Patrick McKenzie

Timeline by topic

Topics follow the event kinds supplied in this index. Each entry links to its full record in the chronological timeline. Dates retain the precision supplied by the publisher.

Timeline

1. 2000 – 2004Washington University in St. LouiseducationWashington University in St. Louis

   Graduated with a computer science degree and a second degree in East Asian Studies.

   [12][33][29]
2. 2004-07 – 2007-07Moves to Japan as a technical translator in GifuroleSoftopia JapanGifu, Japan

   Placed at Softopia Japan, the Gifu prefectural technology incubator, as a Coordinator for International Relations through an international exchange program.

   [12][16][33]
3. 2006Founds Kalzumeus Software; launches Bingo Card CreatorfoundedKalzumeus SoftwareOgaki, Japan

   Productized a free Java Swing app for teachers on a $60 budget; it passed his $200-a-month goal in its second month.

   [16][30][2]
4. 2007 – 2010-03-30Salaryman engineer at a Japanese megacorproleOgaki, Japan

   After his translator contract elapsed he became an engineer at a large Japanese company he does not name publicly, running the software business on the side.

   [16][42]
5. 2010-03-30Leaves salaried work to run Kalzumeus full-timemilestoneOgaki, Japan

   His last day as a Japanese salaryman; Hacker News marked it with a congratulatory thread.

   [42][30]
6. 2010-06-17Publishes 'Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names'publication

   The essay credited with starting the 'falsehoods programmers believe' genre of software-writing.

   [13][45]
7. 2010-12Launches Appointment ReminderprojectKalzumeus Software

   Twilio-powered appointment reminder calls, texts, and emails for professional-services businesses; deliberately built on recurring revenue.

   [17][2]
8. 2011-06Speaks at MicroConf: 'Software Businesses In 5 Hours A Week'mediaMicroConf

   The talk — later posted with slides and video — telling the Gifu and Bingo Card Creator origin story.

   [16]
9. 2011-10-28Publishes 'Don't Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career Advice'publication[14]
10. 2012-01-23Publishes 'Salary Negotiation: Make More Money, Be More Valued'publication

    His best-known essay; still read hundreds of thousands of times per year a decade later.

    [15][29]
11. 2015-03-09Announces Starfighter with Thomas and Erin PtacekfoundedStarfighter

    A company publishing CTF games as work-sample assessments to replace the technical interview.

    [20]
12. 2015-05Sells Bingo Card Creatormilestone

    Brokered by FE International; roughly five months start to finish, handover mid-May 2015.

    [21][43]
13. 2016Sells Appointment Remindermilestone

    Completed quickly via FE International — 'practically before the virtual ink was dry on my Stripe paperwork.'

    [19]
14. 2016-08Starfighter shuttersmilestoneStarfighter

    The recruiting-CTF startup wound down after about a year and a half.

    [19]
15. 2016-09 – 2022-12Joins Stripe, working on AtlasroleStripe

    Joined seven months after Atlas's February 2016 launch; sold Appointment Reminder as agreed when taking the job.

    [19][35][12]
16. 2021-01-14VaccinateCA spins up from a patio11 tweetfoundedVaccinateCA (Call The Shots, Inc.)

    His January 14 tweet proposed calling providers to map vaccine availability; Karl Yang organized a Discord, the site launched the next morning, and McKenzie became CEO of Call The Shots, Inc.

    [26][38][4]
17. 2021-04-23Expands nationally as Vaccinate The Statesmilestone

    Scaled the call-center-plus-data-broker model to the whole US vaccination effort.

    [22]
18. 2021-08 – 2022-02-03VaccinateCA winds down; Call The Shots dissolvesmilestone

    Operations wound down in August 2021; the 501(c)(3) formally dissolved February 3, 2022.

    [4]
19. 2021-10Starts Bits about MoneyprojectKalzumeus Software, LLC

    The roughly biweekly newsletter on financial infrastructure begins with October 2021 issues.

    [7][6]
20. 2022-12Transitions from full-time Stripe employee to advisorroleStripe

    After six years full-time; he continues to describe himself as a Stripe advisor.

