I thought this was pretty brilliant.

There has been a good amount of hype with Square in technology news so I decided to sign up and try it myself. Fast forward 6+ months later… I received my newly created Square swiper. Although, I don’t foresee the need to take credit card payments in the near future, I charged myself $1 and here are some quick thoughts.

Overall impressions:
1. Excellent user experience. They nailed the charge entry page, signature, and receipt. There are improvements that could be made, but it is simple and sweet.
2. Pricing seems reasonable. Compared to other merchant accounts, I think the percentages are not bad. I’d be comparing these costs with my current credit card costs if I were a small business. Future marketing campaign for Square?
3. Despite the long turnaround time to get the swiper, it was relatively easy to sign up. 6+ months is way too long to wait though. Should really be closer to 6 days…
4. Slow authorization speeds. This isn’t really Square’s fault than it is At&t’s, but it still does negatively impact my overall experience.

Overall, very positive with a “cool” factor that I think many consumers will like. It will be interesting to see if Square takes off because I can see it becoming quite popular with certain groups (student clubs, field service salesman, flea markets, county fairs..)…

Cool screen shot of my receipt:

Can there be a better decade? I was born in ’81, fashion was colorful, and the music rocked. The team (Hyungsoo was there in spirit!) rocking out at our first C-function…

(photos taken by Ann!)

Had a great time listening to some fantastic speakers at MIT’s Startup Bootcamp yesterday. It was painful waking up at 8AM on a Saturday, but the early speakers were well worth it. In case you are interested, it was streamed live on JustinTV.

Here are two of my favorite quotes from the day:

The difference between stubbornness and visionary is whether if you are right or not. – Bob Metcalfe

“A” people recruit “A” people. “B” people hire “C” people. “C” people hire “D” people. – George Bell

I survived week one. To celebrate, I am crossing my fingers that I will be blessed with a beautiful, healthy niece!

Special thanks to the following good looking team:

(photos provided by wendy)

The story:

The song:

Thank you Young for introducing me to this awesome jam.