Harley Finkelstein

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.

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.

It used to just be Black Friday. And then it became Black Friday and then Saturday, Sunday. And then Cyber Monday was added. And then it was Black Friday, Cyber Monday weekend, four days. Then it became a week. And then it became a month. And now it's almost like a season. Like once back to school is over, you begin to sort of think about...

It used to just be Black Friday. And then it became Black Friday and then Saturday, Sunday. And then Cyber Monday was added. And then it was Black Friday, Cyber Monday weekend, four days. Then it became a week. And then it became a month. And now it's almost like a season. Like once back to school is over, you begin to sort of think about...

the holiday shopping season, which is epitomized by BFCM or Black Friday, Cyber Monday. The reason it's so meaningful to us is because we have millions of stores on our platform. For a lot of them, that is their Super Bowl that they make, not just in terms of the money they make, but that's when they engage with the most amount of customers. They have the most amount of shipments.

the holiday shopping season, which is epitomized by BFCM or Black Friday, Cyber Monday. The reason it's so meaningful to us is because we have millions of stores on our platform. For a lot of them, that is their Super Bowl that they make, not just in terms of the money they make, but that's when they engage with the most amount of customers. They have the most amount of shipments.