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Day 2 -Startup Surprise From Selling Snowboards to Powering Millions of Online Stores: The Shopify Origin Story When we think of billion-dollar startups, we often imagine a grand vision, a perfect pitch deck, or a well-funded Silicon Valley launch. But sometimes… a game-changing company starts from a personal frustration. That’s exactly how Shopify, the e-commerce giant, was born. 🏔️ It all started with snowboards… Back in 2004, Tobias Lütke, a German-born software developer living in Canada, wanted to sell snowboards online with his co-founders. They launched a small e-commerce store called Snowdevil. But very quickly, they ran into a problem: The e-commerce platforms available at the time were too rigid, complicated, and outdated. Tobias, being a programmer, decided to take matters into his own hands. He built his own online store software using Ruby on Rails (which was also new back then). To their surprise, people who visited the store were not just impressed by the snowboards… They were blown away by the seamless online shopping experience. Tobias realised something powerful: “The real value isn’t in what we’re selling. It’s in how we’re selling it.” 💡 The Pivot In 2006, they shut down the snowboard store. Instead, they launched Shopify – an easy-to-use, beautiful platform for small businesses to create their own online stores. • No complex coding. • No giant upfront investment. • Just a clean, modern, and flexible solution for entrepreneurs everywhere. It was a bold move. They weren’t selling physical products anymore. They were now enabling millions to do it. 📈 Fast Forward to Today • Shopify powers over 2 million businesses across 175+ countries. • It has helped brands like Allbirds, Gymshark, and Kylie Cosmetics scale massively. • As of 2025, its market cap is over $70 billion. • It’s now a major rival to Amazon in the world of direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-commerce. And it all started because someone couldn’t find a decent way to sell a snowboard. ________________________________________ 🔍 Lesson for Founders & Creators: Sometimes, the best business ideas don’t come from brainstorming sessions. They come from fixing a real problem in your own life. Tobias didn’t set out to disrupt e-commerce. He just wanted to sell snowboards in a better way. “Scratch your own itch — and you might just solve it for millions.” ________________________________________ 👉 Follow this series — “Startup Surprise” — as we explore unexpected origin stories, accidental inventions, and startup pivots that changed the world. ________________________________________