Jim McKelvey from Square speaks at the Vistage Executive Summit hosted in Phoenix

During the Executive Exchange session at the Vistage Executive Summit hosted in Phoenix, Jim McKelvey, co-founder of Square, shared how his experiences as a small business owner informed his creation of a new way for anyone with a mobile device to accept credit cards anywhere.

Following his graduation from college, where he earned degrees in engineering, computer science, and economics, McKelvey found himself working as a teaching assistant in glassblowing – a class he had taken on a whim during his senior year. He then used those skills to start small business, selling his increasingly high-value creations. “It’s amazing how good you can get at something if you have to feed yourself,” he said during his interview with moderator Mark Wiskup.

McKelvey has built and operated a number of companies in his career. He says that trying to build a company instead of solve a problem is a bad idea, and that he’s only ever been successful when he’s solving a problem.

The idea for Square, a mobile payment processing system, took root when McKelvey lost a $2,500 sale because he couldn’t accept his customer’s American Express card – a high-priced pain point as a small business owner. “I lost the sale and I was holding an iPhone. I treat technology as my slave. I believe that this thing does everything I want it to do, and I’m upset when it doesn’t.”

He built Square to solve his own specific set of problems as a small business owner. His beta testers took it to the next level, finding tangential uses – such as high-ticket retainers for attorneys – that he never foresaw.

McKelvey’s attitude toward achieving business success is taken directly from his experience as a glassblower. “You have to be willing to sacrifice something that is good usually to get something that is great, either by leaving it or destroying it.”

He laughs and continues, “There’s a lie that’s kind of folded in, that I’m bold and willing to do this. No, I’m usually freaked out when I’m doing this; this is scary to me… Don’t expect to be without fear. You can function and still be afraid.”

To learn more about McKelvey’s story – and watch his glassblowing in action – view this video from The Next List.

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