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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

#231

Post by bombcar »

pastor_bob wrote: post #156

>Logistics was clearly a worthwhile side quest for us, and started to create the conditions for our main quest to succeed. From the beginning, we worked with lots of partners on all aspects of this same problem: warehouses, robotics, transportation, crossdock, freight. We iteratively built a solution, step by step, through software, leases, and M&A deals, that could be an independent company one day. Shopify was the…

I read it as "this works, but it's not our core competency so we will sell it off" - whether they're pulling one over on the company and it'll die immediately remains to be seen.

Shipping is getting expensive across the board, which might be part of it.

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

#232

Post by gurchik »

uvu wrote: post #5
gurchik wrote: post #4

> We legally need the work laptop back, but we’ll help pay for a new one to replace it. What law? I’m not criticizing Spotify at all for this decision, I’m just genuinely curious. A few other companies recently are giving away the laptops so I’m wondering what is different here.

shopify*

Whoops, you’re right. I’m past the edit window though.

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

#233

Post by 908B64B197 »

bambataa wrote: post #143

Is this the same CEO who decided to double the engineering team in a single year? https://techcouver.com/2021/01/06/shopify-to-double-engineer... Aren’t CEOs paid ludicrously well to make long term decisions, rather than just flail around?

According to the man himself

>>Our numbers were unhealthy, just like it is in much of the tech industry.

But that didn't prevent him from profiting from it nor from the layoffs.

To be completely honest, I've never been bullish on Shopify. To me it looked like a "mee too" play for investors that missed the boat on Amazon, Square and Stripe.

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

#234

Post by xtracto »

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…

People interviewing have to stand for themselves more. Several years ago, I was living in Germany looking to go back home later that year. I got into the interview process for a nice Silicon Valley startup (called Ooyala). After 3 phone interviews (2 technical) the recruiter was super excited and told me they would fly me from Germany to their offices.. A 10 hour flight.

I respectfully declined, telling her that because I was going to do the same long trip about 2 months later, I didn't want to fly. I told her that I would understand if they decided to pass, and no hard feelings.

Instead, she got one of the founders to interview me (Bel!!) And after that they decided to give me an offer. Everything resulted great for all of us, and I had a job waiting for me later that year.

I understand we may be desperate when looking for a job. But trust me that hiring managers are also generally in a hurry to fill positions. I know this bc I've hired plenty of people (both tech, HR, and g&a) in my career.

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

#235

Post by bart_spoon »

FredPret wrote: post #105
kalleboo wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But why did the CEO hire all these useless people in the first place if they are so competent? Why did it take until now to fire them?

Who says they’re competent?

So 20% of Shopify employees were incompetent? Why were they hired then? It’s mismanagement either way.

Edit: I clearly misunderstood the above exchange

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

#236

Post by monero-xmr »

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…

For hundreds of thousands of years, pre-historic man became very skilled at cutting rocks in order to make stone age tools. Generations upon generations of early humans learned, worked on, and passed down to their children the way to perfectly smash rocks against each other in order to cut them into pointy shapes. In this way they made arrow heads, knives, axes, and so on. It's hard to believe, but this primitive technology was revolutionary.

When metal working developed, all of the hundreds of thousands of years of skill in making stone tools was meaningless - it had been superseded by new technology.

I don't care one iota about craftsmen who can no longer conduct their craft in the way they want because a better technology came around. If one person can make 1000 shoes a day while a cobbler can only make 5, this is great for society.

This is why we live in skyscrapers rather than huts. This is why I don't pay people to cut my grass with scissors.

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

#237

Post by ilamont »

Shopify was the perfect place to bootstrap this [logistics] effort from 0 to 1 and we have done this. The next step is to take what we have and take it from 1 to N as a main quest.

Then he says they're selling to Flexport, an act which doesn't sound like a "main quest" at all ... it sounds like it's a difficult side quest being offloaded to someone else.

For Shopify customers: What does this mean for shops using Shopify Fulfillment Network?

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

#238

Post by FredPret »

bart_spoon wrote: post #235
FredPret wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who says they’re competent?

So 20% of Shopify employees were incompetent? Why were they hired then? It’s mismanagement either way. Edit: I clearly misunderstood the above exchange

Who says the CEO is competent

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

#239

Post by halgir »

gurchik wrote: post #4

> We legally need the work laptop back, but we’ll help pay for a new one to replace it. What law? I’m not criticizing Spotify at all for this decision, I’m just genuinely curious. A few other companies recently are giving away the laptops so I’m wondering what is different here.

I recently negotiated terms on behalf of a group of laid off employees, and one item I pushed on was that they get to keep their laptop. The company said that wouldn't be possible for everyone, because many laptops were leased, and so were not the company's to give. In those cases, they would be given a different but equivalent device.

Lots of possible reasons.

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

#240

Post by mortenjorck »

bonney_io wrote: post #216

This all sucks, and I hate that CEOs can continue to lie about layoffs, hire uncontrollably, then completely 180 and lay tons of folks off. That said: where do I sign up for 16 weeks of severance pay?

> That said: where do I sign up for 16 weeks of severance pay?

The cruel irony is that having Shopify on your resume will open a lot of doors and likely result in a shorter job search than those laid off from lower-profile companies with less severance.

For point of comparison, my no-name series-D gave us a little over two weeks… and I’m unfortunately still looking 20 weeks later.

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