Shopify functions as a country-sized internal economy that aligns incentives across millions of merchants.
The company designs systems to harness entrepreneurs' self-interest for shared community growth.

insights

INSIGHT

SMBs Drive Employment And Economic Renewal

Small and medium businesses employ a majority of workers in many countries.
Economic vibrancy depends on how quickly failing small businesses are replaced by new ones.

volunteer_activism

ADVICE

Reduce Friction To Enable Entrepreneurs

Reduce friction so non-programmers can start businesses online.
Abstract away technical complexity so merchants focus on product and customers.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

The Scale of the Shopify Economy

02:10 • 6min

chevron_right

Shopify Entrepreneurs Are Immigrants From Big Companies, Right?

Shop Time Merchants Build Applications for Each Other

I've Read the Bank Act of a Bank Charter Isn't There?

21:23 • 2min

chevron_right

The Underwriting Engine to Underwrite Small Businesses Doesn't Exist.

The Founder, but the McDonald's?

28:30 • 3min

chevron_right

V One, I'm Working on a v Two and Actually Translate Into Multiple Languages

31:06 • 2min

chevron_right

The Tax Product Is About Getting on Base With Sales Tax Optimization

33:31 • 4min

chevron_right

The Hanziaadik League

37:07 • 3min

chevron_right

Dropshipping Reduces the Physicality

Is There a Difference Between Tinkering and Not?

48:22 • 6min

chevron_right

Using Cryptocurrencies in a Community

54:15 • 1min

chevron_right

What's the Difference Between Ownership and Utility?

55:42 • 3min

chevron_right

Graph Theoretical Problems in the Poker Game Theory

The Meta Problem With Slack

01:05:26 • 2min

chevron_right

How to Do a Dependency Check on a Smart Contract

01:07:06 • 5min

chevron_right

Is There a Missing Primitive in Cryptocurrency?

01:11:57 • 3min

chevron_right

Shopify Stats Dashboard

Is There a Future for the Additive Printing?

01:24:14 • 2min

chevron_right

Shopify Is Not Our Job. It's Our Job

01:25:49 • 2min

chevron_right

Is There a Balance Between Central and Decentralized?

01:27:51 • 6min

chevron_right

Is There a Difference Between List and Hayek?

01:33:40 • 4min

chevron_right

The Y-Axis by John List

01:37:16 • 3min

chevron_right

Shopify Payments Is the Best Payment Part on the Planet

Building Software - I'm Not Against Criticism

01:49:31 • 3min

chevron_right

I Think It's a Community First Kind of Thing, More Than a Policy or Technology First Thing

01:52:36 • 4min

chevron_right

Patent Trolls - What's a Point of the Critic?

01:56:36 • 3min

chevron_right

Why I Don't Think We Got Rid of Pirates

01:59:41 • 4min

chevron_right

The Best Ad for Working at Shopify Is Just You Guys

02:03:27 • 4min

chevron_right

Tobi Lütke (Shopify Founder & CEO), Kaz Nejatian (Shopify COO), and Balaji review how Shopify rose from tiny startup to $180B+ global economy, with an annual GMV on par with the GDP of New Zealand. In the process they touch on Hayek, the Hanseatic League, merchant cavemen, the history of the corporation, and the optimal level of platform decentralization.

OUTLINE
00:00 - Introduction
02:39 - Shopify has the scale of a small country
08:49 - Lifestyle businesses take up your whole life
20:52 - SMBs can be harder than startups
27:13 - Shopify could invest in its merchants
32:23 - Shopify's economy is on par with Greece or New Zealand
38:40 - Money, time, risk, attention
39:55 - Is all retail a form of arbitrage?
47:14 - The history of the corporation informs the development of smart contracts
56:57 - Founders start as lead engineer, end up as chief psychiatrist
1:00:27 - Shopify is not just technology but community
1:06:26 - The concept of computational context
1:14:34 - Shopify as a dashboard for the global economy
1:22:48 - Atoms are so much more complex than bits
1:28:41 - Balancing centralized vs decentralized at Shopify
1:43:26 - If they could start a new country, what would Tobi and Kaz build?
2:03:28 - Kaz on working at Shopify
2:04:31 - Tobi's parting thoughts

LINKS
1) 100 true fans: kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/
2) Gobekli Tepe: smithsonianmag.com/history/gobekli-tepe-the-worlds-first-temple-83613665
3) Shopify active merchant: github.com/activemerchant/active_merchant
4) Fall of Civilizations: youtube.com/@FallofCivilizations
5) Founding vs Inheriting: thenetworkstate.com/founding-vs-inheriting
6) Shopify careers: shopify.com/careers

VIDEO
YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=DfrhCGpRCPI

CREDITS
Editing: twitter.com/DholakiaJaydeep
Images: twitter.com/elijah10T

SOCIAL
twitter.com/tobi
twitter.com/CanadaKaz
twitter.com/balajis
thenetworkstate.com

Home Top podcasts Popular guests Top books