    [2][24][12]
21. 2023Returns to the United States after ~20 years in Japanmilestone

    By the October 2023 Conversations with Tyler recording he is back in the US, describing reverse culture shock; his family roots are in Chicago.

    [29]
22. 2024Launches the Complex Systems podcastmediaComplex Systems

    Weekly Thursday episodes with full transcripts, interviewing builders of institutions and infrastructure; produced under Kalzumeus Software LLC.

    [8][9][25]

Themes

• Systems thinking applied to businessesstatedphilosophy

  His own framing: 'I am a storyteller for some of those layers and the people who build them' — infrastructure layers beneath everything important, with the internet's social organization broadly underestimated.

  [29][9]
• Career realpolitik for engineersstatedmethod

  Engineers create business value, not code; negotiate as professionals; attach to profit centers; never call yourself a programmer. A decade of his career essays turns on the same axis.

  [14][15]
• Radical transparency about business mechanicsstatedpractice

  He published revenue, profit, traffic, and strategy year after year — partly as self-discipline, partly as breadcrumbs for the next founder — before open metrics were fashionable.

  [17][18][19][30]
• Small niche software, marketed not engineeredstatedmethod

  Pick an underserved niche, win it with SEO and content marketing, charge recurring fees, and let distribution — not technical novelty — do the work.

  [16][17][30][34]
• Financial infrastructure as the understudied substratestatedinterest

  Bits about Money treats checks, cards, ACH, debanking, and compliance as systems worth explaining to a general audience — 'a professional journal at the intersection of finance and technology.'

  [6][7][25]
• High-agency small teams beat established institutions in a crisisstatedbelief

  VaccinateCA's stated lessons: speed, software, operations, and communications beat credentialed expertise; nonprofit status and early press were the underrated levers.

  [27][26][38]
• Japan as formative second homestatedinfluence

  Twenty years in Ogaki and Tokyo shaped his methods and material — translation work, salaryman life, and building a US-facing business from rural Japan recur throughout his writing.

  [16][29][33]
• Complicated but not unknowablestatedphilosophy

  The Complex Systems thesis: institutions and infrastructure look impenetrable but yield to investigation; his remedy is interviews with the people who built them plus full transcripts.

  [9][8]
• Editorial independence with disclosed conflictsstatedpractice

  Marked ad reads, florid disclaimers of advisory and investment ties, heavy citation, willingness to correct — and a refusal to retract under pressure from a bank CEO.

  [25][23]
• Work samples over resumesstatedbelief

  Starfighter's founding premise — that hiring should measure demonstrated ability directly, because credential and keyword filters structurally exclude capable engineers — extends his career-advice writing into a company.

  [20][19]

Works and projects

• Kalzumeus Softwareprojectongoing2006

  The umbrella company for his software products, writing, and later media publications — now Kalzumeus Software, LLC, publisher of Bits about Money and Complex Systems.

  [1][3][25]
• Bingo Card Creatorproductcompleted2006Ogaki, Japan

  Bingo-card generator for elementary schoolteachers; Java Swing app turned Rails SaaS; sold through FE International in May 2015.

  [16][21][43]
• Appointment Reminderproductcompleted2010-12

  Recurring-revenue SaaS sending phone, text, and email appointment reminders to professional-services clients; sold in 2016 when he joined Stripe.

  [17][19][2]
• Starfighterprojectcompleted2015-03-09

  CTF-game recruiting startup co-founded with Thomas Ptacek and Erin Ptacek; shuttered August 2016.

  [20][19]
• kalzumeus.comotherongoing2006

  His personal site — 4.7 million words and counting — whose essays on software businesses, careers, and Japan made patio11 a fixture of early SaaS culture.

  [1][30]
• Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names (essay)otherpublished2010-06-17

  Catalog of wrong assumptions software makes about names; credited with spawning a genre of similar lists.

  [13][45]
• Don't Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career Advice (essay)otherpublished2011-10-28[14]
• Salary Negotiation: Make More Money, Be More Valued (essay)otherpublished2012-01-23

  His best-known essay; Conversations with Tyler reports it is still read hundreds of thousands of times a year with millions of dollars in documented reader raises.

