Tobi Lütke

Principles are our summary of their public statements.

• Use Cunningham's Law in meetings

  Learning

  State an incorrect opinion with high conviction to prompt others to provide the correct information quickly.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Tobi Lütke on Creating Shopify for Americans as a German in Canada (Ep. 221), 2018  (opens in a new tab)

• Default to subtraction in systems

  Productivity

  Counteract the human tendency to add complexity by periodically deleting recurring processes like meetings.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Tobi Lütke on Creating Shopify for Americans as a German in Canada (Ep. 221), 2018  (opens in a new tab)

• Grant Permission for Ambition

  Leadership

  A leader's role is to explicitly allow the team to aim for world-class results, especially in cultures that default to low ambition.

  Supporting quotes

  • “I think a lot of our success has been due to just me and my co-founder basically allowing everyone to go for world class.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

• Balance builders and referees

  Management

  An organization or economy stalls when there are too many people critiquing or regulating compared to those actually creating products.

  Supporting quotes

  • “Verschlimmbesserung is such a good word. What that means is, by trying to improve something, you made it worse. And maybe it's also born out of pessimism about the future, but it's just so wonderful because you see it often.”

    “I'm actually a fan of rewriting books every - I don't know - 25, 50 years for two generations down the line because they just get hard to access.”

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

• Align incentives with customer success

  Strategy

  Design the business model so that the company only grows when its customers succeed, ensuring both parties are on the same side of the table.

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Tobi Lütke on Creating Shopify for Americans as a German in Canada (Ep. 221), 2018  (opens in a new tab)

• Incentivize partners with recurring revenue

  Sales

  Create a compelling referral program by offering partners a percentage of lifetime revenue for the customers they bring in.

  Source The Shopify IPO | Acquired, 2019  (opens in a new tab)