Welcome to the What's Next! podcast with Tiffani Bova.  

This week I am thrilled to welcome Jim McKelvey to the What’s Next Podcast!  Jim is a serial entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist, artist, and author of The Innovation Stack: Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time. He's the co-founder of Square and served as the chairman of its board until 2010, and still serves on the board of directors. In 2011, his iconic card reader design was inducted into the Museum of Modern Art. Jim also founded Invisibly, an ambitious project to rewire the economics of online content. In 2016, he became a deputy chair of the St. Louis Federal Reserve. 

THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR… budding entrepreneurs and those who never saw themselves as the fabled “entrepreneurial type.” 

TODAY’S MAIN MESSAGE… Jim shares his own history with and relationship to entrepreneurship, as well as the process of writing his exciting new book The Innovation Stack: Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time! Jim knows what it’s like to get excited about problems that need to be solved–like the genesis of Square. He takes this time with the What’s Next! audience to demystify the “myth of the entrepreneur” and drive home that it’s not just okay, but normal, to not necessarily be “qualified” to innovate. By definition, no one is yet qualified to do what hasn’t been done! If you’re doing something new you don’t get to copy, and you don’t necessarily get to feel qualified. Your awareness of timing is also huge, you can do the “right thing” at the wrong time and get a terrible result. You don’t get a guarantee, so get comfortable with discomfort and stop worrying about being the most “qualified.” Focus on the problem and fix through the fear! 

WHAT  I  LOVE  MOST… His perspective and his bias for copying and competence. There’s no time to waste! 

 

Running time: 35:40 

 

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The Innovation Stack: Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time