  [15][29]
• VaccinateCA / Vaccinate The Statesprojectcompleted2021-01-14United States

  Volunteer-built shadow data infrastructure for COVID-19 vaccine availability, run through the 501(c)(3) Call The Shots, Inc.; wound down August 2021 and dissolved February 2022.

  [4][26][22]
• Bits about Moneyotherongoing2021-10

  His roughly biweekly newsletter — 'a professional journal at the intersection of finance and technology' — published by Kalzumeus Software, LLC.

  [6][7][25]
• Complex Systems podcastrecordingongoing2024

  Weekly Thursday interviews with builders of systems and institutions, published with edited full transcripts.

  [8][9]

Appearances

• Patrick McKenzie on Navigating Complex Systems (Ep. 201)Conversations with Tyler2024-01-10

  with Tyler Cowen

  Recorded October 26, 2023: payments trivia, Japan and ambition, Tether skepticism, the internet as a Great Work, and reverse culture shock after returning to the US.

  • transcript: https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/patrick-mckenzie/
  [29]
• Complex Systems (host)complexsystemspodcast.com2024

  Ongoing host duties: weekly interviews plus solo episodes such as the February 2025 'On editorial standards and independence.'

  • audio: https://www.complexsystemspodcast.com/episodes/editorial-standards-and-independence/
  [8][9][25]
• With Few Details From Health Officials, Volunteers Create COVID-19 Vaccine DatabaseNPR (All Things Considered / KQED)2021-01-26

  with Lesley McClurg

  Broadcast segment on VaccinateCA's first week; he explains the call-the-pharmacies idea that started the project.

  • article: https://www.npr.org/2021/01/26/960855949/with-few-details-from-health-officials-volunteers-create-covid-19-vaccine-databa
  [38]
• Stripe Atlas with Patrick McKenzieSoftware Engineering Daily2018-05-08

  with Jeff Meyerson

  SED581: how Atlas lowers the activation energy of starting an internet business, plus his own business chronology (BCC 2006–2015, Appointment Reminder 2010–2016, Starfighter).

  • audio: https://softwareengineeringdaily.com/podcasts/stripe-atlas-with-patrick-mckenzie/
  • transcript: https://softwareengineeringdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/SED581-Stripe-Atlas.pdf
  [31][32]
• How to Overcome the Biggest Challenges to Your Online BusinessIndie Hackers podcast2017-05-10

  with Courtland Allen

  Episode #013, recorded in person at Stripe's office: the Bingo Card Creator numbers, why he wrote transparently, and the path from consulting through Starfighter to Stripe.

  • audio: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/013-patrick-mckenzie-of-appointment-reminder
  [30]
• How Patio11 built a product business (EP05/EP06)Product People2012-12

  with Justin Jackson

  Two-part interview on building his first product business with $60, the Japanese megacorp day job, and market research tactics.

  • audio: https://productpeople.transistor.fm/episodes/ep05-how-patio11-built-a-product-business-part-1
  • audio: https://productpeople.transistor.fm/episodes/ep06-patio11-on-building-products-that-make-money-part-2
  [33][34]
• Software Businesses In 5 Hours A WeekMicroConf2011-06

  His MicroConf talk on the Gifu years and the Bingo Card Creator origin story; he later posted slides, video, and commentary.

  • article: https://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/06/17/software-businesses-in-5-hours-a-week-microconf-2010-presentation-1-hour/
  [16]

Relations

• Kalzumeus Softwarefounded2006 –

  Founded his umbrella company in 2006 — Bingo Card Creator, Appointment Reminder, and now the LLC publishing Bits about Money and Complex Systems.

  [1][3][16]
• Starfighterfounded2015-03 – 2016-08

  Co-founded with Thomas and Erin Ptacek in March 2015 to sell CTF work-sample assessments; shuttered August 2016.

  [20][19]
• Stripeemployed by2016-09 – 2022-12

  Joined in September 2016 to work on Atlas; after six years full-time he moved to an advisory role around December 2022.

  [19][24][12][3]
• VaccinateCAfounded2021-01-14 –

  Spun up from his January 14, 2021 tweet; he became CEO of Call The Shots, Inc., the 501(c)(3) behind it.

