How Did Aydin Senkut Get Into Shopify?

Aydin Senkut got into Shopify after six months of work, emails included, and the six months did not start the day he showed up. He was not an e-commerce expert, so he looked for a concrete way to help and connected Shopify with Rovio.

Shopify was already a strong platform and still lacked a big marquee customer to raise awareness. He had just invested in Rovio, the maker of Angry Birds. Rovio badly needed an e-commerce site right before the holidays, and the merchandise was already huge even before the movie. Rovio expected a huge merchandise business. Shopify got a marquee customer. The win was not a huge chunk of the revenue share. It was very public and boosted awareness. Both companies were amazed once the introduction happened, and neither company had known about the other.

He calls the habit engineering serendipity. A good match can exist while the people involved still do not realize the introduction should be made. He tried to think like an early employee and move the needle, including by landing a founder a really impressive customer.