Tobi Lütke – How Shopify Became a Cheat Code for Entrepreneurs | SRS #261

Dec 11, 2025 Shawn Ryan Show
Tobi Lütke is a German born Canadian who built a multibillion-dollar company from a snowboard shop; champions economic freedom for regular people starting businesses; combines old-world craftsmanship with modern innovation. He is an entrepreneur, software developer, best known as the co-founder and CEO of Shopify, a leading e-commerce platform powering over 4 million merchants worldwide as of 2024, generating billions in annual revenue.

Born in Germany, Lütke discovered his passion for coding at a young age with a Schneider CPC computer, rewriting game code by age 11. A self-taught programmer who dropped out of school after tenth grade to pursue a computer programming apprenticeship at Koblenzer Carl-Benz-School, he moved to Canada in the early 2000s.

In 2004, as a snowboard enthusiast, Lütke co-founded Snowdevil, an online snowboard shop, but frustrations with existing e-commerce tools led him to build a custom platform using Ruby on Rails, which became Shopify in 2006 in Ottawa, Canada. Under his leadership, Shopify went public in 2015, reaching a market capitalization exceeding $100 billion at its peak. He is a core contributor to Ruby on Rails and creator of open-source libraries like Active Merchant. Lütke joined Coinbase’s board in 2022.

Tobi is a competitive racing driver in the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship’s LMP2 class for Era Motorsport. He is married to Fiona McKean, a former Canadian diplomat, with three children. He co-founded the Thistledown Foundation, supporting environmental causes through initiatives like Shopify’s Sustainability Fund. Lütke advocates for ethical technology, small business empowerment, and innovative leadership, often speaking on platforms like Invest Like the Best about building sustainable tech ecosystems.

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00:00 Introduction and Welcome
02:47 Entrepreneurship and Early Lessons
06:52 Shopify’s Growth and Impact
22:45 Snowboarding Shop to Shopify
35:03 Building Without Recognition
45:00 Cargo Culting and Competitor Influence
48:39 Rivalries and Business Strategy
52:15 Shopify’s Evolution and Expansion
54:20 Challenges in Scaling
01:01:35 Building for the Customer
01:12:16 AI’s Role in Business and Life
01:36:59 Lean Teams and Direct Communication
01:53:46 Inspiring Entrepreneurship
02:06:57 Balancing Family and Work
02:11:00 Teaching Kids to Think
02:18:57 Brain Hacks for Learning
02:21:46 Newsletter and Show Reflections
02:24:23 Optimism vs. Pessimism
02:29:22 Future of AI
02:39:22 Hobbies and Taking Risks
02:52:33 Entrepreneurial Advice
03:00:24 Final Thoughts