  [26][4][38]
• Thomas Ptacekcofounder2015 –

  Co-founded Starfighter with him in 2015.

  [20]
• Erin Ptacekcofounder2015 –

  Co-founded Starfighter with him in 2015.

  [20]
• Karl Yangcollaborated2021-01 –

  Set up the VaccinateCA Discord on launch night and co-organized the volunteer effort.

  [26]
• Tyler Coweninterviewed by2023-10 –

  Conversations with Tyler Ep. 201, 'Navigating Complex Systems,' recorded October 2023.

  [29]
• Courtland Alleninterviewed by

  Indie Hackers podcast #013, recorded in person at Stripe's office while both worked there.

  [30]
• Jeff Meyersoninterviewed by2018-05 –

  Software Engineering Daily episode on Stripe Atlas, May 2018.

  [31]
• Justin Jacksoninterviewed by2012-12 –

  Product People episodes 5 and 6 on building a product business, December 2012.

  [33][34]

Indexed in

• Thomas Ptacekcofounder2015 –

  Starfighter cofounder — his announcement and 2016 year-in-review are the primary sources for the company's arc and wind-down.

  cited by the Thomas Ptacek index

Claims

• factPatrick McKenzie is widely known online as patio11, a handle he says combines a Puerto Rican friend's nickname for him ('Patio') with his favorite number, chosen on CompuServe circa 1996.[2][3][10]
• factKalzumeus Software is named after a dragon in a long-forgotten high-school RPG campaign; he kept the name because the .com was available.[3]
• factHe attended Washington University in St. Louis (2000–2004 per his LinkedIn), graduating with a degree in computer science and a second degree in East Asian Studies — 'basically a way to say Japanese minus Japanese literature.'[12][33][29]
• factHe moved to Japan right after college in 2004 through an international exchange program (the JET Programme's Coordinator for International Relations track), placed as a technical translator at Softopia Japan, Gifu Prefecture's technology incubator, until his contract elapsed in 2007.[12][16][33]
• factHe has repeatedly said he moved to Japan expecting to firm up business Japanese for a few years and then return to a Japan-facing Microsoft job — a plan born of a misreading of a Wall Street Journal claim that the dot-com bust would end US engineering employment.[29][16]
• factWhen his translator contract ended in 2007 he switched to being an engineer — a salaryman — at a Japanese megacorp he does not name publicly; March 30, 2010 was his last day before running his business full-time.[16][42][33]
• factBingo Card Creator began as a free Java Swing app he built in a day for a Gifu English-teachers' mailing list; in mid-2006 he productized it on a $60 budget and one week of work, aiming for $200 a month in sales — a goal it passed in its second month.[16][33][30]
• factHe reports the first Bingo Card Creator sale came about three weeks after launch at $24.95, about $2,000 in the first year, eventually eclipsing his day-job salary roughly four to five years later; the app moved from Java Swing to a Rails SaaS in 2009.[30][21]
• factOn March 30, 2010 he left salaried work in Japan to run Kalzumeus Software full-time — an event Hacker News marked with a congratulatory thread that drew hundreds of points.[42][30]
• factHe launched Appointment Reminder in early December 2010 — Twilio-powered phone, text, and email reminders for professional-services businesses — and declined an acquisition offer for it that same month.[17][2]
• factHe sold Bingo Card Creator in 2015 through broker FE International in about five months start to finish, with handover in mid-May; the public sale listing discussed on Hacker News priced the business at roughly $57,000.[21][43]
• factOn March 9, 2015 he announced Starfighter with co-founders Thomas Ptacek and Erin Ptacek — a company publishing capture-the-flag games meant to replace the technical interview with direct work-sample assessment; the founders had previously run the MicroCorruption CTF.[20][19]
• factStarfighter shuttered in August 2016 after operating for about a year and a half; he describes it as a business that 'ended up failing.'[19][30]
• factHe joined Stripe in September 2016 to work on Atlas — the product Stripe had launched in February 2016 for incorporating global startups — and, as agreed with Stripe, sold Appointment Reminder around the same time through broker FE International.[19][35][36]
