Co-founder and CEO of Shopify; long-time Linux user and Omarchy contributor.
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Each column is a stretch of time in which the same views came up; a new column starts when one appears or goes quiet. Quiet means nothing on it in our sources for that stretch, which is not the same as a change of mind; Dropped means they said they no longer hold it; tap the card for which claim and when. Revised means the view carries on but one of its claims was dropped. Each row is one view, in the same place all the way along. The number is how many claims in that stretch; we hold 21 in 2025, 44 in 2026.
Leadership is one person making the call; decision by consensus is its absence
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.
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.
Tobias LütkeCo-founder and CEO of ShopifyThey 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 · 11 Sept 2026
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.
Their wordsIt's just like like I don't think a great book has been written as a big collaboration between multiple people. It's like books are hit it are as good as they are because they're always single author.
Their wordsI think both of them have given re-founding events to their companies. I think they are actually um uh they have made such large changes with such clear breaks from the past that they are actually are the authors of their companies' cultures now.
Their wordsno one carries the full legitimacy inside of a company. Legitimacy is a currency in a companies. No one carries the full legitimacy in a company, even the CEO. The CEO just has a lot of input on the plan. The plan carries the legitimacy.
Their wordsI I like the term context engineering because I think the fundamental skill of using AI well is to be able to state a problem with enough context in such a way that without any additional piece of information, the task is plausibly solvable.
Their wordsI write much better emails since I became a good context engineer. I just like I now realize how much is unsaid in instructions. Why is so many things so much of what people describe in companies as politics is actually bad context engineering.
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?
Their wordsMachines can't take responsibility. And I think this is actually probably most overlooked thing in the entire um uh stack. Humans take responsibility. machines can help us um take more responsibility because they can inform us better.
Their wordsyou can't have a company that's led by machines because they have no like no one has recourse they can't go to jail for doing something wrong
Tobias LütkeCo-founder and CEO of ShopifyAccept code on merit and ensure that a person takes accountability for it. Doesn’t matter if it was typed, chiseled, generated, or bit-flipped via magnetized needle on a chip. If it’s good, it’s good. If it’s slop, it’s slop.↗@tobi on Xx.com · 20 Sept 2026
Their wordsAccept code on merit and ensure that a person takes accountability for it. Doesn’t matter if it was typed, chiseled, generated, or bit-flipped via magnetized needle on a chip. If it’s good, it’s good. If it’s slop, it’s slop.
Their wordstaste um and judgment um are the skills that have always been valuable but now will get to the limit. I think it's better to spend your teenage years now cultivating like understanding taste.
Their wordsI I I just feel at the end of life you meet the people the person you could have become. Um, and uh I So so you I think the work in life is try to minimize the difference between um that person and and who you actually ended up being.
Their wordsthe reason why we're not good at everything like at anything is not a intrinsic property of you. It is a um it is a temporary state that you have a power to change at any point you choose.
Tobias LütkeCo-founder and CEO of ShopifyThe best way is to be strong, sovereign, hard-working and deeply competent. Ideally with an uncanny ability to start ambitious infrastructure projects and finish them on budget and on time. Shout-out to our nuclear energy sector for nailing that. Do that and every other problem melts away.↗@tobi on Xx.com · 13 Sept 2026
Their wordsThe best way is to be strong, sovereign, hard-working and deeply competent. Ideally with an uncanny ability to start ambitious infrastructure projects and finish them on budget and on time. Shout-out to our nuclear energy sector for nailing that. Do that and every other problem melts away.
Tobias LütkeCo-founder and CEO of ShopifyMaking trade deals with EU is good for Canada. Anything beyond that is just anchoring ourselves to a block who’s economic ambitions aren’t much higher than being an “open air museum”.↗@tobi on Xx.com · 13 Sept 2026
Their wordsMaking trade deals with EU is good for Canada. Anything beyond that is just anchoring ourselves to a block who’s economic ambitions aren’t much higher than being an “open air museum”.