This is a story about us. Shopify. Shopify.
Shopify is making headlines. A company born from a powerful realization. No one, I realized, has spent a moment building software for starting new businesses. And this is also a story about you. Entrepreneur.
The millions of entrepreneurs who had a dream and the courage to actually go for it. The site is live. My hands are literally shaking. Being an entrepreneur, it's not changing your job, it's changing your life. New order.
First one! So what happens when our two stories collide? Big!
To answer that question, Don't cry! we need to go to where the story begins. This is Toby, and this... is his first love. Of course, I couldn't read or write yet, but I could push all these buttons and I just loved everything about it.
From that moment on, he's hooked on computers. And then a new love enters his life. I was snowboarding a lot.
Every single time you sit on a lift and you look at a snowboard, you just love the way it looks. Now he doesn't know it yet, but the combination of his two passions would eventually pave the way for millions of entrepreneurs. I was like, I'm going to build Like a really, really, really good online store selling snowboards. I figured in 2004 there would be off-the-shelf software I could use, but I could not have been more wrong.
So using his skills as a programmer, Tobi built his online snowboard store from scratch. I sat down and just built the software that I wished someone else would have built for me. Toby launches Snowdevil.
And then? And then nothing happens. I had traffic, but, you know, no real business yet. During this time, I was working out of a coffee shop. This day is, like, seared into my memory.
I remember everything about this day. I remember how it went, like, what I was wearing, what I was eating. Because on this day, Toby got an email that changed the course of his life.
Like, the email told me that someone from Pennsylvania bought a snowboard. I remember sitting there and staring at this and having this moment of like, I'm no longer just a builder. But now I was an entrepreneur.
Snowdiver continued, the business started selling at a faster clip, but I couldn't get it out of my mind. The first sale was just like overshadowed everything that happened afterwards. It felt like we were sitting on the secret.
I can't be the only person who wants to do this. We decided like we need to build a software company. We need to build a company that helps other people have this profound experience of putting themselves out there and having their first sale.
And someone needs to make it easier for people who aren't programmers to put a name in, choose a domain and reach for independence. And then... We call it Shopify. Tonight's story, how Shopify has been named one of the 10 most innovative online retail businesses in the world. Shopify is a successful IPO, a win for entrepreneurs everywhere.
It's been a rocket ship. They've been able to constantly innovate and release new products. which business owners love. It literally took me a day to get up and running. If it wasn't for Shopify, I don't know where we would be right now.
The future of retail, it's not online, it's not offline, it's everywhere. Shopify now powers millions of businesses. If you're an entrepreneur or a creator, you definitely should be using Shopify.
Okay, we get it, we get it, we get it. Shopify has grown a ton. But what's at the heart of it all?
What we are trying to do is make commerce better for everyone. Make commerce better for everyone isn't just something we write on the walls. We deeply believe it in our bones.
Now, it doesn't mean that everyone needs to be an entrepreneur. What we want to really do at Shopify is we want to give people the tools to reduce the barrier to entry so that anyone that really wants to start something can start something. And that was impossible before Shopify. Okay, so how did we do that?
How do we take this complex task of building a business and make it so anyone, anywhere can do it? Shopify engineers and staff take two. So we focused in on where most people start. Building their online store. But starting anything new is intimidating.
We knew we had to make it so intuitive that anyone could do it. Add products. Create a name. Add brand assets.
Customize your store. Custom domain. Add sales channels.
Set up payments. And after that, launch your store. Every single time we took complexity out, success went up. Okay, so you've got a store. But now, you have to find customers.
I became obsessed with sales channels. Channels. Channels.
Channels I like a lot. Business channels. Things that connect people with products to audiences.
In short, sales channels let you sell anywhere. Which means your online store isn't the only place to make sales. But the whole internet becomes unlocked.
It's like... Customers, customers, customers. And regardless of where someone buys.
You'll look great, because you'll be using the best converting checkout on the planet. Cha-ching! Wait, no, like... Look at you.
You're getting sales. But now you've got to manage the business. That's why the admin needed to be the killer feature of Shopify.
It's mission control for all the business tools and support you need. So even without a full team of staff, you can run and grow a business the way you want. Go international if you want. Guys, there's over 4,000 people in my city. I can't believe this.
Ship your products when and where you want, fast and guaranteed. Get the funding you need to take that next big step. Or finally open up that storefront. This is so cool! There's thousands of people here who are spending day and night to think about how is the internet developing, what's next.
Shopify's role is to keep you cutting edge. And that's why the world's newest brands and the world's biggest brands build on Shopify. Did someone just buy something? Yes.
Oh my gosh! It's so many people on the site right now. Oh my God. Y'all, I'm going to pass out.
I think the world that we're fighting for is a world where someone that has an idea is able to do something with that idea. But also a world that has more voices, not fewer. For me, I thought entrepreneur was for the younger generation. Oops! Entrepreneurs create color in this world.
And without them, everything is pretty sterile. Everything is pretty standardized. They're taking notice and it is making one hell of a difference.
And I think the thing that makes things more colorful, more interesting, more diverse, is by having commerce in the hands of the many, not the few. But here's the thing. Entrepreneurship is not the easy path. I wanted to give up a lot of times. And it's frightening.
It's a journey into the unknown. A lot of people will talk you out of it because it just doesn't fit into the... Sort of frame of what people have about what you ought to be doing. Yet despite the risk, uncertainty, ambiguity, millions of people around the world have chosen entrepreneurship.
I had a dream, man. I am going to make it. And that's where our stories collide. I just want you to watch this video. Here.
New order. First one. Somebody bought something. I'm gonna cry! Oh god.
I've got five orders! Well this one's in Canada. Columbia, South Carolina. We got... Australia with a statement!
Australia? I love you. My whole body's like shaky.
I know, but it just feels like, who am I, you know? I love this so much. You know, I can relate to it in this way, like, because I remember the same moments.
The mission is... To have people experience this. When I hear the cha-ching sound, it's one of the best feelings in the world. Oh my god.
And we do not want, and this is important, to be written into your story. We just want to push it from behind. I just want...
I'm trying not to cry. Oh my gosh! Everything is in order. But you have to always ask why. Why are you doing it?
Being more independent. Giving people jobs and creating a community. Because I wanted to bring change. I feel very fulfilled by what I do.
I'm at my peak happiness right now. It's this adrenaline, it's this rush. Woo hoo hoo hoo hoo!
I'm so happy. It's the satisfaction. Girl, you a big deal.
I'm with a celebrity. It's live. Wait, it's live.
Okay, hold on. My heart's racing. I got a little old at eight.
And I'm just so happy. I'm so proud of myself. Because you see, this is your story, your journey, your path.
And we're here to support you the whole time. So wherever the internet is going. Wherever commerce is going. Shopify will be there.