• factAt Stripe he shipped the Atlas guide to 'Starting a Real Business' in late 2016 and authored the April 30, 2018 announcement adding LLC formation to Stripe Atlas.[19][28][37]
• factAfter six years of full-time work at Stripe he transitioned to an advisory role — his LinkedIn dates the change to December 2022 — and he continues to describe himself as a Stripe advisor while 'currently on semi-sabbatical.'[2][24][12][3]
• factVaccinateCA began when his January 14, 2021 tweet proposed that technologists call providers to map vaccine availability; Karl Yang set up a Discord that night, roughly 70 volunteers pitched in the first night, and the site launched the next morning.[26][38][40][41]
• factHe served as CEO of Call The Shots, Inc., the 501(c)(3) doing business as VaccinateCA — about ten organizers, ten employees, and roughly 500 volunteers whose primary method was human-powered phone calls to healthcare providers, principally pharmacies.[4][26]
• factOn April 23, 2021 the project expanded nationally as Vaccinate The States; he describes the operation as the country's largest public dataset on COVID-19 vaccine availability, built by calling providers, collating public sources, and brokering data, working with the federal government, states, counties, and publishers such as Google Maps.[22][26]
• factVaccinateCA wound down in August 2021 once vaccines were ubiquitously available, and Call The Shots, Inc. formally dissolved on February 3, 2022.[4]
• factHe reports VaccinateCA raised about $1.2 million, mostly called in from his own tech-industry network, and that at one point he personally injected about $100,000 as emergency funding.[27]
• factHe writes Bits about Money, a roughly biweekly newsletter on the intersection of tech and financial infrastructure published by Kalzumeus Software, LLC, whose archive begins in October 2021.[6][7][25]
• factHe hosts Complex Systems, a podcast launched in 2024 that publishes weekly on Thursdays with carefully edited full transcripts, interviewing people who built the systems and institutions he covers.[8][9]
• factHe describes himself, while on sabbatical, as having 'wandered into running a multi-publication niche media business' under Kalzumeus Software LLC — Bits about Money plus Complex Systems.[25]
• factIn February 2025, a day after testifying to the Senate Banking Committee, Anchorage Digital's CEO asked him to retract the Bits about Money essay 'Debanking (and Debunking?)'; McKenzie declined and published his reply on kalzumeus.com.[25][23]
• factHe has been a Hacker News member since November 2008 and is among its most-recognized commenters, with over 127,000 karma on the patio11 account, where his profile lists 'Stripe, Starfighter, Appointment Reminder, Bingo Card Creator' as previous work.[10]
• factThe names essay was translated by readers into Japanese and Chinese — he invited translations and linked them from the original post.[13][44]
• factHis homepage states he has written '4.7 million words and counting' since 2006, and his public bio reads 'I work for the Internet.'[1][11]
• factHe lived in Japan about twenty years — Ogaki, Gifu, which he calls his adopted hometown, and later Tokyo — then returned to the United States; in the October 2023 Conversations with Tyler recording he discusses reverse culture shock and notes his parents live in Chicago, where his family is from.[29][16][11]
• factHis 2012 salary-negotiation essay is, per Conversations with Tyler, still read hundreds of thousands of times each year and has documented reader-reported raises in the millions of dollars — a running tally third-party profiles put above $15 million.[29][45][15]
• factHe maintains a public 'standing invitation' for strangers to email him about software and startups, and reports replying to roughly 60% of unsolicited email from Hacker News readers.[5][10]
• stated beliefHe holds that engineers systematically fail at salary negotiation because they treat it as vaguely disreputable rather than a professional skill — 'five very important minutes' that compound into six figures over a career — and that employers, negotiating constantly, are nearly indifferent to the amounts at stake for an individual.[15]
