Alyssa Henry

Block ft. Jack Dorsey - A controversial hack week project becomes the #1 financial services app

Jack Dorsey, Brian Grassadonia, Alyssa Henry, Rolof Boerta

Founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey, Block Inc. disrupted the payment industry by offering free hardware and standardized fees to small businesses, a strategy that included a controversial exclusive deal with Starbucks which initially caused significant financial losses. The company pivoted its Cash App division from a money-transfer tool into a comprehensive financial ecosystem serving the unbanked population, eventually driving half of the company's total revenue after implementing fee-generating features under a strict 2016 profitability deadline. Demonstrating its culture of long-term strategic bets, Block acquired Australian buy-now-pay-later provider Afterpay for $29 billion in 2021 to integrate its merchant and consumer networks into a unified financial platform.