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Who is Jim?

Jim McKelvey is an entrepreneur, glass-blowing artist + philanthropist.

He’s most well known as the co-founder of Square, the financial payments company he started with Jack Dorsey (founder of Twitter). Jim also co-founded the non-profit “Launch Code” and he’s an independent Director of the St. Louis Federal Reserve

Jim’s book, The Innovation Stack, is available for purchase. Or sign up to the email list at the bottom of this post to win 1 of 5 copies we’re giving away to listeners

Topics We Discuss:

the origin story of Square
Square's 14 part "innovation stack" that allowed them to win in this tough market
reducing the cost of a card reader from $1000 to $0.97
going up against Amazon + winning
examples of innovation stacks from other companies
the unbanked + underbanked
his thoughts on digital currencies
invention vs innovation
entrepreneurship vs owning a business
if "billionaires should exist" + his "billionaire moment"
why being a billionaire ≠ happiness

Book Giveaway
We’re giving away 5 copies of Jim’s book to email subscribers, details here:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/jim-mckelvey-square-co-founder/

Timestamps (YouTube)

https://youtu.be/42U2VfWp2Go

00:00:00 Intro
00:00:49 Welcome
00:01:50 Early Career as a Glassblower
00:03:10 Meeting Jack Dorsey
00:05:59 Beginning of Square
00:10:59 Underserved Markets
00:15:13 Studying a Market for Something That Doesn’t Exist
00:19:03 The Unbanked + Underbanked
00:24:49 Square’s Innovation Stack
00:28:21 Invention vs Innovation
00:30:21 Getting Square's First Users
00:33:38 What Were The Large Existing Players Missing?
00:42:22 The Delusion of Innovation
00:45:26 How Square Went Up Against Amazon + Won
00:50:43 Entrepreneur vs Business Owner
00:52:32 His “Billionaire” Moment
00:54:52 Being Treated Like a “Walking Wallet”
00:56:33 Should Billionaires Exist?
01:00:21 Industries That are Ripe for Innovation
01:05:30 Digital Currency
01:08:13 Advice on Investing
01:10:30 "If you inherit wealth, you're not rich"
01:12:24 Being Rich ≠ Being Happy
01:13:44 Philanthropy
01:16:39 Dealing with the hardest period of his life
01:19:33 Wrap Up

Thank you to our partner

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Jim Mckelvey, Co-Founder of Square // The Artist Who Became A Billionaire

Creator Lab - interviews with entrepreneurs and startup founders

Jim Mckelvey, Co-Founder of Square // The Artist Who Became A Billionaire