• stated beliefHe argues engineers are hired to create business value, not to program; that they should describe themselves by revenue increased or costs reduced, attach themselves to profit centers, and never let a job title reduce them to 'programmer.'[14]
• stated beliefHe contends that virtually every software system encodes false assumptions about human names — that he has 'never seen a computer system which handles names properly' — and that accepting whatever a person says their name is is the only correct design.[13]
• stated beliefHis self-description, quoted by Tyler Cowen: 'The broad through line of my work is systems thinking applied to businesses. I think the social organization of the internet and its impact on the world are underestimated by almost everyone, including Silicon Valley… I am a storyteller for some of those layers and the people who build them.'[29]
• stated beliefHe says he published revenue numbers, plans, and retrospectives partly to leave 'breadcrumbs for the next person' and partly because forced written planning made him better at executing; readers regularly credit his public writing for starting their own businesses.[30][18]
• stated beliefAfter selling Bingo Card Creator as one-off $29.95 purchases with brutal month-start revenue resets, he resolved his next product would charge recurring subscriptions — a deliberate design choice behind Appointment Reminder.[30][17]
• stated beliefHis stated thesis for Complex Systems: civilization depends on institutions, infrastructure, and technical substrates that are 'complicated but not unknowable,' and the warts-and-all stories of the people who built them are worth telling.[9][8]
• stated beliefReflecting on VaccinateCA, he argues that small, high-agency teams with software, operations, and communications skills can outperform established institutions in a crisis, and that 501(c)(3) status and early positive press were underrated levers for credibility.[27][26]
• stated beliefHe lists 'cryptocurrency skepticism' among his self-described weird hobbies and has repeatedly expressed skepticism about crypto assets while writing respectfully about the financial plumbing around them.[1][29]
• patternAcross 2006–2016 he published detailed year-in-review posts with sales, profit, and strategy for Bingo Card Creator and Appointment Reminder — a transparency practice unusual at the time that made his blog a reference for early SaaS founders.[17][18][19][30]
• patternHis repeatable playbook was niche software monetized through SEO content marketing and AdWords optimization — Dolch sight-words bingo pages, seasonal Halloween demand, early Conversion Optimizer adoption — documented publicly as he went.[16][17][34]
• patternA recurring arc: he operates a system, then writes its canonical public explainer — small SaaS (year-in-review posts), company formation (Stripe Atlas guides), vaccine logistics (the VaccinateCA oral history), and banking (Bits about Money).[19][28][26][6]
• patternEach career turn was pulled by public writing rather than credentials: the blog drew consulting clients, the MicroConf/Hacker News network drew Starfighter's founding, and the essays and track record preceded his hiring at Stripe.[30][42][19][29]
• patternHis output is consistently long-form and infrastructure-focused — multi-thousand-word essays, oral histories, and full podcast transcripts — treating institutions and plumbing, not personalities, as the unit of interest.[15][26][9][6]
• speculationHe has never publicly named the Japanese megacorp where he was a salaryman, and deflected naming the prefectural incubator ('I'm not comfortable telling you which one') — plausibly deliberate discretion about former employers rather than an omission.[16][33]
• speculationFinal sale terms for both products remain undisclosed: the FE International listing publicly priced Bingo Card Creator near $57,000, but closing prices and terms for it and Appointment Reminder were never published in the cited record.[43][21][19]
• speculationThe estimate that VaccinateCA 'likely saved thousands of lives' for about $1.2 million is his own cost-effectiveness judgment, not an independent evaluation.[27][26]
• speculationHis 'semi-sabbatical' media business under Kalzumeus Software LLC looks like a next act rather than a bridge to another employer — the record supports the direction but not the destination.[25][3][2]

