The changes to the executive team come after Kaz Nezhatyan left his position as Opendoor's chief operating officer.
There are new changes at the top of Canada's largest technology company.
Shopify promoted its general counsel Jess Hertz to chief operating officer, and the company's chief revenue officer announced his departure after three years.
“My operating system as COO: make work visible, shorten feedback loops, do it in smaller chunks, deliver end-to-end results.”
Jess Hertz, Shopify
CRO Bobby Morrison wrote in Post on LinkedIn that his time at Shopify was “one of the most impressive and rewarding of my career.” According to his profile, Morrison previously held the same position at fintech company Intuit and spent nearly 20 years at telecommunications company Verizon in various roles.
“I didn’t know what I was missing until I had the opportunity to work with a company obsessed with its mission and led by founders,” Morrison said. He said he helped Shopify turn negative cash flow in 2022 into free cash flow in excess of 15 percent for eight straight quarters, while also increasing its market capitalization fivefold.
Morrison thanked his colleagues and praised CEO Tobi Lütke's leadership, writing that he will “apply these lessons to what comes next.”
Shopify told BetaKit it had restructured its commerce organization, which had an impact on management, but did not comment on the situation with individual employees.
Shake follows departure of Chief Operating Officer Kaz Nejatyan last month after he left Shopify to lead San Francisco tech firm Opendoor. Nejatian led product and trade services, among other roles, and was promoted to chief operating officer in 2022.
Nejatian called his move to a company that offers a digital platform for buying and selling homes a “unique” opportunity to “redefine what’s possible in real estate.” The regulatory filing said Shopify's remaining executive team will assume his responsibilities going forward and is “committed to ensuring a smooth transition.”
Shopify confirmed it called Hertz to replace Nezhatyan following social media posts by Hertz and other company executives.
CONNECTED: Shopify COO Kaz Nezhatyan is leaving to lead Opendoor
“Jess spent four years deeply understanding our business and reimagining how we operate, building systems across legal, HR and the entire company at scale,” a Shopify spokesperson said in a statement to BetaKit. “She is a first principles thinker, delivers smart solutions and combines public sector and technology experience with proven execution.”
IN Post on LinkedInHertz said she was “thrilled” about the appointment and described her approach to the new role.
“My operating system as COO: make work visible, shorten feedback loops, do it in smaller chunks, deliver end-to-end results,” Hertz wrote. “When the work is visible, the property is clear, and the defaults are obvious, winning becomes a byproduct.”
Lütke and Shopify President Harley Finkelstein congratulated Hertz on its social media push. Lütke wrote in publish on X that Hertz “played a key role in creating most of Shopify's best systems.” In his own postFinkelstein said Hertz was one of the “best operators” because she developed scalable systems, eliminated complexity and empowered teams.
An attorney and Harvard University graduate, Hertz clerked for future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, then worked as a federal agency counsel and as a U.S. deputy attorney general. She was a principal deputy adviser to former US President Joe Biden when he was vice president during the Obama administration.
Hertz then made a foray into the technology sector, joining Facebook (now Meta) in 2018 as associate general counsel, where she focused on regulatory and government issues. In 2020, Biden appointed Hertz to his transition team, which drew criticism from some members of the Democratic Party due to her former work at the tech giant. Hertz served as White House staff secretary until October 2021, when she joined Shopify.
Founded in 2006 in Ottawa, Shopify is an e-commerce platform that sells services to both small merchants and large businesses. It is currently Canada's largest company by market capitalization, valued at just under C$300 billion. The company's share price fell just over one percent today.
Coming out of the strong profit for the second quarterShopify recently announced partnership with OpenAI to bring their merchants' products to ChatGPT using the in-app shopping feature.
Disclosure: BetaKit's majority owner Good Future is the family office of two former Shopify leaders, Arati Sharma and Satish Kanwar.
Image courtesy of Open Grid Scheduler/Grid Engine at Flickr (CC0 1.0).
