Shopify, one of the most successful e-commerce platforms in the world, is known for its high-intensity culture, rapid innovation, and ability to maintain urgency even as it scales to over 10,000 employees. 

In a recent interview on Lenny’s Podcast, Farhan Thawar, Shopify’s VP and Head of Engineering, shared how the company maintains its intensity, builds a culture of urgency, and continuously innovates in a fully remote environment. 

Here’s the ultimate guide to emulating Shopify’s culture, complete with actionable insights and strategies.

1. Choose the Hard Path: Why Difficulty Leads to Growth

Farhan emphasized the importance of choosing the harder path when faced with decisions. He believes that even if the harder option doesn’t work out, you still win because you’ve learned something valuable, worked with smart people, and gained experience that can be applied elsewhere.

Key Insights:

• Hard Path = Long-Term Gains: If you choose the easy path and fail, you gain little. But if you choose the hard path and fail, you still come out ahead with new skills, knowledge, and relationships.
• Example: Farhan encourages job seekers to build something (e.g., a Shopify app) instead of just sending out resumes. Even if they don’t get the job, they’ve gained practical skills and a portfolio piece.
• Why It Works: The hard path forces you to collaborate with smarter people, tackle complex problems, and develop resilience. Over time, this builds a culture of high performers who thrive under pressure.

Actionable Tips:

• Encourage Risk-Taking: Create a safe environment where employees feel comfortable taking on challenging projects, even if they might fail.
• Reward Effort, Not Just Results: Recognize and reward employees who take on difficult tasks, regardless of the outcome.
• Lead by Example: As a leader, share stories of times you chose the hard path and what you learned from it.

2. Intensity Over Hours: Doing More Per Minute

Shopify’s culture is built around intensity, not long hours. Farhan believes in maximizing output per minute rather than extending working hours. This approach allows employees to achieve more in less time, leaving room for personal life and reducing burnout.

Key Insights:

• Pair Programming: Shopify uses pair programming extensively, where two engineers work together on the same code. While it may seem inefficient, it leads to higher-quality solutions, faster problem-solving, and better knowledge sharing.
• Weekly Cadence: Shopify’s “Get Shit Done” (GSD) system involves weekly updates and six-week reviews, ensuring teams stay aligned and focused on delivering value quickly.
• Delete Recurring Meetings: Shopify practices “Meeting Armageddon,” where they delete all recurring meetings with more than two people once a year. Teams are then given a two-week moratorium to decide which meetings are truly essential and re-add them. This forces teams to rethink the necessity of each meeting and eliminates unnecessary ones.
• Why It Works: Intensity creates a sense of urgency and focus, which drives productivity and innovation. It also prevents burnout by encouraging employees to work smarter, not longer.

Actionable Tips:

• Implement Pair Programming: Start with small teams and encourage engineers to work in pairs. Use tools like Tuple for remote pair programming.
• Adopt a Weekly Cadence: Set up weekly check-ins where teams share progress, blockers, and next steps. Use tools like Slack or Asana to track updates.
• Run Meeting Armageddon:
  • Once a year, delete all recurring meetings with more than two people.
  • Impose a two-week moratorium on adding new recurring meetings.
  • During this period, encourage teams to use asynchronous communication tools (e.g., Slack, Notion) for updates and discussions.

3. Delete Code, Simplify, and Build for the Future

Shopify has a unique approach to code management: they actively delete code. Farhan shared that Shopify’s “Delete Code Club” has removed millions of lines of code, simplifying their systems and improving performance.

Key Insights:

• Code is a Liability: The more code you have, the harder it is to maintain. Shopify prioritizes simplicity and elegance, often rebuilding systems from scratch once they’ve learned enough about the problem.
• Infrastructure Over Features: Shopify focuses on building infrastructure that enables others to build features quickly. For example, instead of building NFT gating directly, they built a platform layer that allowed developers to create NFT gating in just one hour.
• Why It Works: Deleting code reduces technical debt, improves system performance, and makes it easier for new engineers to onboard and contribute.

Actionable Tips:

• Start a Delete Code Initiative: Dedicate time (e.g., hack days) to identifying and removing unnecessary code. Reward teams for simplifying systems.
• Focus on Infrastructure: Invest in building robust platforms that empower teams to innovate quickly. For example, create reusable APIs or libraries.
• Encourage Refactoring: Make refactoring a regular part of your development process. Use tools like SonarQube to identify code smells.

4. Embrace Failure and Look Stupid

Farhan’s superpower is his ability to “look stupid in public” repeatedly. He believes that asking “dumb” questions and experimenting with unconventional ideas often leads to breakthroughs.

Key Insights:

• Failure is a Learning Opportunity: Farhan shared a story about a major mistake he made early at Shopify, where he chose to build their point-of-sale system using two different technologies (Swift for iOS and React Native for Android). This decision cost the company 18 months of work, but it taught him the importance of taking risks and learning from failure.
• Encourage Experimentation: Shopify’s culture encourages employees to try new things, even if they might fail. This mindset fosters innovation and resilience.
• Why It Works: A culture that embraces failure reduces fear and encourages creativity. Employees feel safe to take risks, which leads to groundbreaking ideas.

Actionable Tips:

• Normalize Failure: Share stories of failure and what was learned from them. Celebrate “smart failures” that lead to valuable insights.
• Ask Dumb Questions: Encourage employees to ask questions, no matter how basic. Create a culture where curiosity is valued over expertise.
• Run Experiments: Dedicate time for employees to work on experimental projects. Use frameworks like the Lean Startup to test ideas quickly.

5. Hiring: Focus on Real Work, Not Interviews

Farhan is not a fan of traditional interviews. He believes that the best way to assess a candidate’s fit is through real work. Shopify’s internship program is a prime example of this philosophy in action.

Key Insights:

• Job Trials Over Interviews: Shopify hires over 1,000 interns annually, treating the internship as a four-month job trial. This approach allows both the company and the intern to assess fit based on real work rather than interview performance.
• Life Story Interviews: Shopify’s hiring process includes a “life story” interview, where candidates share their career journey and the reasoning behind their decisions. This helps assess curiosity, adaptability, and problem-solving skills.
• Why It Works: Real work assessments provide a more accurate picture of a candidate’s abilities and cultural fit. It also reduces bias and improves hiring outcomes.

Actionable Tips:

• Implement Job Trials: Offer short-term contracts or project-based roles to assess candidates in real-world scenarios.
• Conduct Life Story Interviews: Ask candidates to share their career journey and the reasoning behind their decisions. Focus on curiosity and adaptability.
• Leverage Internships: Build a robust internship program to identify and nurture top talent early.

6. Remote Work with Intentional IRL Experiences

Shopify is a fully remote company, but it doesn’t shy away from in-person interactions. Farhan shared how Shopify uses “bursts” (short, focused in-person gatherings) and annual summits to build trust and foster collaboration.

Key Insights:

• Trust Battery: Shopify uses the concept of a “trust battery” to measure and maintain trust within teams. Regular in-person interactions help recharge this battery, ensuring strong relationships even in a remote environment.