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Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

news.shopify.com

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Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#201

Post by Shindi »

thegginthesky wrote: post #68

I'll tell you a personal anecdote about Shopify and why I dislike the company. Back in 2019, I was contacted by Shopify for a job opportunity. After acing multiple remote interviews, their recruiter couldn't contain their excitement. They promised me an onsite interview to simply meet the team and potentially secure an offer. Imagine my surprise when, after enduring a 15-hour economy class flight with barely any time…

> They promised me an onsite interview to simply meet the team and potentially secure an offer.

Was that your first tech onsite? The onsite is an interview you have to pass, you're not guaranteed an offer. Also why did you not bring your laptop to your tech interview lol

Honestly, sucks to fly out far and get rejected but that's part of the process my guy. Most onsites are 5 back to back interviews.

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#202

Post by the_only_law »

kodah wrote: post #93
cde-v wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost no one is going to agree with you here. Hacker News is filled with “temporarily embarrassed billionaires” who all think their shitty little app or the fact that they know some obscure useless programming language think will make them rich one day.

and yet people agree with them.

I can find an idiot to agree with anything.

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#203

Post by organsnyder »

tmshu1 wrote: post #163
softwaredoug wrote: post #145

I worked at Shopify until the Fall. Shopify was just a really fun place to work. And in part this was because they did a really good job of interviewing. Technical, yes, but in particular behaviorally. So I can honestly say that many of the colleagues I know being let go are truly great colleagues. They were some of the most impactful people I worked with in my org (discovery) and they are a great get for any company…

Can you share a bit about what they did well in the behavioral interviews? Do you have specific examples? Would love to learn some best practices

Shopify calls its first interview the "life story" interview, and (in my experience) it was a great place for me to talk about my career, reflect on past successes and mistakes, and demonstrate empathy and self-awareness.

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#204

Post by AndrewKemendo »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #173
monero-xmr wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are falling into the trap of the Luddites. As a society we allow layoffs because it reallocates skilled workers to new areas that actually need them. Otherwise why not pay people to dig holes and fill them back in again, forever?

You are falling into the meta-trap of misunderstanding the Luddites. The Luddites weren't idiots, nor they were against progress. They revolted because the way the new technology was applied was destroying their specialization, and in many cases, destroying their lives . The promise of "reallocating skilled workers to new areas" is bullshit at the individual level. What's being reallocated is the new generation, the…

I’m saving this, and suggest others do as well, because it’s the best exposition I’ve seen describing this phenomena in an empathetic and precise way.

Kudos!!

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#205

Post by allanmacgregor »

This is not surprising Shopify has had an identity crisis and lack of focus for years now. To name a few:

- Alienating marketplace partners by trying to absorb their functionality - Trying to break into the logistics space - Failing to develop and make headway into the Enterprise space.

Shopify needs a reality check and new leadership if they want to continue being relevant

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#206

Post by jacques_chester »

I was caught in this layoff. My team was Ruby Dependency Security, focused on supply chain security in the Ruby space. I guess seen as being too far from the core mission.

I enjoyed working there, but especially the people I worked with. I will miss working with them.

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#207

Post by AndrewKemendo »

bhargav wrote: post #161
monero-xmr wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are falling into the trap of the Luddites. As a society we allow layoffs because it reallocates skilled workers to new areas that actually need them. Otherwise why not pay people to dig holes and fill them back in again, forever?

Not saying downsizing does not make sense, but its a stretch to say that its a service to our society to downsize one's company. > As a society we allow layoffs because it reallocates skilled workers to new areas that actually need them This more sounds like a trap mindset to me to be honest. Its associating some sort of morality to what is just regular part of running a business. Companies do what's best for the com…

The conceit that there exists human actions that are exempt from “morality” is fundamentally depraved.

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#208

Post by mattbrewsbytes »

orra wrote: post #66
monero-xmr wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are assuming that there is an infinite number of people that can be added to Shopify’s payroll that will increase the product’s usefulness and increase revenue enough to justify their hiring. The company leadership doesn’t believe that. There is a line where adding more people will not justify enough revenue increase, and that’s up to the company leaders to decide. It’s worse for the people laid off, but ultimate…

We're not talking about hiring more people, let alone an infinite number. Simply I am pointing out the downsides of laying off people.

You're not taking into account that "deliver more" isn't an infinite type of thing that can happen. There is a threshold with market/product fit where "more" doesn't mean more revenue and benefit to shareholders.

I think this is something all companies struggle with: at some point you may achieve product/market maturity but the people that could determine this are fundamentally in conflict with ever communicating this because they or their peers would be out of work at that employer. In my opinion, this is when internal politics start to become more prevalent because its human nature to protect your well being/source of money.

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#209

Post by flakeoil »

qbasic_forever wrote: post #166
nness wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're likely speaking of their liability should a employee's laptop, containing sensitive information, ever be stolen or re-sold (or simply, left in the hands of an ex-employee with a grudge.) It would be difficult for a IT department to guarantee, for sure without replacing the internals of the device, that the device doesn't contain sensitive information. Probably easier from an inventory and IT security perspect…

That's bizarre or just shoddy IT. Every major platform has remote wipe and self destruct capabilities, control over full disk encryption, etc. I guess they let people bring their own devices and just not follow solid IT practices?

Well, to properly erase (multiple overwrites and erase) I suppose IT would need to get the computer back for a while so it can fully complete without the employee removing the IT tool which can handle this removal.

Secondly, would you want to have a computer which your previous employer can wipe your disk at any time?

So all in all probably a good thing for both parties.

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#210

Post by medellin »

brotoss wrote: post #141

Referring to "main quests" and "side quests" in a mass layoff notice is extremely cringeworthy

The letter seems to have two audiences. Investors and employees. It’s easy to criticize this stuff but i have yet to see HN provide any valid feedback in these threads outside of criticizing past decisions of the CEO.
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