Sources

1. Kalzumeus Softwarekalzumeus.com · subject controlled · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

   Subject's own homepage; self-describes writing volume, hobbies, and the Stripe advisory disclaimer.

2. Brief Biography — Kalzumeus Softwarekalzumeus.com · subject controlled · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

   His condensed autobiography and the origin story of the patio11 handle; self-reported.

3. About patio11 — Kalzumeus Softwarekalzumeus.com · subject controlled · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

   Self-description as 'recovering Japanese salaryman' and current Stripe advisor; explains the Kalzumeus name.

4. Charitable Activities — Kalzumeus Softwarekalzumeus.com · subject controlled · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

   Hosted in satisfaction of Call The Shots, Inc.'s legal obligations; his own record of VaccinateCA's dates, staffing, and dissolution.

5. The Standing Invitation — Kalzumeus Softwarekalzumeus.com · subject controlled · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

   His standing offer to read email from strangers about software and startups.

6. Bits about Money by Patrick McKenzie (patio11)Bits about Money · subject controlled · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z
7. Previous issues of Bits about MoneyBits about Money · subject controlled · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

   Full issue archive; earliest issues date to October 2021 and the footer attributes the publication to Kalzumeus Software, LLC.

8. Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzieComplex Systems · subject controlled · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

   Weekly Thursdays; full transcripts included.

9. About — Complex SystemsComplex Systems · subject controlled · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

   States the show's thesis (institutions that are complicated but not unknowable) and its transcript-editing policy.

10. Profile: patio11 — Hacker NewsHacker News · subject controlled · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    His own profile text lists previous ventures (Stripe, Starfighter, Appointment Reminder, Bingo Card Creator) and his open-email policy.

11. Patrick McKenzie — GitHubGitHub · subject controlled · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Bio: 'Working for the Internet.' Location listed as Tokyo.

12. Patrick McKenzie — LinkedInLinkedIn · subject controlled · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Self-maintained profile: Washington University in St. Louis 2000–2004; Coordinator for International Relations at Softopia Japan Jul 2004–Jul 2007.

13. Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Nameskalzumeus.com · 2010 · first person · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z
14. Don't Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career Advicekalzumeus.com · 2011 · first person · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z
15. Salary Negotiation: Make More Money, Be More Valuedkalzumeus.com · 2012 · first person · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z
16. Software Businesses In 5 Hours A Week: Microconf 2011 Presentation (1 hour)kalzumeus.com · 2011 · first person · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    His own writeup (slides, video, commentary) of his MicroConf talk; contains the fullest first-person account of his move to Gifu and Bingo Card Creator's origin.

17. Bingo Card Creator (& etc) Year In Review 2010kalzumeus.com · 2010 · first person · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z
18. Kalzumeus Software Year in Review 2014kalzumeus.com · 2014 · first person · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z
19. Kalzumeus Software Year In Review 2016kalzumeus.com · 2016 · first person · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    The key primary source for the 2016 transitions: Starfighter shuttering in August, joining Stripe in September, selling Appointment Reminder.

20. Announcing Starfighterkalzumeus.com · 2015 · first person · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z
21. What I Learned Selling Bingo Card CreatorKalzumeus Software · 2016 · first person · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Email-course archive post on the 2015 sale of Bingo Card Creator through broker FE International; footer gives a Chicago address for Kalzumeus Software.

22. Solving The Vaccine Data Problemkalzumeus.com · 2021 · first person · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z
23. Bank CEO: Retract your debanking piece? Me: No.kalzumeus.com · 2025 · first person · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    His verbatim reply to Anchorage Digital's CEO, who had requested retraction of a Bits about Money essay after testifying to the Senate Banking Committee.

24. Improving how credit cards work under the coversBits about Money · 2023 · first person · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Contains his explicit statement that he left full-time employment at Stripe while remaining an advisor.

25. On editorial standards and independenceComplex Systems · 2025 · first person · audio · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Solo episode: describes himself as on sabbatical, 'running a multi-publication niche media business' under Kalzumeus Software LLC.

26. The story of VaccinateCAWorks in Progress · 2022 · first person · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    His long-form oral history of VaccinateCA, published as the lead article of Works in Progress Issue 09.

27. Some observations from an EA-adjacent (?) charitable effortEA Forum · 2023 · first person · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    His retrospective on VaccinateCA for the effective-altruism audience: ~$1.2M raised, estimated impact, and lessons on high-agency teams.

28. Stripe Atlas for LLCsStripe · 2018 · first person · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Stripe blog announcement he authored in his Atlas role.

29. Patrick McKenzie on Navigating Complex Systems (Ep. 201)Conversations with Tyler · 2024 · interview · transcript · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Recorded October 26, 2023; transcript covers his self-description, Japan years, return to the US, and payments opinions.

30. How to Overcome the Biggest Challenges to Your Online Business with Patrick McKenzieIndie Hackers · 2017 · interview · audio · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Episode #013 with full transcript; recorded in person at Stripe's office while both worked there.

