Block insiders talk about how Jack Dorsey turned Square into a multidimensional financial services giant

"For Oakland, California-based Block, the growing pains were real as it has evolved from a single-product company to one that now facilitates payments (and buy-now-pay-later features) for both customers and merchants, has its hands in the crypto space, and even offers a streaming platform for musicians and creators."

"The numbers bear it out: After going public in 2015, Block saw its stock price peak in 2021 at more than $270. Like many other tech companies, Block has seen its shares fall from their pandemic-era highs. The stock is down roughly 26% in 2025 and the company fell short of Wall Street's projections for its third-quarter earnings in November."

"Changing from a Square to a Block required fundamental organizational and philosophical shifts, which have been the most important aspect of Block's evolution. "We decided to 'functionalize' the company," says Owen Jennings, Block's business lead. "The most obvious [thing] we could bring to the world was connecting the two worlds: consumers and sellers," Jennings says. "But it wasn't happening based on the structure we had. Since the reorganization, "it feels like we're one massive company," Jennings adds, but those changes took time to implement. "Functionalization happened within 18 months," says Nick Molnar, Block's sales and marketing lead and the cofounder of Afterpay, who decided to stay with Block when it acquired Afterpay in early 2022."

Block transitioned from a single-product company into a multifaceted platform handling payments, buy-now-pay-later features, crypto, and streaming for creators. The company reached a stock peak above $270 in 2021 and then experienced declines, including a roughly 26% drop in 2025 and a missed third-quarter earnings projection in November. Leadership implemented a major organizational change called "functionalization" to better connect consumers and sellers, completed over about 18 months. Executives report the reorganization has unified operations into a single, massive company. Key acquisitions and a renewed focus on simplicity are intended to drive recovery and future growth.

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