Kaz Nejatian: How Shopify Built a $90BN Business to Last 100 Years | E1189

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

August 14, 2024

Duration

1h 5m

Channel

The Twenty Minute VC

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Kaz Nejatian is Shopify’s VP of Product & Chief Operating Officer. Before Shopify, Kaz founded Kash, a payment technology company which was acquired in 2017 by one of the largest fintech companies in the U.S. Kaz then served as Product Lead for Payments and Billing at Facebook, reducing the barriers for businesses in cash-dependent markets to purchase digital ads without a credit card. ----------------------------------------------- Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (00:01:06) Takeaways from Working with Keith Rabois (00:03:11) Building Complete & High-Quality Software (00:05:02) The Role of Vision in Building Company (00:17:59) Shopify’s Unique Approach to Hiring (00:20:44) Lessons from Mark Zuckerberg & Meta (00:24:48) Why Do Great PMs Blame Themselves for Everything? (00:28:18) The Value of Talk & The Cost of Meetings (00:34:01) What Was Shopify's Toughest Change & Key Lesson Learned? (00:47:47) Most Underappreciated Part of Shopify's Product Vision (00:49:42) The Importance of Information Flow (00:54:30) Value of Marriage (01:00:18) Quick-Fire Round ----------------------------------------------- In Today's Episode with Kaz Nejatian We Discuss:

1. Learnings From the Greats: Mark Zuckerberg: What are Kaz's biggest lessons from working with Zuck? Why does Kaz believe Zuck is massively under-appreciated? Keith Rabois: What are Kaz's biggest lessons from working with Keith? How did it change how he operates on a day to day basis? Tobi Lütke: What have been Kaz's biggest lessons from working with Tobi? What has he changed most significantly since working with Tobi?

1. Shopify: Why We Build Our Own Tools: Why does Kaz believe it is crucial for Shopify to build their own tools? When did he doubt this strategy most? What caused him to question it? Why does Kaz believe the Stripe & Shopify partnership is the most important in business? What is the role of a PM at Shopify? Why do Shopify focus on how not what product is built?

1. Eight Truths The Startup World Gets Wrong: Why does Kaz believe "The Lean Startup" has done more damage than any other startup book? Why does Kaz believe that 90% of companies do not know what they want when they hire? Why does Kaz believe the way that companies pay their staff is totally wrong? Why does Kaz believe that most companies pick fights they do not need to pick? Why does Kaz believe that for 90% of companies remote work is a terrible idea? Why does Kaz believe that everyone in sales and marketing should be able to code? Why does Kaz believe that married people with kids are more, not less productive? Why does Kaz believe that we totally misunderstand divorce rates? ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Kaz Nejatian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CanadaKaz Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #20vc #harrystebbings #KazNejatian #Shopify #Stripe #venturecapital #partner #zuckerberg #lutke #rabois

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Kaz Nejatian

  guest

• Harry Stebbings

  host

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Kaz Nejatian and Harry Stebbings, Kaz Nejatian: How Shopify Built a $90BN Business to Last 100 Years | E1189 explores inside Shopify: Building Enduring Software, Culture, And Contrarian Company Practices Kaz Nejatian, COO of Shopify, explains how Shopify aims to be a 100‑year company by prioritizing product quality, deep technical rigor, and long-term thinking over short-term optimization.

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