31. Stripe Atlas with Patrick McKenzieSoftware Engineering Daily · 2018 · interview · audio · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z
32. SED581 — Stripe Atlas (transcript)Software Engineering Daily · 2018 · interview · transcript · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z
33. EP05: How Patio11 built a product business (part 1)Product People · 2012 · interview · audio · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z
34. EP06: Patio11 on building products that make money (part 2)Product People · 2012 · interview · audio · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z
35. Announcing Stripe Atlas—helping entrepreneurs start a global business from anywhereStripe · 2016 · primary record · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Stripe's official announcement of Atlas, the product he later joined Stripe to work on.

36. Stripe Expands Startup Tools With Atlas, For Foreign Companies To Incorporate In DelawareTechCrunch · 2016 · reporting · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z
37. Stripe expands its Atlas startup kit to let founders form LLCsTechCrunch · 2018 · reporting · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Quotes McKenzie in his capacity working on Atlas at Stripe.

38. With Few Details From Health Officials, Volunteers Create COVID-19 Vaccine DatabaseNPR · 2021 · reporting · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    All Things Considered segment reported by KQED's Lesley McClurg; quotes McKenzie.

39. California technologists create website to track vaccinationsNBC News · 2021 · reporting · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z
40. This crowdsourced website tracks where you can get vaccinated in CaliforniaSan Francisco Chronicle · 2021 · reporting · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z
41. These techies created a site for people to find vaccine availability. And people are flocking.SFGate · 2021 · reporting · article · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z
42. Congratulations Patrick — Hacker NewsHacker News · 2010 · reporting · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Community thread marking his last day as a Japanese salaryman before going full-time on his software business.

43. BingoCardCreator.com Sale Page — Hacker NewsHacker News · 2015 · reporting · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Thread on the FE International sale listing for Bingo Card Creator; McKenzie comments on due diligence and the just-completed handover.

44. プログラマの抱いている名前についての誤謬Empty Page · archive · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Rehosted Japanese translation of 'Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names,' linked from the original essay; readers translated it into additional languages.

45. Patrick McKenzie (patio11) — Fintech Writer, Software Entrepreneur & Stripe AdvisorYesPress · reference · webpage · accessed 2026-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Third-party profile; used for corroboration of reach claims (e.g., cumulative reader-reported raises), not as primary authority.

Coverage and method

Scope as of

2026-09-17T01:00:00Z

Coverage supplied by the publisher

• biography
• work
• philosophy
• projects
• media
• beliefs

Method

public-person-index-v1

Tool

soulscrape

Contributors

• Soulscrape research workflow

Assembled

2026-09-17T01:00:00Z

Human review

No review status or review date is supplied. An assembly timestamp does not establish human review.

Open questions

See the supplied open questions

Open questions

• No Wikipedia article or Wikidata item exists for him as of this research date; en.wikipedia's 'Patrick McKenzie' is a South African politician, so the packet omits those identity anchors.
• His date and place of birth are absent from the cited record; a birth year around 1981–1982 is only inferable from his 2004 college graduation and is not asserted.
• He has never publicly named the Japanese megacorp where he was a salaryman, and deflected naming the Gifu incubator as well; whether this is deliberate discretion or coincidence is unresolved.
• Final closing prices and terms for the Bingo Card Creator and Appointment Reminder sales are undisclosed; only the ~$57,000 FE International listing price for BCC is on the record.
• The exact month he moved from full-time Stripe work to the advisory role is loosely dated (LinkedIn: December 2022; his own phrasing: 'after six years').
• His current base is ambiguous in the public record: the October 2023 Conversations with Tyler recording places him back in the US with Chicago family roots, while his GitHub and LinkedIn locations still say Tokyo.
• VaccinateCA's impact figure — 'likely saved thousands of lives' on about $1.2 million — is his own estimate rather than an independent evaluation.
• How his advisory relationship with Stripe intersects editorial coverage at Bits about Money is disclosed by him via disclaimers but not independently governed; both publications are Kalzumeus Software, LLC products.