Shopify is known for constantly adding star techies to its workforce. Last year in September, Shopify roped in Morgan Stanley investment banker Jeff Hoffmeister as the Chief Financial Officer. This time, the bid is even higher for Shopify as the Canadian giant welcomed Bret Taylor to the board of directors.
Taylor is an American computer programmer, who is known for co-creating Google Maps. In his illustrious career, Taylor led Facebook as Chief Technical Officer and the chairman of Twitter, Inc.’s board of directors. His last job was at Salesforce, which he left as the co-CEO in January 2023.
All of us have at some point used a piece of software that has Bret all over it – like Google Maps. He’s an absolute tech industry vet. He’s the perfect addition to our board, with his enterprise knowledge and his unique vision of AI, he will be immediately beneficial to Shopify. Welcome to the Shopify rocketship.
Harley Finkelstein, President, Shopify
The “Taylor-made” Board Member
Shopify announced the arrival of a “Taylor-made” board member in a blog post, saying: “With a resume that rivals any tech fantasy league, Bret’s open-minded thinking, first-principle approach, and steadfast commitment to impact establish him as an exceptional board member for Shopify.”
Shopify shared a video conversation between CEO and Founder Tobi Lutke and Taylor. In an hour-long video, Taylor can be heard discussing his work experience and deep expertise in enterprise and artificial intelligence. The two tech leaders also discussed the growth of entrepreneurship and the future of commerce.
Excited to announce that Bret Taylor is joining the Shopify Board of directors today.
— tobi lutke (@tobi) June 27, 2023
We recorded an episode for our internal podcast context a few days ago. But it's fun so I'll share it here. pic.twitter.com/MPwuZxlkGz
Shopify President Harley Finkelstein heaped praise on the new board member, saying: “Bret Taylor is joining the Shopify board. This is a big deal. All of us have at some point used a piece of software that has Bret all over it – like Google Maps. He’s an absolute tech industry vet. He’s the perfect addition to our board, with his enterprise knowledge and his unique vision of AI, he will be immediately beneficial to Shopify. Welcome to the Shopify rocketship”.
Patrick Spence, the CEO of home audio appliances company Sonos, believes that Taylor would fit well in Shopify with leaders like Lutke and Finkelstein. “Huge. @btaylor is a great product builder & wonderful human. He’ll fit right in with you & @tobi. He married a Canadian, now on the board of a Canadian company…we just might have to make him an honorary Canadian,” Spence replied to Finkelstein’s Tweet.
Huge. @btaylor is a great product builder & wonderful human. He'll fit right in with you & @tobi.
— Patrick Spence (@Patrick_Spence) June 27, 2023
He married a Canadian, now on the board of a Canadian company…we just might have to make him an honorary Canadian 😉
More About Bret Taylor
As per his LinkedIn profile, Taylor started his career as Group Product Manager at Google in 2003. After over four years at Google, he joined Benchmark Capital as Entrepreneur in Residence, though it was for only four months. In 2007, he joined FriendFeed as CEO, Facebook as CTO in 2009, Quip as CEO in 2012, Axon as a board member in 2014 and Twitter as a board member in 2016.
While working at Twitter, Taylor rose to the rank of Chairman of the Board. After the company’s takeover by Elon Musk in October 2022, Taylor left Twitter. Since 2016, Taylor was also associated with Salesforce, where he held positions like CEO of Quip, President and Chief Product Officer, President and Chief Operating Officer and Co-CEO.
On December 1, Taylor quit Salesforce without prior announcements. “After a lot of reflection, I’ve decided to return to my entrepreneurial roots. Salesforce has never been more relevant to customers, and with its best-in-class management team and the company executing on all cylinders, now is the right time for me to step away,” Taylor said in a statement while announcing his resignation.
Constellation Research analyst Holger Mueller predicted that Taylor’s sudden resignation could result in a bigger position at some other major tech company. “It’s likely that Taylor has a sole CEO position planned for 2023. It raises questions on Benioff’s [succession] plans. Apparently the co-CEO model has a too long a horizon for the junior partner,” Mueller told TechCrunch.
“But it shows once again the power of the two CEO model, as Salesforce is unlikely to miss a beat similar to when Keith Block stepped down [in 2020],” he added.
Salesforce, which completed the $27 billion Slack acquisition under Taylor’s leadership in 2020, saw a seven percent fall in stock price within hours of his resignation.
Other Prominent Hirings
Earlier this month, Shopify promoted Deann Evans to the role of EMEA Managing Director to look after the Canadian company’s operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The London-based professional joined Shopify as the Director of EMEA Expansion & Partnerships in August 2021 after quitting GoToDigital as CEO. Earlier, she worked with companies like Mettrr, Spencer Park Consulting, Sizmek, ClearSaleing, eBay, PointRoll, Dennis and TargetCom.
In her new role, Shopify expected Evans to expand the company’s regional growth by developing its merchant base and the partner ecosystem. She was also expected to represent the team culture in the EMEA market. “Shopify is on a mission to make commerce better for everyone, and I’m excited for the challenge of taking on a role that will empower our merchants and partners in EMEA to continue to grow,” Evans said as quoted by internetretailing.net.
In September last year, Shopify announced major changes in its senior leadership with long-time investment banker Jeff Hoffmeister replacing CFO Amy Shapero and Vice-President of Product, Kaz Nejatian doubling up as Chief Operating Officer.
Hoffmeister worked for two decades at Morgan Stanley in its Technology Investment Banking group. He led multiple high-profile transactions during his tenure at Morgan Stanley including Shopify’s initial public offering in 2015.
On his appointment, CEO Lutke said, “As we position Shopify for the future, the addition of Jeff to our leadership team will continue to strengthen our ability to deliver value for our merchants, partners and investors. We are fortunate to benefit from his more than 20 years of investment banking experience in the technology sector, and his keen vision of the future of the industry”.
Hoffmeister also took pride in bringing his “deep industry experience” to the table for the growth of Shopify. “I am honored to join Shopify as CFO at such an important time in the Company’s history. Having served as a trusted advisor to Shopify for many years, including leading its IPO, I look forward to leveraging my deep industry experience and working closely with Tobi and the rest of Shopify’s talented team to strengthen the Company’s global leadership position and advance its mission of making commerce better for everyone,” he said in the official press release posted on the company’s website.
Nejatian, on the other end, had experience of leading a cross-functional team responsible for developing and delivering entrepreneurial tools on Shopify. He played a crucial role in the development of Shopify Capital, Shopify Balance, Shop Pay, Shopify Point of Sale and integrations with social media platforms.
