Engineer first, leader always. Hard problems at global scale. Teams that ship what others thought was impossible. Trust is the multiplier.
Most leaders chase stability. I chase high-agency.
2013–2016
Trusting instincts over process
8 products · 4→28 people
Dozens of projects. Every language, framework, industry. The magic isn't breadth—it's depth. Knowing Ruby's memory patterns let us ship what others couldn't. Genuine confidence in domains we'd only known for weeks. Stop chasing the "right" thing. Chase what excites you.
2016–2025 · 8+ years
2016–2018
Short-term speed and long-term speed are different games
$B+ GMV · 1yr architecture
Multi-currency was open-heart surgery on Shopify's money model. Dozens of prototypes—fast. One year to find the right architecture—slow. That foundation now powers Shopify Markets and billions in international GMV. The trap: treating exploration and commitment as the same game.
2018–2020
From builder to builder of builders
M+ customers · 30+ internal teams
Bulk Account Inviter onboarded millions of B2B customers. Destinations became a service 30+ internal teams depend on. Less building, more activating others. Most people underestimate themselves. Hold them to a bar they thought was impossible. Watch them clear it. People are the hardest problem—and one worth solving.
2020–2022
Close to the work, not above it
10+ teams · Metaobjects launch
Shopify.plus launch across 10+ cross-functional teams. Metaobjects—an entirely new primitive for custom data, now core to thousands of stores. The trap: stepping back and letting teams "figure it out." Real delegation means staying in the work. Not saving them from every spike—being the wall they learn to climb. Trust, but verify.
2022–2025
Resilience comes from storms, not shelter
50+ engineers · 6 pivots
50+ engineers. 80+ R&D-wide. Mission pivoted every six months. Layoffs hit. Not avoiding chaos—harnessing it. The goal was never stability. It was teams that adapt. Teams that don't break. Comfort is where growth goes to die.
2025–Present
Big company lessons. Startup speed.
0→1 AI · Series B · Company reinvention
GrowthLoop isn't a typical 0→1. The company existed for years—now it's chasing hypergrowth. AI is the new frontier. The rest is reinvention. My experiment: big company scale with just the right rails. Enough structure to accelerate, not enough to kill speed. Everything learned, applied at once. This one's live.
The Thesis
High-agency trumps everything.
Trust unlocks it.
Directed chaos forges it.
That's the work.
Story in progress...
Always up for hard conversations about leadership and the craft of building teams. Reach out.