Stripe Snags Will Gaybrick As First CFO

Well-known and highly valued payments startup Stripe (last valuation clocked in at $5 billion) has appointed its first-ever CFO. Will Gaybrick will be signing on with Stripe, despite the fact that his background in software engineering makes him something of a surprise for this role.

CEO Patrick Collison noted that the main priority for Stripe in choosing the person for this role was a technical understanding of the product line. Gaybrick’s background in software development makes him an ideal fit.

“It’s much more operationally key just because [we] are moving so much money every day,” Collison said.

Gaybrick has already had a pretty good seat in observing the day in and day out at Stripe, as for the last ten months his former bosses at Thrive Capital have been investors. He will lead the firm’s 15-person finance team.

Before joining Thrive in 2011 as a general partner, Gaybrick was a software engineer for Jumo and Hunch. And on top of all that, he also has a law degree.

All of that aside, however, Stripe’s CEO insists this is about growing the firm and the transactions it processes, not taking a run at going public imminently.

“There’s a pattern of a CFO joining tech companies to chaperone through the IPO process, and this is not that,” Collison said. “I hope some day in the future we are working with Will through whatever liquidity mechanism or mechanisms the company pursues. But that’s absolutely not the focus today. That’s years out in the future.”

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