The Innovation Stack

The Innovation Stack chronicles Square co-founder Jim McKelvey's journey building a payments company that successfully competed against Amazon. Through firsthand experiences and historical case studies, McKelvey documents how entrepreneurs solve complex problems when no roadmap exists. McKelvey examines other companies that achieved market dominance through innovation stacks - interconnected sets of business solutions that create a competitive moat. The narrative follows pioneers like Bank of Italy founder A.P. Giannini and Southwest Airlines' Herb Kelleher as they built industry-changing organizations. Square's story serves as the central case study, showing how the company developed novel solutions for payment processing, risk assessment, customer service, and hardware design. McKelvey details the specific challenges they faced and the innovative approaches required to overcome established industry barriers. The book presents a framework for understanding how truly revolutionary companies succeed not through single innovations, but through building mutually-reinforcing systems that established players cannot easily replicate. This perspective offers insights into both business history and future entrepreneurial opportunities.

Readers describe the book as part entrepreneur biography, part business strategy guide. Many cite McKelvey's storytelling ability and the clear breakdown of how Square competed against Amazon's copycat product. Liked: - Real examples of innovation stacks from Square, Bank of Italy, IKEA - Practical framework for building defensive business advantages - Personal stories and humor throughout - Focus on problem-solving vs pure innovation Disliked: - First third reads like a Square/McKelvey memoir - Repetitive concepts in middle chapters - Limited actionable takeaways for small businesses - Some found the writing style casual/unfocused One reader noted: "The concept is solid but could have been explained in 100 pages instead of 300." Ratings: Goodreads: 4.1/5 (2,100+ ratings) Amazon: 4.5/5 (560+ ratings) BookBrowse: 4/5 Apple Books: 4.3/5 Most critical reviews center on book length and structure rather than core concepts.

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📚 Jim McKelvey is the co-founder of Square (now Block) alongside Jack Dorsey, and he invented their iconic square-shaped credit card reader after losing a sale in his glass-blowing business because he couldn't accept credit cards. 🔄 The term "Innovation Stack" refers to a series of interlocking solutions that companies build to solve complex problems, making it difficult for competitors to copy just one element successfully. 💡 The book analyzes how other "perfectly crazy" entrepreneurs like Clarence Saunders (Piggly Wiggly) and Herb Kelleher (Southwest Airlines) built unique business models that were initially ridiculed but later revolutionized their industries. 🔎 When Amazon tried to compete with Square in 2014 by offering lower prices, they ultimately failed and withdrew from the market within a year - a case study that inspired McKelvey to write this book. 🎨 Beyond his business ventures, McKelvey is an accomplished glass artist whose work has been featured in the Smithsonian and he founded the Third Degree Glass Factory, one of the largest glass art facilities in the United States.