Book excerpt: The story of Shopify, one of Canada’s largest publicly traded companies, is all about starting and growing businesses. In this inspirational corporate history, follow the company’s rocket-like growth over its first two decades and meet its major players, such as Tobias Lütke, who co-founded the company in 2004, transitioned from programmer to CEO in 2008, and thereafter steered Shopify to its incredible growth trajectory, relying more on “first principles” thinking than the business nostrums of MBA classes. Learn more about the executive team that contributed to Shopify’s performance during the years leading up to its initial public offering (IPO), which turned them into multimillionaires and paved the way for Shopify to enable millions of entrepreneurs to start businesses and enrich the global economy. In The Shopify Story, economist and business journalist Larry MacDonald investigates the factors behind Shopify’s growth and shares lessons for entrepreneurs, business managers, employees, programmers, policymakers, and investors.