303- Jim McKelvey and The Innovation Stack

Square is a financial service, merchant services aggregator, and mobile payment company based in San Francisco, California. Danielle has openly expressed her excitement for this company—but what makes it so special?

In 2009, Square initially started as a solution to mobile businesses without mobile payments. It took Founders Jim McKelvey and Jack Dorsey about 3 years to understand the market at the time, and how they could make an impact in this space. 

They entered the market and were able to provide a small device that could be easily inserted into the audio jack of smartphones. With this convenient hardware and only a 2.75% transaction fee, they quickly divorced the merchant from the shackles of digital wires. 

The successes of these innovations were multi-faceted. The infrastructure for payment processing was no longer costly for a specialized machine, but a small add-on to devices we already own. This also meant that as long as someone had the Square app, they could be a transaction node as well. Square continues to show viral growth, with revenue up year over year.

This week on InvestED, Phil and Danielle welcome podcast guest Jim McKelvey, the co-founder of Square. Jim talks about his book, “The Innovation Stack,” and how innovation ultimately is what impacts a company’s success. What does it take for a start-up to turn into a successful business? Listen to the podcast today to find out. 

Interested in getting your own copy of "The Innovation Stack?" Order it at https://www.jimmckelvey.com.

Learn how to find high-performing, innovative companies with my Four Ms checklist! Click here to download: http://bit.ly/2LzEBQ2

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