.@OpenRouter co-founder Alex Atallah on what convinced him to do the Stripe deal: full autonomy, faster execution, same mission.

"We were not thinking about [selling] at all. I did really respect the company, and do really respect it today. Of possible acquisition options for us, it was my top choice."

"As we fleshed out the reasons why it would make sense for both companies, it got more and more interesting."

"It was really clear how aligned they were with us having autonomy over the brand, roadmap, and product, and keeping OpenRouter doing what it's already doing, just much faster, with a much more serious go-to-market plan."

"There was a bigger picture alignment too. Both Stripe and OpenRouter really want lots of new companies in the world. We don't want everyone to be part of one giant company."

"We want to create really good incentives and streamlined workflows for people to start new companies, on top of reliable and price efficient infrastructure and a marketplace that works."

"I really want that future, and Stripe demonstrated they've been wanting it for many, many years. In many ways, payments and inference are going to blend together for companies of the future."

@alexatallah @amasad