How I Built This with Guy Raz

Shopify: Tobias Lütke

Aug 5, 2019

Tobias Lütke, the visionary founder and CEO of Shopify, shares the fascinating journey of transforming a simple snowboard shop into a leading e-commerce platform. He reveals the hurdles faced while developing software for online sales, driven by his passion for snowboarding. The conversation explores how Shopify thrived during the 2008 recession, turning challenges into opportunities for entrepreneurs. Tobi also reflects on crucial leadership moments and the balancing act between rapid growth and personal responsibilities in the ever-evolving tech landscape.

01:04:49

Episode guests

Tobi Lütke

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

3min

From Snowboards to E-Commerce: The Story Behind a Tech Revolution

5min

From Apprenticeship to Entrepreneurship

15min

From Snowboards to Software: The Shopify Journey

14min

Navigating Uncertainty: A Pivotal Leadership Transition

6min

Opportunity Amidst Crisis: Shopify's Emergence During the 2008 Recession

4min

Navigating Growth Amidst Struggles

4min

Navigating Growth: A Decision Point for Shopify

2min

Navigating Growth and Recognition

12min

10.

Invention and Innovation: The Unbuckle Me Journey

8min

In 2004, German programmer Tobias Lütke was living in Ottawa with his girlfriend. An avid snowboarder, he wanted to launch an online snowboard shop, but found the e-commerce software available at the time to be clunky and expensive. So he decided to write his own e-commerce software. After he launched his online snowboard business, called Snowdevil, other online merchants were so impressed with what he built that they started asking to license Tobi's software to run their own stores. Tobi and his co-founder realized that software had more potential than snowboards, so they launched the e-commerce platform Shopify in 2006. Since then, it has grown into a publicly-traded company with over 4,000 employees and $1 billion in revenue. PLUS in our postscript "How You Built That," after Barb Heilman invented a device that easily releases child car seat buckles, she started a business with her daughter Becca Davison called Unbuckle Me. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.