How the President of Shopify landed his role as the first non-technical hire

Startup spotlights always shine bright for brilliant engineers.

But what about the rest of us without computer science degrees and long lists of coding language proficiency?

I was listening to an interview with Harley Finkelstein where he shared some incredible advice for non-technical startup job seekers.

Harley is the current President of Shopify, the $99B e-commerce juggernaut.

Unlike many company presidents, he didn’t come from the Ivy League, big MBA programs, or startup royalty.

He started at the company as the first non-technical hire without ever having had a 9-5 job.

What he did have was an entrepreneurial drive and a love of the company’s product and mission.

In the interview, he spoke about…

• How he found Shopify.

• How he joined Shopify.

• His role in those early days as a non-technical employee.

• His advice to ambitious non-technical startup job seekers.

This week, inspired by Harley’s journey, we're focusing on you, the non-technical talents, and how you can make your mark in the world of startups.

COMPANY IDENTIFICATION
Finding The One For You.

Harley started a business selling t-shirts to universities to pay his way through college.

One of the mentors he met during undergrad convinced him that after he graduated, he should move from Montreal to Ottowa to go to law school.

He didn’t know anyone in Ottowa.

No friends, no family.

So he went looking for his tribe.

He was looking for other people who were excited about entrepreneurship.

Fortunately, he was directed to a coffee shop where a group of young entrepreneurs hung out.

At that coffee shop, he met a brilliant programmer named Toby.

Toby had built an online store to sell his snowboards and was making real money doing it.

Harley asked Toby if he could use the software to sell t-shirts to pay his way through law school.

Toby helped him set up the store, and Harley became one of the first merchants to use the early Shopify software.

As he was preparing for graduation, Harley contacted Toby again and shared the impact the Shopify store had made on him.

About a year later, Harley was hired as Shopify’s first non-engineer.

Startup Job Search Lessons

1. Find where the entrepreneurs hang out: Harley found a local coffee shop with an entrepreneurship group. You can find online communities, in-person speaker series, and conferences where entrepreneurs hang out. The more you are around the people you want to work with and for, the more likely you will meet someone who can change your life.

2. Maintain important relationships: Harley maintained his relationship with Toby after they met. He recognized Toby’s brilliance and could see that he was someone who had the potential to do incredible things. Cultivating and maintaining a highly talented network of people is a key to surfacing interesting and potentially lucrative opportunities. I got my “in” at Uber because I had been following the career of one of the smartest people in my high school. He was one of the only people to go to an Ivy League school and, after graduation, landed a job at Goldman Sachs. When I saw he left Goldman to work for a company I had never heard of, it piqued my interest so I reached out to him. That company was Uber. Years later he would be the one who opened the door for me at the company.

3. Share your personal mission: Harley felt a deep connection between his personal mission and Shopify's mission. But he didn’t keep that to himself. He called Toby on the phone and shared his passion for Shopify’s mission and his personal story. Storytelling is powerful in the job search. If you can demonstrate you’ve already drunk the Kool-Aid, you’ll be a far more attractive candidate than someone they must convince to join the company.

4. Bonus points if you’re a user of the product: Harley was a user of the product. As a result, he could speak passionately and intelligently about its impact on his own life and how much of an impact it could have on the lives of others. This is exactly the same thing that happened when I joined Uber. Uber had changed how I got around my hometown of Seattle and my relationship with the city. Being a user of the product gives you deep insight into the benefits of the product and where it can be improved. It also lets you understand where you can provide value to help it grow. As a product user, you’ll be far more attractive to the founders and hiring team.

SWISS ARMY KNIFE MENTALITY
Harley’s Advice To Non-Engineers.

When Harley joined Spotify, the company didn’t have a CFO, a CMO, or any highly defined non-technical roles.

He became the company’s Chief “Figure It Out” Officer.

He adopted, as he called it, a Swiss Army Knife mentality.

Sales - I can do that.

Customer support - I can do that.

Vendor negotiations - I can do that.

Press and publicity - I can do that.

Legal advice - I can do that.

Harley earned the team's trust by constantly adding value to the founder and the other engineers.

Startup Job Search Lessons

1. Find ways to demonstrate your value: Harley did everything the engineers didn’t have time to do or didn’t want to do. This is why I highly recommend job seekers do everything they can to speak with team members outside the hiring process. These conversations can surface the existing team's annoyances, problems, and frustrations. Each of those is an opportunity for you to demonstrate how hiring you will allow them to focus on what they’re good at without any distractions.

2. Delivering value in early Uber: In 2013, I got a call from a high school friend asking if I’d be interested in handing out marketing palm cards to taxi drivers in the NYC taxi lines. I was unemployed and jumped at the chance. When I returned to the office after handing out all my cards, I tried to do anything possible to deliver value. I broke down iPhones and separated their components. I helped train the drivers who were coming into the office. I moved boxes and helped keep things organized. I did anything I could to try and help the team. That level of effort didn’t go unnoticed and is a major reason I received an offer despite my apparent lack of credentials.

3. Value delivery: To stand out as a non-technical hire, you need to demonstrate the ability and excitement to be a Swiss Army knife. Show that you can deliver value for the team without being on the team. Go secure potential customers and share their contact information. Share connections with industry experts in the space. Write up and share a sales and marketing plan. Go through the customer service experience and share how it could be improved. Create a dashboard for the team to measure and report on KPIs. The more skills and abilities you bring outside of your “core function,” the more dynamic a candidate you become. This agile and proactive mindset separates a good non-technical startup employee from a great one.

Harley’s story about his entry into early Shopify as a non-technical employee aligns directly with my experience joining early Uber.

• Get around the people you want to work with and for

• Being a user will give you a competitive advantage

• Share your passion for the product and mission

• Do everything possible to demonstrate value

• Get your hands dirty

If you feel like you’re above this level of hands-on value demonstration, then the startup world is likely not the best fit for you.

If you’re committed to doing whatever is necessary to deliver value and join a company whose product you love and whose mission you’re passionate about, the payoffs can be huge.

Joining early Uber changed my life.

Joining early Shopify changed Harley’s life.

Joining the next early-stage company could change yours.

Let’s become career champions together 🏆

Kyle

You can view the full interview with Harley here

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