korrents
Tobias Lütke

What Tobias Lütke thinks about management

@tobi-lutke · 31 positions · 0 changes of mind

Co-founder and CEO of Shopify; long-time Linux user and Omarchy contributor.

Everything they publish, on ppll ↗

Tobias Lütke did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

8 dated positions, 2025 to 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Tobias Lütke has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingWhen a team sees what needs to happen but does not want to be the bad guy, someone making the call saves enormous amounts of meetings and change management.

    Their wordsThey see what needs to happen but don’t want to be the bad guy. I’m happy to just make the call if I agree with the premise. Saves enormous amounts of meetings and change management etc.

    ↗@tobi on Xx.com

  2. 12 months earlier

  3. Our readingA job title is a calcification of how a company once solved a problem, not a description of what a person is.

    Their wordsyou are you are a sales operations expert, right? Like what is that? That's that's that that's like a title for a particular way how companies end up solving a particular operational problem they had at some point.

    ↗ACQ2: How to Live in Everyone Else's Future (with Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke)youtube.com 8th of 21 in this recording

  5. Our readingRequiring everyone at a company to reach for AI first is a fairness measure, because otherwise the people who already do will take all the best careers.

    Their wordsI I sent a memo to my company like and we set the expectation that we require that people reflexively reach for AI now and and we require it because it's unfair not to because the people who do otherwise going to be the people who sequester all the best careers to themselves, right?

    ↗ACQ2: How to Live in Everyone Else's Future (with Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke)youtube.com 9th of 21 in this recording

  7. Our readingA stated company value that nobody would take the other side of is a platitude, not a choice.

    Their wordsfiguring out a document that is actually like sort of all the things that are not platitudes whereas like all the things where someone else like some other company would plausibly take the other side of and but that's but those are the real choices, right? Like if no one would take the other side, it's a platitude.

    ↗ACQ2: How to Live in Everyone Else's Future (with Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke)youtube.com 12th of 21 in this recording

  9. Our readingPeople love leadership, including the leadership they complain about, and there is something wonderful about being part of a group that is being led.

    Their wordsI believe those things are utterly incorrect now. I I I I think people love leadership. Like they like they they love complaining about it, too, which they should. And it like it deserves all criticism it gets, but like there's something absolutely wonderful being part of a group that's being led.

    ↗ACQ2: How to Live in Everyone Else's Future (with Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke)youtube.com 13th of 21 in this recording

  11. Our readingEverything you dislike doing is somebody else's dream job, so a founder should delegate the work they hate rather than the work they enjoy.

    Their wordsAnd I I just ended up like realizing everything I don't like is someone else's dream job. And that's like incredibly liberating.

    ↗ACQ2: How to Live in Everyone Else's Future (with Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke)youtube.com 14th of 21 in this recording

  13. Our readingEvery decision reached by consensus is an instance of the absence of leadership.

    Their wordsleadership and consensus are two sides of the same spectrum. Like they don't intersect at all. It's like every time consensus makes a decision, it's the absence of leadership.

    ↗ACQ2: How to Live in Everyone Else's Future (with Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke)youtube.com 17th of 21 in this recording

  15. Our readingFiring a chief executive for bad results is several levels of wrong; the question is what company they carved out of the opportunity they were handed.

    Their wordsin management uh like a CEO is is being fired when results are bad, which I think is fundamental that's multiple levels of wrong. Um, but like the way to judge a CEO is like out of what opportunity did you carve what company?

    ↗ACQ2: How to Live in Everyone Else's Future (with Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke)youtube.com 20th of 21 in this recording