Tobi Lutke on Hiring
Co-founder & CEO at Shopify
Co-founder of Shopify who grew it from a snowboard shop into a $100B+ commerce platform. Self-taught programmer who hires for trajectory over credentials and believes the best people are builders first.
Hire like Tobi Lutke?
Generate Interview ProcessPhilosophy
Hire for slope, not y-intercept. Someone's rate of learning matters way more than what they know today. Knowledge is cheap — the ability to acquire it fast is rare.
Tobi's most cited hiring principle. Shopify famously hires people with unconventional backgrounds who learn fast.
I want to work with people who have built things. Not talked about building things, not managed people who built things — actually built things themselves. Show me your side projects, your open source contributions, the thing you made on a weekend because you were curious.
Shopify's emphasis on craft and building is central to their culture.
Hiring Process
We do a 'life story' interview. Tell me your whole story — where you grew up, what got you into this field, every job you've had and why you left. It takes about an hour but you learn more from this than any technical question.
The life story interview reveals patterns of curiosity, ambition, and self-awareness that structured questions miss.
For technical roles, we give people a small real-world project to work on — not a whiteboard problem, not an algorithm puzzle. Something that looks like actual work they'd do here. We pay them for their time.
Shopify uses paid work trials over traditional coding interviews.
Interview Questions
What's something you taught yourself recently that has nothing to do with your job?
Tests for innate curiosity. The best Shopify hires are people who can't stop learning, even about things that don't 'matter.'
Tell me about something you built that you're really proud of — and then tell me what you'd do differently if you built it again today.
The second half is the important part. It reveals whether someone actually reflects and grows or just ships and moves on.
What's a strong opinion you hold about how software should be built that most people would disagree with?
Tests for independent thinking. People who only have consensus opinions tend to produce consensus work.
What They Look For
People who have a clear 'arc' — you can see them getting meaningfully better at each job. Each role was harder than the last, they took on things they weren't ready for, and they figured it out.
This is the 'slope' Tobi looks for — evidence of acceleration, not just experience.
Candidates who've built things outside of work — side projects, open source, even non-technical creative work. It signals they're driven by curiosity, not just a paycheck.
Dealbreakers
If someone has been in a comfortable role for many years and can't articulate why, that's a flag. Growth requires discomfort. The best people seek out situations where they're in over their head.
People who describe their work entirely in terms of process and meetings rather than output. If you ask what they built and they tell you about the Jira workflow, something's off.
Signals to Watch
In the life story interview, listen for how they explain their transitions. Did things happen to them, or did they make things happen? The language reveals whether someone has agency or is just along for the ride.
When you give them the work trial project, watch how they ask questions. Great candidates ask clarifying questions about the user problem. Weaker candidates ask about the spec and acceptance criteria.
Principles
Don't hire for the role you need filled today. Hire for the person who will grow into three roles you'll need in two years. This is especially true at a scaling company.
Interviewer Tips
Do the work trial before the culture interviews, not after. If someone's craft isn't there, nothing else matters. Don't waste their time or yours with four rounds of behavioral interviews before you find out they can't do the work.