The origin

In the early days of Stripe, Patrick and John Collison had a problem every startup faces: getting people to actually use the thing. Most founders would demo the product, then send a follow-up email, then "check in" a week later. The Collisons did something different.

Instead of waiting, they'd say "give me your laptop" and set up Stripe on the spot. Right there, in the meeting, no follow-up email, no onboarding doc, no "when you get a chance." Just done.

Y Combinator made it a principle

Paul Graham and the YC partners loved this so much they coined the term "Collison Installation" and started teaching it to every batch. The idea is part of a larger principle: do things that don't scale. The personal touch of onboarding each user one-by-one is not just acceptable — it's a competitive advantage. You learn what breaks, what confuses people, and what makes them smile.

At YC we use the term "Collison installation" to describe the technique the Collison brothers pioneered. More diffident founders ask "will you try our beta?" and if the answer is yes, they say "cool, we'll send you a link." But the Collison brothers weren't going to wait. When anyone agreed to try Stripe they'd say "right then, give me your laptop" and set them up on the spot.

Why it works

Eliminates friction. The gap between "interested" and "using it" is where most products lose customers. A Collison Install closes that gap to zero.

Builds trust. When someone physically shows up and puts their name before a system, it signals confidence in a way no landing page can.

Catches problems early. You see exactly where the setup breaks in real environments — not in your test lab.

Creates evangelists. People remember the experience. They tell other people. The install is the marketing.

That's literally what we do

CapeClaw exists because self-hosting AI is powerful but the setup is a pain. OpenClaw gives you an open-source AI assistant with email control, Slack access, and connectivity to 50+ services — but getting it deployed securely, configured correctly, and maintained properly requires real expertise.

We handle the provisioning, security hardening, integration configuration, credential management, and ongoing maintenance — with a deep focus on getting the service running the same day we start. The original Collison Install, turned into a service.

Ready for your own Collison Install? See pricing →