How do you see Square faring in the future?
I know the stock is on fire for the last couple of years. But, payments is a niche field and there are formidable competetiors like Stripe and Paypal operating in the same area. So, can someone who has more knowledge of Payments comment on how they see Square faring in the coming years? I have an offer from Square for a L5 SDE position with TC as 245k, so trying to understand if it is worth to switch from Amazon.
Rising tide floats all boats
Fair point
Is the offer in the Bay Area?
Seattle
I think they have a strong advantage in the sense that it's what average people think of regarding payments for a small business. Some of these businesses grow and drive more revenue. You sell stuff out of your garage or are starting a small business? You get a Square reader. They were asleep on the wheel for online though, that's where Stripe and PayPal are competitive (but for physical transactions they are king).
Interested in why you think payments is a 'niche' field. It's a huge industry (Visa, MasterCard, PayPal etc). In my mind, payments are the core product / backbone of fintech. Other services can be layered on top of it, ie lending, payroll etc. Companies that started innovating in other areas have realized this (look at Kabbage). My view is that payments are less cyclical than most other tech, a lot of which is more discretionary in nature (is advertising). I think we're late in cycle, so would rather find a 'safer' spot for the next few years. I will say, it's probably not as safe as Amazon though. I think if you're looking for a place to get rich in a year or two, Square is probably not the place. If you're thinking Longer term, it makes sense. My guess is that your work life balance will be better.
Thanks for your insights. I would like to think that I am thinking long term. Personally, I like what Square is trying to in terms of serving folks that are not well served by the traditional finance industry, like foodTrucks, small vendors and young folks who don't have credit cards (through square cash). I am looking for a company where I can work for 4-5 years, and ideally even longer. I am trying to avoid a situation where I have to look for another job because the company is doing very poorly. I didn't understand what you meant by being late in the cycle though.
Yoe? If you're senior you may get refreshers if stock goes down badly (which I think will go down badly at some point so your RSUs will be worth nothing and TC will drop sharply). I still think AMZN has a better chance of a runup + if market crashes, it won't go down as bad as SQ. That said, SQ would be always a good acquisition so don't count on RSUs only.
6.
Yeah not sure if you would get good refreshers if stock sinks. It's a risk to take.
I think Square is going to lose ultimately to Zelle in the consumer payments space. Square is doing very well in payment processing, and could potentially keep growing with additional services. I don’t see Square as being able to serve any markets other than small business. Great company. I think their stock may be overvalued.
Still undervalued. I’m high on Square.
Stripe is the competitor I’d be worried about. But Square used to have more competition for retail point of sale. Right now, not so much
Yea, Stripe seems to have started with API first, instead of POS, right? Where as Square started with POS. How likely is it that Square can get a foothold in the API sector, while Stripe is still operating there. I believe there can be multiple players present in this space, but not sure what Square's prospectives are.
Stripe has started rolling out a POS now too
Payments is a commodity business. Square is trying to monetize and grow its other services as quick as it can to give it multiple solid revenue streams. If successful, Square has a ton of upside. If not, the stock is massively overvalued for a payments company.
Curious as well, it'd be interesting jumping to them if they'd have me. The fun times here aren't gonna last unfortunately.