Harley Finkelstein

And every now and then, my feeling is it often is, but it's very difficult to have those conversations. Now, let me preface all this by saying it has to be at the right time. In the middle of the global pandemic,

when things were going crazy and all these offline businesses were moving online and the market was in turmoil and people losing their jobs, that is the wrong time to be talking about, do I have the right rules? That is wartime. That is all about focusing on getting shit done.

when things were going crazy and all these offline businesses were moving online and the market was in turmoil and people losing their jobs, that is the wrong time to be talking about, do I have the right rules? That is wartime. That is all about focusing on getting shit done.

But there are moments, because every company has ebbs and flows, there are moments where you're in a particular period, you're like, all right, I'm getting the hang of this. Maybe it's the right time for me to figure out whether or not for the next tour of duty, I should try something different.

But there are moments, because every company has ebbs and flows, there are moments where you're in a particular period, you're like, all right, I'm getting the hang of this. Maybe it's the right time for me to figure out whether or not for the next tour of duty, I should try something different.

Yeah, I mean, COVID was wild for, I think, anyone, certainly for us. If you think about e-commerce as a percentage of retail, we basically had three to five years worth of acceleration in that growth rate of e-commerce in eight weeks. So all of a sudden, all these physical retailers had never sold online were coming to Shopify to sell online. And we had to be ready for them.

Yeah, I mean, COVID was wild for, I think, anyone, certainly for us. If you think about e-commerce as a percentage of retail, we basically had three to five years worth of acceleration in that growth rate of e-commerce in eight weeks. So all of a sudden, all these physical retailers had never sold online were coming to Shopify to sell online. And we had to be ready for them.

And so I'm actually really, really proud of how Shopify showed up during COVID. There's this great metaphor that a friend of mine uses, which is the tidal wave. That when a tidal wave is coming, there are two types of people. There are the towel people and the surfboard people. The towel people grab their towel and run for the shore.

And so I'm actually really, really proud of how Shopify showed up during COVID. There's this great metaphor that a friend of mine uses, which is the tidal wave. That when a tidal wave is coming, there are two types of people. There are the towel people and the surfboard people. The towel people grab their towel and run for the shore.

And the surfboard people grab their surfboard and run for the tidal wave and surf it. Shopify is a surfboard company. We see these tidal waves coming and we don't retreat. We jump in and figure out how do we surf these new waves? What do we need to know that we don't already know? And so we throw out our roadmaps in 2020, and we said, what are things we have to do right now? We have to extend.

And the surfboard people grab their surfboard and run for the tidal wave and surf it. Shopify is a surfboard company. We see these tidal waves coming and we don't retreat. We jump in and figure out how do we surf these new waves? What do we need to know that we don't already know? And so we throw out our roadmaps in 2020, and we said, what are things we have to do right now? We have to extend.

We have a capital product for cash advances whereby we were in one country, I think we were in the U.S. We're like, we need cash advances for Canada and the U.K. as fast as possible, where a large chunk of our merchants are as well, in addition to the U.S. We needed to have curbside pickup. We needed touchless pins for point of sale so you can avoid contamination with COVID.

We have a capital product for cash advances whereby we were in one country, I think we were in the U.S. We're like, we need cash advances for Canada and the U.K. as fast as possible, where a large chunk of our merchants are as well, in addition to the U.S. We needed to have curbside pickup. We needed touchless pins for point of sale so you can avoid contamination with COVID.

we focused on the things that were most important. And I don't think companies should be gauged or I don't think you should look at companies in terms of how they do in times of when everything is fine. I think the true gauge of a company's culture, a company's strength or performance is in times of great change, call it wartime or peacetime, whatever term you want to use.

we focused on the things that were most important. And I don't think companies should be gauged or I don't think you should look at companies in terms of how they do in times of when everything is fine. I think the true gauge of a company's culture, a company's strength or performance is in times of great change, call it wartime or peacetime, whatever term you want to use.

But that's when you see the very nature, the actual true character of a company. And it was one of my proudest moments is watching how Shopify and our team operated in those years because it wasn't about us. It was about how do we help small businesses and medium-sized businesses not just survive this thing, but thrive. And companies like Mattel, which has been around for 80 years,

But that's when you see the very nature, the actual true character of a company. And it was one of my proudest moments is watching how Shopify and our team operated in those years because it wasn't about us. It was about how do we help small businesses and medium-sized businesses not just survive this thing, but thrive. And companies like Mattel, which has been around for 80 years,

They created Mattel Creations at that time. Companies like FIGS started handing out nurses' uniforms, doctors' uniforms to frontline workers. You saw all these incredible companies all over the world that were supported and powered by Shopify were creating their own impact in their own communities, in their own industries. It was an amazing thing, but I'm glad it's behind us.

They created Mattel Creations at that time. Companies like FIGS started handing out nurses' uniforms, doctors' uniforms to frontline workers. You saw all these incredible companies all over the world that were supported and powered by Shopify were creating their own impact in their own communities, in their own industries. It was an amazing thing, but I'm glad it's behind us.

That was a very stressful time, but I'm very proud of how our company showed up for certainly the first global pandemic of my lifetime.