Inside Block (Square): From 2009 to Now Into a $601 million business
Startup Type:
Headquarter: San Francisco, USA
Current Status: Active (public since 2015; renamed Block, Inc.)
Founders: Jack Dorsey, Jim McKelvey
Founded Year: 2009
Investors: Khosla Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Goldman Sachs
Funding Raised: $601 million
What Is the business model of Block (Square)?
Financial technology company known for Square card readers and Cash App; makes money through transaction fees on payments and merchant services
How Block (Square) got started?
Conceived when McKelvey couldn’t sell glass art due to missing credit card payment—Dorsey and McKelvey built a smartphone card-swipe dongle and launched Square in 2010 to enable small merchants to accept cards
what growth strategy has Block (Square) followed?
Focused on design and simplicity for small businesses, expanding from a card reader into a full ecosystem, which drove massive adoption among micro-merchants
what are the top products/features of Block (Square)
Square card reader and POS, Cash App mobile payments, Afterpay, Tidal streaming
what was the biggest challenge faced by Block (Square)?
Initial skepticism from established banks and payment processors over security and fraud, and later intense competition both from incumbents and other fintechs in digital payments