Elevating the developer experience for every API company
Building SDKs for multiple languages is time-consuming, requires immense resources, and demands exceptional taste. Each language has its own quirks and conventions, and automations are tricky. After Alex Rattray, the founder of Stainless, left Stripe, developers asked him to reproduce Stripe-caliber SDKs for their API. Dissatisfied with the available options, Alex founded Stainless to deliver the quality of his codegen solution to companies of any size and provide polished, idiomatic SDKs to any company with an API.
Why we partnered
At TheGP, we champion visionary entrepreneurs who leverage their deep insights to build high-margin businesses in rapidly evolving markets, particularly those undergoing transformations driven by technological innovation and societal shifts. We believe in the profound impact of improving how people work, especially developers, whose tools and environments are pivotal to their success. This conviction is what originally drew us to Alex and his ambitious blueprint for Stainless.
While at Stripe, Alex built key aspects of the API developer experience. He created the patented codegen system that powers Stripe’s API client libraries and designed the Typescript client for the Stripe API. Alex also shipped redesigned API docs–an essential component of the developer experience Stripe is known for. He saw firsthand how SDKs transformed the developer experience and the effort it took to build them.
Stainless sets itself apart from other SDK generators with an unwavering commitment to quality, informed by years spent refining some of the most eminent and extensively used API libraries in the world. That superior craftsmanship has already made it the SDK generator of choice for a diverse ecosystem of developers, ranging from upstarts like Mux, to foundational AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, to established behemoths like Cloudflare.
What we built together
In an era when APIs are becoming indispensable for integrating services, like LLMs, into applications, Alex’s unique background in developing Stripe’s API codegen system ideally positions him to evolve Stainless into the definitive platform for seamless, high-quality API interactions.
Simply provide Stainless your OpenAPI spec, and they will generate world-class SDKs in popular languages like Python, Typescript, Java, and Go. As your API evolves, Stainless ensures your SDKs remain in sync, liberating your team from the all-too-common headache of version mismatches.
We’ve been partners with Alex and the Stainless team for over a year now, helping him build out of his engineering, product, and GTM teams. We advised on his self-service launch with a unique comms story, set up design resources and mapped the market to help Alex accelerate towards his vision. It’s exciting to play a small part in this journey, and we’re grateful that Alex chose to partner with TheGP as an investor as well.
