The Collison Installation Method
Convert interest into adoption instantly by setting up users on the spot
The Collison Installation Method is a user acquisition technique invented by Stripe founders Patrick and John Collison, named and codified by Paul Graham at Y Combinator. The technique eliminates the gap between a user expressing interest and actually starting to use a product. Instead of the typical founder approach of asking 'will you try our beta?' and then saying 'great, we will send you a link' when they agree, the Collison brothers would immediately say 'right then, give me your laptop' and set the person up on the spot. This matters because the gap between expressed interest and actual setup is where most potential users are lost. Every additional step in the activation process — receiving an email, clicking a link, creating an account, configuring settings — is an opportunity for the user to get distracted or lose motivation. The Collison Installation collapses this entire funnel into a single moment of personal interaction.
- The gap between interest and activation is where most potential users are lost
- Every additional step in the funnel is an opportunity for drop-off
- Personal installation creates a social commitment that passive links do not
- Aggressive does not mean pushy — it means eliminating friction at the moment of maximum motivation
- More diffident founders ask for permission while effective ones ask for laptops
- Identify the Moment of Maximum InterestRecognize when a potential user is at peak motivation — right after they say yes to trying your product. This moment is fleeting. The conventional approach of promising to send a link later wastes this peak by inserting a delay. The Collisons recognized that the moment of agreement is the moment of highest activation probability.
- Eliminate All Steps Between Interest and ActivationInstead of sending a link, set the user up immediately. Ask for their laptop, phone, or whatever device they will use. Create their account, configure their settings, run through the first transaction or action with them. The goal is that when you hand back the device, they are a fully active user, not a prospect with a link they may never click.
- Use Physical Proximity to Your AdvantageThe technique works best when you are physically present with potential users — at conferences, meetups, coworking spaces, or in communities like Y Combinator. Plan your user acquisition around situations where you will be in the same room as your target users. Stripe's founders used YC dinners as their primary acquisition venue.
- Create Social Commitment Through Personal SetupWhen someone watches you personally set up their account, a social bond forms that passive digital signup cannot create. They feel a sense of obligation to actually try the product because a real person invested time in them. This social commitment dramatically increases retention compared to self-serve signups.
At Y Combinator, the Collison brothers turned Tuesday dinners into user acquisition events. When any founder mentioned struggles with payment processing or expressed interest in Stripe, they would immediately say 'give me your laptop' and set up the founder's Stripe account on the spot, often completing a test transaction before the dinner ended.
Beyond the laptop installation, Stripe took the unscalable approach further: they delivered instant merchant accounts to first users by manually signing them up for traditional merchant accounts behind the scenes. Users experienced instant setup while Stripe did the laborious paperwork manually.
At Y Combinator, the Collison brothers were famous for aggressive early user acquisition. While other founders with equally urgent problems sat back and waited for users, the Collisons took a radically different approach. They used the YC community — a pool of hundreds of other startups — as their hunting ground, and when any founder expressed interest in trying Stripe, they physically took the person's laptop and set them up immediately. Graham saw this technique repeatedly drive higher activation rates than any other approach and named it after them.