How Shopify beat Ebay by betting on small business

Heinz ketchup, Kylie Cosmetics, Gymshark. What’s the invisible thread that connects them all? Shopify.

Today, Shopify powers more than 1.7 million merchants with enough combined sales to make it the second largest online retailer in the U.S. Yet getting here meant making some unconventional choices, and betting on a future its customers—and even some of its employees—couldn't see.

In this episode, host Ilana Strauss uncovers the story behind Shopify’s decision to do more than build “websites with shopping carts,” and how it pioneered a new class of direct-to-consumer entrepreneurs by creating the tools merchants needed, before they knew they needed them.

You’ll hear from Craig Miller, who joined Shopify in 2011 as its first Chief Marketing Officer and later became Chief Product Officer, Brandon Weimer, the co-founder of Brandini Toffee and one of the first two hundred merchants to use Shopify, and Catherine Erdly, a retail analyst specializing in ecommerce.

When It Clicked is an original podcast from ClickUp. For a transcript of this episode and other extras, check out When It Clicked - Shopify.