From Snowboards to a $90B Empire

🌟 Editor’s Note:

Welcome to Behind the Books! A 3-minute read with stories, tools, and lessons from real companies—what worked, what didn’t, and what founders can learn.

💡 The Story:

In 2004, Tobias Lütke just wanted to sell snowboards.

He wasn’t trying to build a tech company. He just needed an online store.

But every ecommerce tool he tried was clunky, rigid, and outdated. So… he built his own.

That little side project? It worked better than any of the platforms on the market.

So he pivoted. Instead of selling snowboards, he started selling the platform.

Shopify was born.

It wasn’t backed by Silicon Valley hype or billion-dollar ambitions. It was built by a developer solving his own problem.

Quietly, Shopify became the go-to for small business ecommerce.

Then for big brands. Then for entire industries.

Today, Shopify powers over 4 million online stores and is worth over $90 billion.

The Lesson:

Sometimes the best businesses aren’t planned, they’re discovered.

A pain point. A personal problem.

Solve it better than anyone else and others will pay you for it.

From Behind the Books:

If the tool you need doesn’t exist, build it. And if it’s good enough, sell that.

Your Weekly Prompt:

What recurring pain do your customers quietly put up with? That might just be your Shopify moment.

See you next Friday,

– Yan

P.S. Shopify wasn’t the dream. It was the byproduct of one. Never underestimate where a side project can take you.