Square: Jim McKelvey. He Lost a $2,000 Sale, Then Built a $10 Billion Company
How I Built This with Guy Raz
- Published
- February 23, 2026
- Duration
- 1h 11m
- Summary source
- description
- Last updated
- Apr 17, 2026
Discusses business.
Summary
Most entrepreneurs think the hardest part of building a company is the product.For Jim McKelvey — co-founder of Square — the hardest part was the system around the product.Because Square wasn’t just competing with other startups …It was competing with regulations, middlemen, entrenched networks, and monopolies designed to keep outsiders out.In this episod…
Show notes
Most entrepreneurs think the hardest part of building a company is the product.For Jim McKelvey — co-founder of Square — the hardest part was the system around the product.Because Square wasn’t just competing with other startups …It was competing with regulations, middlemen, entrenched networks, and monopolies designed to keep outsiders out.In this episode, Jim shares the mindset and tactics that helped Square go from a tiny card reader that processed credit card payments … to a company—now know
Themes
- business