Polly L.

During my time at Shopify, one of the most underappreciated products that our customer success managers loved recommending to merchants was Shopify Collabs. Launched in August 2022, Collabs is a rebranded version of the Dovetale app, designed to bridge the gap between merchants and content creators in today’s booming influencer and creator economy. This product allows brands to discover influencers who align with their needs and budgets while empowering creators to monetize their content effectively, and position Shopify as a leader in the global marketplace for online products and influencer marketing But why is this important? Influencer Impact: 49% of all participants, and a staggering 87% of Gen Z participants, report choosing products recommended by influencers. This makes influencer partnerships a crucial strategy for brand visibility and engagement. Cross-Platform Reach: Platforms like TikTok, projected to reach 955 million users by 2025, offer enormous potential for brands to extend their reach and tap into diverse audiences. Measurable ROI: With tools like shoppable videos and social commerce integrations (think TikTok Shopping, YouTube, and Firework), brands can now directly measure the impact of influencer campaigns on key metrics like conversion rates and average order values (AOVs). Take, for example, Kevin Lee and his team at immi, a brand redefining the ramen industry. They use Shopify Collabs to build authentic relationships with ramen enthusiasts by sending out hundreds of samples to creators. This not only garners valuable product feedback but also helps identify creators who are genuinely excited to champion the brand. Over time, this strategy has enabled Immi to grow a community of over 400 members and more than 145 affiliates, driving substantial referral sales for the brand. While Shopify Collabs is a powerful tool, it’s also worth exploring other influencer marketplace platforms like GRIN, Upfluence, Creator.co, and Tagger by Sprout Social to see what best fits your brand’s needs.

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Yesterday, Shopify announced an exciting new partnership with YouTube, enabling seamless shopping directly within videos and live streams. This collaboration allows brands to tap into YouTube creators' engaged audiences, enhancing authenticity and driving sales with a frictionless shopping experience. They’re calling it "shop while you watch." Shopify is making a smart move here by leaning into a few key trends: 1. Video content is more powerful than ever. 2. Content creators on YouTube (and other social platforms) have an increasingly significant influence on purchasing decisions. While I love that Shopify is directly challenging TikTok Shop head-on, I do see some limitations with shoppable videos from creators: - Creators often don't own the products they promote. When a product is gifted, it’s harder for shoppers to relate, as the endorsement may not feel as genuine as a real customer’s experience. - Partnering with creators can be costly. I always advise brands that their best creators are often their existing customers. They have smartphones capable of producing high-quality content and frequently share polished versions of their experiences on social media. Collecting content from satisfied customers and showcasing it on your website remains one of the most effective ways to build authenticity and trust. Moast is a great tool for achieving that.

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Looking for work at an org who cares? Bright Early's partners are hiring! This week’s newsletter edition was a roundup of Bright Early clients, current and former, who are looking to add to their teams. Whether they’re building deep tech, revolutionizing the internet, leading in the arts or making a true difference for vulnerable people, what they have in common is a commitment to creating human, inclusive places to work. In fact, we'll only work with teams who do. Note: Though they’re all B E partner organizations, we aren’t part of the hiring teams or process for any of these roles, so be sure to apply directly! Passionate about health and all things remote? Maple (getmaple.ca), a team working on bringing high-quality video medicine to Canadians, is hiring a People and Culture Manager and HR Coordinator, and other roles. Love helping people party plan? The legendary Drake Hotel Properties is looking for an Events Sales Manager, as well as hospitality staff for both its Toronto and Prince Edward County locations. Calling all sales pros! Voiceflow, a scaleup building conversational AI tools, is looking for a Senior Enterprise Account Executive. Passionate about making a difference for folks experiencing homelessness? Blue Door is hiring a Resource Development Manager.  Lillio (formerly HiMama) is hiring a People Operations Associate, Staff Software Engineer, and Customer Support roles, and many other roles. Are you bilingual and wanting to make a difference? Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking is hiring for its hotline response team. Bring your passion for the arts to Luminato Festival Toronto as a Production Coordinator. Want to see more women elected in Canada? Equal Voice is hiring a bilingual Communications Coordinator. Want to build robots? Promise Robotics is hiring Software Engineers in Toronto and a Production Lead for its team in Edmonton. Know a Software Developer that’s passionate about DevOps security? boostsecurity.io is likely the team for them. Reclaim the internet (and work on the future of it) at one of Mozilla's many open positions. Stay gold by joining jewelry disruptor Mejuri They have roles across everything from retail to real estate across North America. Help bring the magic of baseball to more kids by joining the Jays Care Foundation team as a Senior Manager of Major Gifts or a Grants Manager. Join the dream team (get it?) at Endy. They’re looking for a Junior Accountant and a bilingual Customer Success hire. Petition Change.org to be their next hire in UX, Product Management, Engineering, or Marketing. Want to hear about future roles with B E organizations? Sign up for our newsletter here. It's chock-full of resources on building companies that care, and we're starting up a hiring session in each edition. https://lnkd.in/gjCmit3a

