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Buy Now, Pay Later: The Extraordinary Story of Afterpay
The fascinating behind the scenes story of the brash Aussie technology start up that changed the way a whole generation around the world does their shopping.
Millennials love it. Amateur investors made millions out of it, and its founders became billionaires. But professional investors steered clear, regarding it as over-valued. In a few short years, the Australian startup Afterpay has put a rocket under consumer finance and birthed a global industry. It pioneered the four-payments model that allows customers to bypass credit cards for online shopping and budgeting, with the cost borne by the retailer. Just five years after it was founded, Afterpay had changed the way a generation went shopping, how brands from big banks to fashion labels win customers, and how institutions value companies.
Buy Now, Pay Later recounts the dramatic behind-the-scenes story of the founding and rise of Afterpay. It reveals the network of business and personal relationships that enabled the company to finance its speedy growth and the maneuevring that enabled it to escape regulation for years, as well as the near-death experiences and rising concern that it is getting young people hooked on debt. Drawing on years of on-the-ground reporting and interviews with key figures involved in their rollercoaster ride, this is the Afterpay story told in full.
Millennials love it. Amateur investors made millions out of it, and its founders became billionaires. But professional investors steered clear, regarding it as over-valued. In a few short years, the Australian startup Afterpay has put a rocket under consumer finance and birthed a global industry. It pioneered the four-payments model that allows customers to bypass credit cards for online shopping and budgeting, with the cost borne by the retailer. Just five years after it was founded, Afterpay had changed the way a generation went shopping, how brands from big banks to fashion labels win customers, and how institutions value companies.
Buy Now, Pay Later recounts the dramatic behind-the-scenes story of the founding and rise of Afterpay. It reveals the network of business and personal relationships that enabled the company to finance its speedy growth and the maneuevring that enabled it to escape regulation for years, as well as the near-death experiences and rising concern that it is getting young people hooked on debt. Drawing on years of on-the-ground reporting and interviews with key figures involved in their rollercoaster ride, this is the Afterpay story told in full.
408 pages, Paperback
Published August 14, 2021
19 people are currently reading
161 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 29, 2021
This book provided some good insight into the evolving BNPL space in Australia and around the world, which given its expanding growth is a valuable knowledge base to develop. The authors are financial journalists and this story is written primarily from the financial markets perspective, likely due to the type of information the authors had access to, which given Afterpay’s early public listening is a lot of required disclosures.
What did I learn from this book?
- the value of a technology fund can be completely divorced from the underlying business of the company, not necessarily the value as that is difficult to determine, but from the core business and what profits and assets it holds. That can be said for a lot of the big tech companies, they use cheap funding to raise the stakes to the point of saturating the disrupted market to the point they become dominant and so cannot be ignored. The link between value and profit can be tenuous.
- one of the key effects that is heralded about Afterpay (and other products) is that it encourages consumers to buy more (this appealing to retailers) but not take on unaffordable debt (through credit cards), but this leans in to the mentality of unregulated capitalism - why do we want to be encouraging people to be spending more of stuff, for the sake of being able to because they have access to credit, or the ability to defer payment. But maybe that is a bigger conversation about the drivers of economic growth being more and more consumption without a re-examination of what is the point of it all?
- and lastly, that there needs to be a balance between innovation and entrepreneurship and regulatory action.
What did I learn from this book?
- the value of a technology fund can be completely divorced from the underlying business of the company, not necessarily the value as that is difficult to determine, but from the core business and what profits and assets it holds. That can be said for a lot of the big tech companies, they use cheap funding to raise the stakes to the point of saturating the disrupted market to the point they become dominant and so cannot be ignored. The link between value and profit can be tenuous.
- one of the key effects that is heralded about Afterpay (and other products) is that it encourages consumers to buy more (this appealing to retailers) but not take on unaffordable debt (through credit cards), but this leans in to the mentality of unregulated capitalism - why do we want to be encouraging people to be spending more of stuff, for the sake of being able to because they have access to credit, or the ability to defer payment. But maybe that is a bigger conversation about the drivers of economic growth being more and more consumption without a re-examination of what is the point of it all?
