The Evolution of Shopify

“Here we are. We find ourselves atop a plaster badger—riding a hippo, a uh, an elephant thing—at Shopify in Ottawa.”
– Ezra Firestone, with just a little of what’s in store for you in this post.

So, here’s some good news for all us online sellers: Online commerce is exploding. It’s doubled since 2008 and it’s going to double again by 2019. Now, I’m taking you behind the scenes of Shopify, the company at the center of it all, to show you how they’ve evolved over the last few years.

Shopify Headquarters: The Mothership

Shopify is hands down the best ecommerce platform. And as the ecommerce industry has grown, Shopify has grown with it.

My first behind the scenes of Shopify Headquarters (aka The Mothership) was back in 2013. At that time the 3 big ecommerce platforms were Big Commerce, Volusion, and Shopify, which were coming in to compete with legacy platforms like Yahoo and Magento.

But even then, I knew Shopify was special.

And in this video, I explained why I thought they’d continue to innovate and remain the best ecommerce platform on the market.

Some Things Change, Some Stay the Same

A few years later I went back to visit Shopify, but this time to their new headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario.

It was interesting to see what had changed: They were in a bigger building, they had more entertainment and nap nooks for their employees, oh, and they were making 10x the revenue…

But it was also interesting to see what had stayed the same.

They continued to succeed by focusing on being the best shopping cart on the market; their 3rd party app network had grown, giving users even more tools to create the best possible online experience (including Zipify Apps!); and they still took great care of their employees and made them feel like they were part of something special.

I am so grateful for this company. Every day, they try to make our lives easier and our businesses more successful by providing the best ecommerce platform possible.

I know they have some fun stuff coming down the pipe, and I look forward to talking about them soon in a new video.

Until then, thanks for hanging out. See you soon.