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In this episode I sit down with Sam Wen, a partner at Green Visor Capital and co-founder of Square (a $38B company).
You’re probably using Square’s product on a daily basis without knowing it. Square is used by 56 million users that pays with their credit card at small merchants and Starbucks shops. It is this small device that once used the iPhone headphone jack to read credit card and that became this fintech with all sort of payment devices. Look no further than a small grey Square on the payment device next time you go to a shop. This is Square.
Square was co-founded in part by Jack Dorsey (the founder of Twitter), Jim McKelvey, and Sam Wen (our guest today on the show).
In this episode Sam delve into the early days of building Square. Sam shares the inspiration behind creating a simple credit card reader using a smartphone headphone jack and discusses the challenges and triumphs of the startup journey. We talked about the influence of co-founders Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey, and the meticulous attention to product quality that has defined Square's success. We discussed competing against Amazon and being copied by PayPal, alongside their legal challenges and fast growth. This episode offers a rich narrative on innovation, persistence, and building a game-changing fintech company.🚀
Founders - this is the story behind the most successful fintech! 📈
Have a great episode!
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Learn more about Sam, and Green Visor.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction and Guest Background
01:20 Early Career and University Days
02:45 First Job at Boeing
05:20 Transition to Square
09:31 Founding Square and Early Challenges
14:40 Square's Product Development
28:48 Fundraising and Market Strategy
39:39 Competing in the Payment Industry
41:53 Driven by Design: The Early Days of Square
42:19 Competing with Giants: Amazon and PayPal
43:03 The Simplicity of Square's Hardware
45:03 Square's Legal Challenges and Industry Impact
46:27 The Philosophy Behind Square's Product Development
54:15 Square's Partnership with Starbucks
55:48 The Intensity of Working at Square
58:21 Reflecting on the Square Journey
01:01:44 Closing
From an idea to a $38B business, the early stories of Square - Sam Wen (Co-founder of Square, Partner at Green Visor Capital) - S2 Ep18