Tag: Jim McKelvey

Tech companies need techies – coders – who can write computer code, develop the virtual nuts and bolts of software needed to make things work in the internet age. St. Louis and many other cities have a shortage of coders and Square co-founder, Jim McKelvey is doing something to solve the problem.

Hear about his new venture LaunchCode that pairs newbie coders with veterans in an apprenticeship program that will increase the talent pool and help create new jobs. Olin Business School MBA’14 Kasey Joyce talks to McKelvey about LaunchCode.

Photo credit: Code, Michael Rosenstein, Flickr, Creative Commons

Jim McKelvey wanted to build electric cars, but his friend Jack Dorsey said he didn’t know anything about building cars. So, the two entrepreneurs decided to work on a software project….after many ideas, rejected or abandoned, they came up with what looks like a simple device called “Square.” It’s simply revolutionizing the way commerce works.

McKelvey shares the backstory on Square’s creation with MBA’14, Kasey Joyce in this segment of an interview recorded recently when Jim was on campus to talk to students in the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Platform.

Jim McKelvey is a serial co-founder. From a glass-blowing factory in St. Louis to Square, a high-tech mobile payment system that is disrupting the way people pay for goods and services around the world, McKelvey is a 21st century entrepreneur.

McKelvey visited Olin and spent a few hours with students in the entrepreneurship concentration talking about startups, problem-solving, and why it’s good to have a partner when you start a business.

Olin MBA’14 student Kasey Joyce interviewed McKelvey Nov. 1, 2013. This is the first in a video series of Kasey’s one-on-one interview with Jim.

Video by Sohrab Golestani and edited by Tucker Pierce, both are WUSTL undergrads.

Photo credit: Sid Hastings/WUSTL Photos