Key ideas from Jim McKelvey

• Jim McKelvey wrote The Debugger's Handbook as a freshman 'spite book' after criticizing his professor's terrible textbook, earning thousands from publishers
• Square's card reader used the iPhone's headphone jack to avoid Apple's expensive dock connector licensing fees and power restrictions
• McKelvey presented VCs with '140 reasons why this business will fail' to change pitch dynamics from defensive to collaborative problem-solving
• Square survived Amazon's 2014 attack because Amazon only copied 3 of Square's 14 innovations, missing the complete 'innovation stack'
• Before Square, merchants needed $100,000+ in transactions to accept credit cards due to expensive equipment and complex banking requirements
• McKelvey's mother's suicide at age 24 transformed his approach: 'When I find myself in a situation where I think something needs to be done, I no longer sit there and say, well, someone else will probably do it'
• Square's original aluminum reader failed because it conducted Jack Dorsey's heartbeat, interfering with magnetic stripe reading
• The credit card industry had 17+ regulations Square initially violated, but networks like Visa supported them because Square brought millions of new merchants