Startups and other firms created out of Square Mafia
- The idea of Silicon Valley “mafias” first appeared with the Oracle, Facebook and PayPal mafias.
- Former Square employees have launched startups valued at nearly $40 billion cumulatively.
- Insider tracked down 15 members of the “Square mafia” to see what they’re up to these days.
Silicon Valley insiders have long been obsessed with the idea of startup “mafias.”
The “PayPal mafia” was perhaps the most notorious company that spawned the founders of tech giants such as YouTube, Yelp, Tesla and LinkedIn. Facebook and Oracle also have their own mafias of ex-employees who have produced iconic tech companies like Salesforce, Asana and GoodRx.
Recently, attention has turned to the Jack Dorsey-founded fintech giant Square, now known as Block, whose former employees have created and led startups valued at nearly $40 billion, based on private valuations from PitchBook and enterprise values for public companies. from this non-exhaustive list.
“Jack and I initially hired aspiring entrepreneurs—we were purposefully looking for people who had ambitions to start their own company, and we wanted those potential founders to help us build Square,” said Keith Rabois, the company’s former COO. who is now a general partner at Founders Fund and CEO of Opendoor – which is featured on this list.
He added that as Square grew, the company put programming in place designed to teach employees how to be founders, and the startup’s top performers were paired with outside mentors to help them develop skills and learn more about building companies .
“I’ve always told employees that it’s my job to make your job at Square so challenging and fulfilling that you keep putting off leaving to start your own company,” Rabois said. “If your role doesn’t expand in intellectually challenging ways, I’m perfectly comfortable with you leaving.”
Many of these former Square employees have carried over certain core values from fintech to their current ventures, such as focusing on the customer, using technology to elevate businesses and emphasizing consistently strong execution, they told Insider.
“Our purpose at Nextdoor is to cultivate a kinder world where everyone has a neighborhood they can trust, and like Square, we see how empowering communities and small businesses at the grassroots level can truly change how these neighborhoods survive and thrive,” Sarah Friar, said the Nextdoor CEO and former Square CFO.
Some said Square gave them a business model to emulate for their own startups. Others said they met their co-founders or early employees while at the company.
Insider tracked 15 ex-Square employees in their current ventures, ranging from launching multibillion-dollar public companies to running high-profile VC firms. Here’s what they’re up to now.
Rent-to-own startup Divvy Homes, co-founded by former Square chief product officer and funding leader Adena Hefets, declined to be included on this list.
