted Answer

True. John Collison left Harvard, while his brother Patrick left MIT, to co-found Stripe, now a leading online payments company.

Question 4

True or false: John Collison was a professional Irish dancer before becoming a programmer.

Accepted Answer

False. John was a child programming prodigy, not a dancer. He won the Young Scientist Exhibition for coding.

Question 5

True or false: John Collison holds a Guinness World Record for the fastest IPO in tech history.

Accepted Answer

False. Stripe has never had an IPO. John holds no such record; this is a fabricated achievement.

Question 6

True or false: John Collison authored a programming book on Lisp at age 16.

Accepted Answer

True. At 16, he wrote a book on Lisp programming, published by Apress, showcasing his early genius.

Question 7

True or false: John Collison is the co-founder of the online payment company Stripe.

Accepted Answer

True. John Collison and his brother Patrick founded Stripe in 2010, a platform that processes online payments for businesses worldwide.

Question 8

True or false: John Collison was the youngest person ever to receive a Thiel Fellowship.

Accepted Answer

False. John Collison did not receive a Thiel Fellowship. His older brother and Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison was a Thiel Fellow.

John Collison Trivia Questions