February 20, 2025

E119: Free Trade, AI Integration, and Shopify Q4 Results w/ Shopify President Harley Finkelstein

55 minutes

Erik Torenberg interviews Harley Finkelstein, president of Shopify, discussing tariffs, political shifts, Shopify's earnings, and the evolution of entrepreneurship.

—

📰 Be notified early when Turpentine's drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess

🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse

—

RECOMMENDED PODCASTS:

🎙️Check out Modern Relationships, where Erik Torenberg interviews tech power couples and leading thinkers to explore how ambitious people actually make partnerships work. This season's guests include: Delian Asparouhov & Nadia Asparouhova, Kristen Berman & Phil Levin, Rob Henderson, and Liv Boeree & Igor Kurganov.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1786227593

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5hJzs0gDg6lRT6r10mdpVg

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModernRelationshipsPod

SPONSORS:

☁️Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at oracle.com/turpentine

🎯Say goodbye to the headaches of out-of-home advertising. AdQuick combines technology, OOH expertise, and data to enable efficient, seamless ad buying across the globe. Visit adquick.com to start reaching your customers in the real world.

🕵️‍♂️Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code UPSTREAM at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/upstream

💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.

—

LINKS:

Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/

Firebelly Tea: https://www.firebellytea.com/

Big Shot Podcast: https://www.bigshot.show/

Shopify president on e-commerce trends, impact of tariffs and state of the consumer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si_j0P0DPM4

World's First Podcast: https://linktr.ee/worldsfirstpodcast

Nobody Wants This (Netflix): https://www.netflix.com/title/81591296

—

X / TWITTER:

@harleyf

@Shopify

@eriktorenberg

@turpentinemedia

—

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE:

Harley views tariffs as adding unnecessary complexity to entrepreneurship.

Shopify advocates for streamlining business creation processes.

Not every business needs external funding to succeed.

Shopify Capital helps merchants who can't access traditional funding.

Harley's Big Shot podcast archives stories of successful Jewish entrepreneurs.

A common theme across entrepreneur interviews is crediting spouses for success.

October 7th strengthened Harley's connection to his Jewish identity.

Harley employs different mentors for different aspects of life.

Montreal's culture celebrates entrepreneurs as cultural heroes.

Commonwealth countries suffer from "tall poppy syndrome" that discourages standing out.

2024 was Shopify's strongest year with nearly $300 billion in GMV.

International merchants now represent 50% of Shopify's user base.

Post-omnichannel commerce focuses on selling in places most relevant to specific customers.

Content, entertainment, and commerce are increasingly blending for successful brands.

Shopify takes a practical approach to AI implementation across its platform.

AI features include generated replies, media editing, and business coaching.

Shopify created dual career tracks: management and "crafters" (individual contributors).

The "Mastery" program enables promotions while staying focused on craft expertise.

Shopify operates "digital by design" - primarily remote with intentional gatherings.

Leadership team members are distributed across multiple geographic locations.

The company uses "tours of duty" - three-year commitments with deliberate check-ins.

Employees must grow at a rate equal to or greater than the company's growth.

...more

View all episodes

By Erik Torenberg

4.2

6060 ratings