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🎙️ "We hire people who are well aligned to our mission and who are really awesome at their craft. So at the core, it's a company for craftspeople, right?" - Eytan Seidman - Director of Product at Shopify It was interesting to hear Eytan's perspective on Dev Interrupted this week. Too often, it's easy for modern software teams to be thought of as an industrial process, like an assembly line, instead of a group of skilled problem solvers. To combat this negative perspective and the churn risk it creates within your engineering org, Eytan and I explored how Shopify creates an exceptional developer experience for both internal teams and external developers using their platform. Eytan shared with us how Shopify’s high-context, high-autonomy culture empowers engineers and product managers to innovate and make a real impact. By fostering a mission-driven environment, they ensure that developers can contribute without being bogged down by inefficient processes. If you're interested in building elite engineering teams and cultivating a culture of innovation, this episode is a must-listen. Check out the full episode 👇 https://lnkd.in/gMzKiCbR #DeveloperExperience #EngineeringLeadership #Shopify #TechInnovation #ProductManagement

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🚀 Just had an incredible experience meeting Keily Blair, CEO of OnlyFans in Toronto! Here's a mind-blowing stat: OnlyFans has paid out $15 billion to creators since 2016. Yes, billion with a B. 💸 The company takes 1/5th of the payments generated. With over 3 million content creators on the platform, it was fascinating to discuss the future direction of the business - which really has a ripple effect... OnlyFans has already shifted culture and how we think about creators. But their next big wave goes beyond content and culture—it’s about challenging traditional banking norms. With its massive financial footprint, OnlyFans is pretty well poised to reshape the financial landscape for lawful, profitable businesses often marginalized due to stigma. (👋 Shoutout to Sextech School founders, Women of SexTech, and other businesses that struggle to transact or even open business bank accounts.) Keily’s background as a partner at a law firm specializing in cyber, privacy, and security makes her the fit to take on the big banks. I love learning about how people found their ways into these sorts of spaces - for her, OF was a former client (and a fav client). I learned so much in our meeting. One last nugget that stood out: OFTV (their safe-for-work streamer) just licensed their first reality show to Netflix! At this point, the mainstream influence of OF, whether it's in entertainment or financial sector, is undeniably having a hand in what our future looks like.

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Earlier in my career, I spent 5 years at Shopify as Head of App Store. The way I landed the job might surprise you. Here's how it went down... It all stemmed from a cold email. Back in 2012, I was a Comp Sci student at Algonquin College looking for a summer internship. When I was digging around, I came across Shopify. The company was right around the 80-employee mark when I found it. I had some experience in online business – I had started a sold a community in the online gaming space, and did a brief but wide ranging internship at a startup that I felt could translate, so I shot my shot. I cold emailed Tobias Lütke (email pictured below), asking for any opportunity to work for him at his company. Not gonna lie, I would've cleaned the floors and toilets if I had to. At first, I heard crickets. Nothing in response for 1 week... 2 weeks... Then, Tobi replied a couple of weeks later and asked me if I'd be interested in taking over this "app store thing" they had been working on and seeing what I could do with it. No surprise, I accepted. And then went on to spend the next 6 years working on the Shopify app store, taking it from ~40 apps to several thousand. The lesson here? I'm shocked more people don't send cold emails. The downside is so, so low--and the upside is near infinite. One more thing: I'll be sharing more learnings from my time growing the Shopify App Store & other experiences in ecommerce here on social. If that sounds interesting, follow along for more.

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Hey LinkedIn! I’m looking to post more here, so I thought I’d reintroduce myself and a new project I’m launching. I’m Nilam Ganenthiran, a Toronto-based entrepreneur. For a quick background, I was an early employee at Instacart and spent over 8 years with the company, culminating in my last role as President. After leaving Instacart in 2021, I spent time at D1 Capital, focusing on private equity investments across sectors. I am currently building something new to support founders in their journeys (Beacon Software). On that note, I wanted to introduce my blog ‘Captain, Crew, & Capital’. This will be where I share my experiences, wins, losses, and, most importantly, learnings from being a technology entrepreneur, builder, and investor for the last decade. From my near-daily conversations with tech founders, investors, and executives, I have realized that founders (captains) need help understanding how their teams (crew) and their investors (capital) think about situations. I am doing this to share my own POV, having worn all three hats - while trying to build a new company myself. More than anything else, I am writing this blog to force myself to be deliberate about documenting my own learnings/thinking in the hope that it will help others. I am inspired by the boundless optimism of entrepreneurs who fight daily to make something appear out of nothing. If you want to stay updated on this journey, visit my website (linked below), or follow me here or on X.

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