The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

456: How to Build an Unbeatable Business with Square Co-Founder Jim McKelvey


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Jim McKelvey was a glassblower when he created the idea for the payment platform Square (now Block, Inc.). He was furious that he couldn’t accept certain credit cards as an artist and contacted a former colleague and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey to solve the problem. What took three weeks to build became a three-year journey of creating Square into a banking disruptor inspired by McKelvey’s frustrations. In the 15 years since McKelvey teamed up with Dorsey, Square has grown into a billion-dollar business and beat the world’s best company at absorbing startups—Amazon. 


Listen to Nathan and Jim discuss:

  • Hitting it off with Dorsey when he was his summer intern
  • Realizing how many laws they were breaking with Square
  • Convincing the banking industry to accept Square 
  • Taking on Amazon and winning
  • Researching unbeatable companies throughout history 
  • Why he wrote the book The Innovation Stack
  • How to pitch a product
  • Why it’s better to copy than innovate
  • His new foundr course
  • Plus, excerpts from our live community event 
  • And much more innovation advice...

  • Who do you want to see next on the podcast? Comment and let us know! And don't forget to leave us a 5-star review if you loved this episode.


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      The Foundr Podcast with Nathan ChanBy Foundr Media

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