Jim McKelvey
11 statements across 1 episodes · 2 bullish · 0 bearish · 1 people on the record · first statement Feb 23, 2026 by Jim McKelvey · across every show →
On the record as a speaker too: Jim McKelvey's record, appearances and statements → this page counts the times other people say the name.
Everything said about Jim McKelvey, oldest first
Feb 23, 2026
Feb 23, 2026
Feb 23, 2026 positive
Feb 23, 2026 positive
McKelvey's first trade show CD-ROM generated $70,000 in profit
“And the first one I did, I made 70 grand.
Guy Raz: On one product, on one CD.
Jim McKelvey: On one.
Guy Raz: 70 grand profit.
Jim McKelvey: 70,000 dollars of profit, and that was with the trade association actively suing me and trying to stop me.”
Feb 23, 2026
Feb 23, 2026
McKelvey wrote 'The Debugger's Handbook' as a freshman spite project
“So freshman year, out of stubbornness, I wrote what was basically a spite book. I rewrote the textbook for my intern to computer science class from the perspective of a student, and that book turned out to be pretty popular and actually got me a publisher.”
Feb 23, 2026 neutral
Feb 23, 2026 neutral
Feb 23, 2026 neutral
Square was originally named Squirrel and had an acorn-shaped card reader
“Originally the company was called Squirrel, because we thought squirrels, you know, were cute and saved nuts and thought that was a good payment name. Turns out it was a good payment name, and another company had a payment system called Squirrel, so we pivoted…”
Feb 23, 2026 neutral
Feb 23, 2026
Interdependent 'innovation stacks' protect novel inventions from giant corporate copiers
“If you invent something truly new, you're not inventing one thing. You're inventing a stack of things, and that invention becomes its own protection. And as long as you behave properly, I mean, it turns out there are a bunch of rules that if you follow these r…”