How Jack Dorsey used Square to con VCs

finance.fortune.cnn.com

19 points·quant··14 comments

It is sad that this got 13 upvotes so far. It is scary that this is on the front page of hacker news... the main quote is obviously tongue-in-cheek.

The video is far more relevant and interesting.

I propose: "Square founder Jack Dorsey's talk at Standford (video)"

I will have to watch the video once I can (blocked at work). Thanks for the info!

and he's been telling the same story for as long as Square has existed...

Either Jack Dorsey is a con man, or VC's could care less about losing $5 to $50.

The Square card reader is an amazing device. I do wish my Android phone had the equivalent of a dock connector to allow higher powered accessories, but barring that I'm really excited about the potential of using the phone's audio jack for power and signalling.

This one's been linked on HN before, but if anyone hasn't seen it: http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/01/project-hijack-use...

Misleading title!!

I don't see any "con" here, just a great demo.

Yeah, the title is tongue-in-cheek I'm pretty sure.

What a badass.

And I loved this because I would go around to all these angel investors and VCs and charge them $5 or $50 to show them my new idea.

Great litmus test. Anyone willing to pay to see an idea is probably too naive to be a dependable business partner.

Not really. It's a trivial amount, and it would seem rude to refuse.

Wouldn't it seem much ruder to ask? Or not if you're Jack Dorsey?

I almost said the same thing, then I thought, I guess it depends on your attitude when you ask. Could be a playful thing. So I cancelled my comment. If he came off as rude, they never would have paid him, and this wouldn't be a story.

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