Harley Finkelstein

I'm 41.

So I've been here for not quite half my life, but almost.

The way that I think I had the most amount of value to Shopify is the same thing that I want to be what class at, which is I want to be a great storyteller.

I don't think I'm there yet.

I've met truly world-class storytellers.

We can sort of get into some of those later on.

I'm not there yet, but that is the thing I want to be the best at.

I love playing tennis.

I don't think I'm ever going to be a world-class tennis player.

I love to ski.

I don't think I'll ever be a world-class skier.

There are things in my life, like DJ, I don't think I'm ever going to be a world-class DJ.

There are things I do in my life that are fun, that are strictly for enjoyment, and I enjoy the craft of it.

But storytelling in particular is something that when I look at all the different things I've done at Shopify, it's a thing that I think has added the most amount of value to the company.

And this also speaks to my dynamic, this yin and yang dynamic that I have with Toby, which is that I've sort of always, in hindsight now I can sort of see this, but I've always sort of viewed my role as he is the greatest product person I've ever met in my life.

He's this incredible tech visionary, especially when it comes to commerce.

And my job has kind of always been to take the brilliant things he's built and tell the world about it, tell investors, tell the media, tell our merchants, tell partners.

And it gives me great joy.

I love doing it.

It's that, you know, when your Saturday morning feels like your Monday morning, you know, you're onto something really great, which is sort of the opposite of, you know, what people describe as like Sunday scaries, which I've never felt my whole life, but I know people do find that that to be a real thing.