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2 interviews · 10 quotes
In conversation
In 2009, a St. Louis glassblowing artist and recovering computer scientist named Jim McKelvey lost a sale because he couldn’t accept American Express cards. Frustrated by the high costs and difficulty of…
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The area under the curve over time is greater if you keep your prices low than if you jack them up to maximise revenue. I'd get kicked out of a business school for saying something like that, but it's true.
— Jim McKelveyCo-Founder of Square & Mobile Payment Pioneer
Most people don't know why an airplane stays in the air, but they'll still get on and fly to another continent.
— Jim McKelveyCo-Founder of Square & Mobile Payment Pioneer
Most people I would consider world-class, successful entrepreneurs never volunteered for the job. They were kicked out like the guy who offended the king and was kicked out of the city walls.
— Jim McKelveyCo-Founder of Square & Mobile Payment Pioneer
You should try and copy everything you possibly can! It's just that if you run out of alternatives, if you run out of options to copy, you will realise that your entire life has conditioned you to not only be a great copier, but to hesitate when copying is no longer an option.
— Jim McKelveyCo-Founder of Square & Mobile Payment Pioneer
Doing something that has never been done before is terrifying… all the people who love you will tell you not to do it… not because they're jealous, but because they're genuinely scared for you… they're worried for your wellbeing. If you venture outside that wall, you are really somebody who has traded security and certainty for freedom and risk.
— Jim McKelveyCo-Founder of Square & Mobile Payment Pioneer
I also want to dispel the hero-myth of entrepreneurs, that they're somehow super-gifted individuals who are better than me or the people I know. I don't know any like that – my friends sleep late, smell funny, do stupid stuff and have weird joint problems. I don't know any superhumans.
— Jim McKelveyCo-Founder of Square & Mobile Payment Pioneer
You should try and copy everything you possibly can! It's just that if you run out of alternatives, if you run out of options to copy, you will realise that your entire life has conditioned you to not only be a great copier, but to hesitate when copying is no longer an option.
— Jim McKelveyCo-Founder of Square & Mobile Payment Pioneer
Most people I would consider world-class, successful entrepreneurs never volunteered for the job. They were kicked out like the guy who offended the king and was kicked out of the city walls.
— Jim McKelveyCo-Founder of Square & Mobile Payment Pioneer
I also want to dispel the hero-myth of entrepreneurs, that they're somehow super-gifted individuals who are better than me or the people I know. I don't know any like that – my friends sleep late, smell funny, do stupid stuff and have weird joint problems.
— Jim McKelveyCo-Founder of Square & Mobile Payment Pioneer
Doing something that has never been done before is terrifying… all the people who love you will tell you not to do it… not because they're jealous, but because they're genuinely scared for you… they're worried for your wellbeing.
— Jim McKelveyCo-Founder of Square & Mobile Payment Pioneer
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