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Vishu Bheda
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Medial • 4m
𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗼𝗯𝗶 𝗟ü𝘁𝗸𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗩𝗖𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗳𝘆 When Tobi Lütke pitched Shopify to investors, they walked away. Their reason? The market was too small. At the time, only 40,000–50,000 online stores existed. Even if Shopify captured half, it wouldn’t be a billion-dollar business. Years later, a VC who had rejected him asked: “What did I miss?” Tobi’s answer was simple but game-changing: “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭—𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦.” 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀 Most investors—and even founders—miss this key insight: A market isn’t just about demand. It’s shaped by friction. People weren’t avoiding online stores because they didn’t want them. They avoided them because starting one was too hard, too expensive, and too frustrating. Shopify removed those barriers. And every time they made the process easier, more people started businesses. The result? Shopify now powers millions of merchants worldwide. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 Before dismissing a market as too small, ask yourself: Is demand actually low, or is friction keeping people out? Can you remove that friction and unlock a much bigger market? The best businesses don’t just serve a market. They create one. Follow Vishu Bheda for more valuable startup insights from the world's best founders!
Replies (9)
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Sachin Lalwani
Passionate about tec... • 7m
why does Shopify has not created a platform where a person can find all Shopify stores around the world and charges them platform fee advertising fee on the platform if it happens then I think some Shopify can take some share of meta and google ad
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Madhvendra Rathod
Live Totally • 1y
For my business i have been using Shopify and it's extremely super helpful in terms of everything. Used a lot of Shopify Apps to customize my store, seems like a great market. Any Shopify Dev can share their opinion on the opportunity of Shopify apps
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