The startup tactic that became our entire business model.
In the early days of Stripe, Patrick and John Collison faced a common startup challenge: getting people to actually use their product. Most founders would demo their work, hear “looks cool, I'll try it later,” and watch leads disappear. The Collisons took a different approach.
Instead of waiting, they'd say “give me your laptop” and set up Stripe right there in the meeting. No follow-up emails, no onboarding documents, no delays. Just immediate implementation.
Paul Graham and YC partners embraced this method so thoroughly they coined the term for it and taught it to every batch. The philosophy reflects a broader YC principle: do things that don't scale. Early-stage companies benefit from manually onboarding users one at a time — it reveals what breaks, confuses people, and builds loyalty.
“At YC we use the term ‘Collison installation’ for the technique they invented... When anyone agreed to try Stripe they'd say ‘Right then, give me your laptop’ and set them up on the spot.”— Paul Graham, Do Things That Don't Scale
ReadyClaw addresses a real problem: self-hosted AI is powerful but complex to set up. OpenClaw is open-source and connects to 50+ services, yet proper configuration, security hardening, and integration require significant effort.
We show up — in person or remotely — and handle the entire deployment. Install, configure, secure, and validate everything before we're done. A modern application of the original Collison install concept.
Ready for your own Collison install? See pricing →