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How to Build an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time

Introduction

The Innovation Stack by Jim McKelvey co-founder of Square is part business memoir, part strategic manifesto, and fully a challenge to the status quo of entrepreneurship. In this refreshingly candid book, McKelvey reveals how groundbreaking businesses aren’t built through conventional strategy or incremental improvement they’re built by solving problems no one else dares to touch.

At the heart of the book is the concept of an “innovation stack” a series of unique, interlocking solutions that, when combined, create an entirely new business model competitors can’t easily copy. McKelvey draws from his own experience building Square, as well as from other legendary disruptors like IKEA, Southwest Airlines, and the Bank of Italy, to show how lasting success comes not from following the rules but from rewriting them.

Written with wit, humility, and a dose of rebellion, The Innovation Stack is essential reading for founders, builders, and creative problem-solvers. It’s a call to stop playing defense and instead, start creating something so original that the world has no choice but to adapt to you.

Top 10 Lessons from The Innovation Stack

1. True Innovation Comes from Solving a Problem That Has No Existing Solution

Great businesses aren’t born from market research they’re built by confronting unsolved problems with creativity, not conformity.

2. An Innovation Stack Is a System, Not a Single Idea

It’s not one breakthrough that makes a business unbeatable it’s the layered, interconnected solutions that evolve as new problems arise. Together, they form a defensible moat.

3. Being Uncopyable Is a Strategic Advantage

When your business is built on a unique set of innovations, competitors can’t just replicate your product they’d have to replicate your entire stack, which is nearly impossible.

4. Competence Is Overrated Inexperience Can Be an Asset

McKelvey argues that not knowing “how it’s supposed to be done” often leads to more creative thinking. Naïveté can spark originality.

5. Don’t Follow Best Practices Create Your Own

Following the path of others guarantees you’ll never outpace them. Real breakthroughs happen when you challenge industry norms, not when you adopt them.

6. Chaos and Confusion Are Signs You’re Innovating

If your team is struggling, questioning, and experimenting, you’re likely onto something original. Discomfort is part of the innovation journey.

7. Build for the Customer Others Ignore

Square wasn’t built for big retailers it was built for individual sellers and small businesses. Disruptors often thrive by serving those the incumbents overlook.

8. Fear of Failure Is the Enemy of Invention

If you’re trying to protect what you already have, you’re not innovating. Embrace uncertainty as the price of building something game-changing.

9. Copying Is Not Competing

Imitators don’t last. The companies that dominate markets are the ones that forge their own paths not those who try to outdo existing players at their own game.

10. Innovation Is a Mindset, Not a Moment

The innovation stack isn’t a one-time achievement it’s an ongoing process of solving the next problem, then the next. It’s how enduring businesses are built.