Commerce pivot story / founded 2009
Square pivot story
A tiny card reader grew into a financial operating system.
Card dongle -> money toolkit
Before
A simple phone-based card reader for small sellers.
to
After
A broader payments, banking, and business tools platform.
The pivot story
Square began with a hardware dongle, then expanded into software, payroll, lending, Cash App, and merchant services.
Why it worked
It gave tiny businesses the financial tools that used to belong to larger retailers.
Known for
Small business payments
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