- and lastly, that there needs to be a balance between innovation and entrepreneurship and regulatory action.
October 17, 2021
Rare to have a stock that splits people into two polarised camps of ‘believers and non-believers’, resulting in wild share price swings. On one side, the attractive value propositions to both consumers and merchants and viral user growth with a near cultish following, and on the other, concerns about lending quality, durability of the model through the credit cycle, dilutive capital raisings and the threat of regulation.
October 2, 2021
I have to confess, I didn’t finish this read.
The beginning of Buy Now Pay Later was really interesting. I learnt the history and origins of some of Australia’s biggest retail brands. However, once the Afterpay story began, I was put off with the privilege and fawning of Founders Anthony Eisen and Nick Molnar. This is far from a ‘local boys done good’ story, privileged upbringings and abundance of opportunity were the key factors that brought about one of Australia’s successful business stories.
Maybe, for me, the timing was off to be reading of such success and excess when we are still in lockdown and people around me are losing their jobs, homes and suffering from stress. I just got a slightly icky feeling as co-authors Jonathan Shapiro and James Eyers scattered the pages with pats on the back for a bunch of businessmen.
Buy Now Pay Later is a telling of one of Australia’s biggest success stories. I just wish this version had a more balanced view and a touch of humility along the way.
The beginning of Buy Now Pay Later was really interesting. I learnt the history and origins of some of Australia’s biggest retail brands. However, once the Afterpay story began, I was put off with the privilege and fawning of Founders Anthony Eisen and Nick Molnar. This is far from a ‘local boys done good’ story, privileged upbringings and abundance of opportunity were the key factors that brought about one of Australia’s successful business stories.
Maybe, for me, the timing was off to be reading of such success and excess when we are still in lockdown and people around me are losing their jobs, homes and suffering from stress. I just got a slightly icky feeling as co-authors Jonathan Shapiro and James Eyers scattered the pages with pats on the back for a bunch of businessmen.
Buy Now Pay Later is a telling of one of Australia’s biggest success stories. I just wish this version had a more balanced view and a touch of humility along the way.
Read
September 4, 2024Buy Now, Pay Later: The Extraordinary Story of Afterpay" chronicles Afterpay's transformation into a major player in the BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) sector. The book details the app's innovative model that allows users to split payments into installments, revolutionizing the retail experience. It also examines how Afterpay's success has influenced BNPL app development and reshaped financial technology
May 3, 2025
What didn't bore me with a family history retelling the likes of which haven't been painted with such craftless brushstrokes since Matthew decided to write the genealogy of Christ - was nothing more than a retroactive reinterpretation of a simple truth that dared not to be spoken; two men stole someone else's idea and repackaged it into a different market.
Absolute slop. Served on a bed of printer ink and tree bark.
Absolute slop. Served on a bed of printer ink and tree bark.
Read
November 3, 2025The story of Afterpay truly shows how innovative fintech ideas can change consumer habits worldwide. It’s amazing how Buy Now, Pay Later has evolved into a mainstream payment model. With the right BNPL app development company, startups today can build similar flexible payment platforms that combine convenience, trust, and seamless user experience.
November 25, 2021
This book had a lot of detail, names, traders, values which whilst important made it very dry so it took me a while to read and at points I skim read. At times it felt more like a book on the workings of markets in general rather than afterpay as a company itself. Maybe I was expecting the wrong thing but other business books manage to be a bit more personal / engaging.
September 5, 2021
Fast paced, enjoyable read on Afterpay. A management team who has excited flawlessly and a business that has gone viral - both unparalleled achievements on the ASX over the past 20 years - makes this a compelling read. Some good insights into those that invested in the business.
December 30, 2021
Good history of the e-commerce sector here in Australia. Great book and insights into how afterpay bad breakneck growth. However at time I found the author repeating the same points several times making the book more drawn out then it should be.
November 10, 2021
Excellent in-depth report on the rise of Afterpay.
November 11, 2021
A breezy read - I enjoyed it
October 29, 2022
Far too long, self-indulgent and so boring.
January 1, 2024
Did not finish. Was not quite what I expected
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews