In 2009, I lost a sale at my glass studio because I couldn’t accept a credit card. It was a $2,000 piece of glass. The customer had the money. I just had no way to take it.
That problem, a small merchant locked out of the payments system, turned into Square. My co-founder Jack Dorsey and I built something that let anyone accept a card payment anywhere. Square grew into Block, Inc., one of the most significant fintech companies in the world. I still serve on the board.
I also serve on the board of Emerson Electric, and I’m a co-founder and General Partner at FINTOP Capital, a venture fund focused on B2B fintech. My newest ventures are Kronto (formerly Passcom), founded in 2025 to tackle a different unmet need for small businesses, and FastTrials, also founded in 2025, which is working to streamline the clinical trial process.
I wrote The Innovation Stack to explain the pattern I’ve seen in companies that do something genuinely new: not to disrupt, but to solve a problem no one else has solved. The card reader design is in the permanent collections at MoMA and the Smithsonian.
I founded LaunchCode because talent is everywhere but opportunity isn’t. It gives anyone a free path into a tech career. No tuition, no debt. Thousands of people have gotten jobs through it.
I put my name on the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis because I believe in what they’re doing: rigorous technical education, independent inquiry, and the kind of collaboration that doesn’t care about boundaries. Washington University is a top engineering institution and I’m proud to be associated with it.
I’m based in New York City. I speak at conferences on innovation, entrepreneurship, and how to build a business that has genuinely never been built before. For speaking inquiries, contact CAA Speakers.
Through the things I do and the people I meet, I try to be a conduit to ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship. I want to explore. I want to solve problems. And to inspire others to do the same.
Common questions
Who is Jim McKelvey?
Jim McKelvey is an American entrepreneur, author, and keynote speaker. He is the co-founder of Square (now Block, Inc.), which he started with Jack Dorsey in 2009. He is the author of The Innovation Stack, founder of LaunchCode, and a board director at Block and Emerson Electric. He is based in New York City.
What is The Innovation Stack?
The Innovation Stack: Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time is Jim’s 2020 book published by Portfolio/Penguin. It explains how world-changing companies are built on interlocking innovations that make them impossible to copy, told through the story of Square's early battle against Amazon.
What companies has Jim McKelvey founded?
Jim co-founded Square (now Block, Inc.) with Jack Dorsey in 2009. He also founded LaunchCode (2013), Third Degree Glass Factory (2002), Invisibly, FINTOP Capital (2017), Kronto (2025), and FastTrials (2025).
What is Jim McKelvey working on now?
As of 2026, Jim serves on the boards of Block, Inc. and Emerson Electric. He is a General Partner at FINTOP Capital and is actively building two new ventures: Kronto (formerly Passcom), focused on small business solutions, and FastTrials, working to streamline the clinical trial process. He continues to keynote speak internationally on innovation and entrepreneurship.
How can I book Jim McKelvey as a keynote speaker?
Jim McKelvey is represented by CAA Speakers. He speaks on innovation, entrepreneurship, fintech, and building businesses that have never been built before. Contact CAA Speakers.
What is LaunchCode?
LaunchCode is a nonprofit Jim founded in 2013 that provides free tech education and job placement. It creates pathways into technology careers for people who wouldn't otherwise have access. No tuition, no prerequisites. Thousands of graduates have gone on to full-time tech jobs.