The year is about to end and Shopify is helping its merchant partners recall the most cherishable moments of 2022. In a recent Twitter post, Shopify president Harley Finkelstein asked these Shopify merchants to share the concluding year’s biggest accomplishments and moments. The Twitter thread is now no less than an inspiration guide for aspiring entrepreneurs.
“Entrepreneur Twitter: What was your biggest accomplishment/moment this year? I want to hear about your favourite win – anything from your first sale to your first six-figure deal. Share below,” asked Finkelstein on Twitter.
Entrepreneur Twitter: What was your biggest accomplishment/moment this year? I want to hear about your favourite win – anything from your first sale to your first six-figure deal. Share below👇
— Harley Finkelstein (@harleyf) December 21, 2022
Launching Token-gated Shopping
Sierra, a CPG Product Developer and Consultant at Shopify, said her year’s biggest achievement was to host the Shopify president on her Shopify store Good Juu Juu. “Hi Harley – You placing an order on our website was a big moment for us!”
She added that in 2022, her store introduced a token-gated shopping experience for customers. “What we’re most proud of at goodjuujuubox this year is introducing our token gated shopping experience for our JuuJuuGallery NFT collectors!”
☺️Love the crystals! Congrats on launching the token gated shopping experience – selling where your customers are spending time – that's the name of the game!
— Harley Finkelstein (@harleyf) December 21, 2022
Sierra was referring to non-fungible token (NFT), which is a financial security system that helps store digital data in a blockchain. This data can then be sold, traded or transferred by the owner.
Established in 2018, Good Juu Juu sells high-quality crystals. Finkelstein heaped praise on its products, saying: “Love the crystals! Congrats on launching the token gated shopping experience – selling where your customers are spending time – that’s the name of the game!”
Leaving CEO’s Role
Waqas Ali, founder of New York footwear brand Atoms, revealed how he left the CEO role in 2022 to pursue other important things. “Transitioning out of the CEO role, focusing more on my strengths; community, product, and storytelling,” he counted as the biggest moment of the concluding year.
Finkelstein replied in praise of his “incredible” brand: “That is awesome waqasali – hard to do but so powerful for your business when you can double down on your strengths. Keep going with Atoms – you have an incredible product & story.”
That is awesome @waqasali – hard to do but so powerful for your business when you can double down on your strengths. Keep going with @Atoms – you have an incredible product & story.
— Harley Finkelstein (@harleyf) December 21, 2022
James Devonport, the founder of User Loop, joined in the Twitter thread, recalling how he quit his job to start an entrepreneurial journey this year. “I quit my job to run my Shopify app full-time from next year. Super nerve-racking but also exciting!”
Finkelstein welcomed Devonport into the Shopify ecosystem, wishing success for the upcoming entrepreneurial journey. “One of the hardest choices is taking the jump to do something full-time – congrats. You’re in for an incredible ride! Happy to have you in the Shopify ecosystem!”
Shopify Merchants/Partners Ecosystem
The Shopify president values the company ecosystem more than anybody else. In August he revealed in a tweet that Shopify Partners helped his company make a revenue of $32 billion in 2021. “$32 billion. That’s how much revenue the Shopify Partners ecosystem generated in 2021. That’s up 45% from 2020 and nearly 7x Shopify’s 2021 revenue – and we’re proud of their success,” Finkelstein tweeted.
It is an ecosystem of merchants, app developers, agencies, designers, freelancers and affiliate marketers associated with Shopify. The partners are offered an earning of 20 percent revenue share along with impressive e-commerce solutions and product roadmap. The program allows all partners to join for free, without any trials and offers them a 99.9 percent uptime.
In October, American entertainment company Marvel joined the Shopify Partners ecosystem by launching the Marvel Design Collection app on Shopify. The collection is powered by Californian apparel wholesale company Mad Engine Global. Marvel Design Collection app aims to help Shopify merchants sell Marvel lifestyle products on their online store.
“Marvel continues to explore new and innovative ways to maximize distribution for our franchises, and Shopify represents another milestone as part of our overall business evolution and innovation strategy,” Paul Gitter, SVP, Marvel Licensing, said at the time of launch.
With manufacturing and sourcing capabilities in the United States, Mexico and other parts of the world, Mad Engine Global manufactures and distributes the Super Hero icons products through the Marvel Design Collection app. It’s not a new partnership as the two companies have been manufacturing and selling Marvel merchandise for over 20 years.
Learning From The Community
Bryant Jaquez, the founder of baby boutique brand Caden Lane, recalled a DTC brunch in Los Angeles that gave him incredible insight in 2 hours. “We broke every sales record, which was nice. But my favorite moment of ‘22 was going to a DTC brunch in LA with a bunch of operators and marketers. I picked up more insight in 2 hours than I would have in 2 months of interacting on Twitter,” he tweeted.
The Shopify president likes to share experiences with entrepreneurs. He replied: “Love that. I always tell founders that one of the best things you can do is build a community of other founders – or operators. They understand what you’re going through and hearing how they have solved problems is incredibly insightful/powerful as you build yourself.”
Love that. I always tell founders that one of the best things you can do is build a community of other founders – or operators. They understand what you're going through and hearing how they have solved problems is incredibly insightful/powerful as you build yourself.
— Harley Finkelstein (@harleyf) December 21, 2022
The Twitter thread was soon flooded with inspiring stories from entrepreneurs and Shopify merchants. Finkelstein quote tweeted the thread to inspire the aspiring lot of entrepreneurs. “It’s amazing what you can accomplish in a year – so many people decided to take the leap to be an entrepreneur and work for themselves full-time. If you’re in need of some inspo for your next year, check out the replies in this thread – so many incredible businesses were started,” he tweeted.
2022 For Harley Finkelstein
The year 2022 was also great for Finkelstein as he completed one year of his own entrepreneurial journey with Firebelly Tea. In a long post, the Shopify president wrote how it all started six years ago and took shape during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Nine months ago, I became an entrepreneur again – and it feels damn good. Why? As the President of Shopify, the best way for me to understand what our merchants are experiencing today as they build their businesses is to be an entrepreneur alongside them,” he wrote.
“For a year, we product tested, designed tea accessories and packaging, built our site and our brand. Finally, in November 2021 we launched Firebelly Tea on Shopify. We are nine months in, and it’s been one hell of a ride so far. But I can tell you one thing – we are just getting started. If you want to see what we’ve built, check out what’s brewing,” he concluded.
Firebelly Tea claims that all its products are made of 100 percent real ingredients with no artificial sweeteners, flavouring or sugar. It also boasts of fast delivery and sustainable packaging. The brand’s resealable pouches are home-compostable. The company claims that pouches degrade in the compost area of the garden within one year.
