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Shopify is publicly traded and is an e-commerce platform. It isn't dependent on VC money to run, and neither are its customers. What happened was people shifted

Shopify is publicly traded and is an e-commerce platform. It isn't dependent on VC money to run, and neither are its customers. What happened was people shifted discretionary spending to e-commerce during covid, and between things reopening, having a fully-stocked home gym, and inflation, they cut back on buying stuff. Wealthsimple might have funding issues (I'm not sure), but it lost a lot of use because again, its growth was driven by people bored at home.

kart23 4y ago
…shopify is losing more than 1 billion a quarter.
- hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
  That's a pretty lopsided characterization. Yes, they had big losses in Q1 and Q2 2022, but they had nearly 3 billion in earnings in 2021. Large companies will often swing to big losses from big profits when there is a big macro shift, which is exactly what happened to Shopify. That's meaningfully different from a company that has had a sea of losses since inception, especially when those losses grow proportionally with revenue increases.
- dehrmann 4y ago
  My favorite apocryphal explanation for the origin of the term "black friday" is it's the first day in the year retailers are in the black. I wouldn't be surprised if Shopify follows this pattern, too. You really need to look at YoY numbers for them.
unity1001 4y ago
> Shopify is publicly traded and is an e-commerce platform. It isn't dependent on VC money to run But it still floats on the inflated stock values like a majority of the big tech companies.
- dehrmann 4y ago
  The stock price is somewhat independent of the underlying business. The stock price is based on what investors think other investors will pay for it sometime in the future, weighted against other investments.
  - unity1001 4y ago
    > The stock price is somewhat independent of the underlying business Yeah, it was. Now it will likely have to be dependent on the underlying business. At least, in the US. In Europe it was always highly tied to the success of the company's business. To profits, especially. In the US it was more like 'this will take over the market and go big in the future'. But, a lot of major companies haven't been able to do that. From Facebook to Twitter. Not even talking about those like WeWork or Uber.
  - rchaud 4y ago
    > The stock price is based on what investors think other investors will pay for it sometime in the future, And sometimes that 'investor' can be the company itself, doing a stock buyback. Or prices rising because of a corporate tax cut. Often times these swings in share price have nothing to do with the underlying business.

kart23 4y ago

…shopify is losing more than 1 billion a quarter.

hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
That's a pretty lopsided characterization. Yes, they had big losses in Q1 and Q2 2022, but they had nearly 3 billion in earnings in 2021. Large companies will often swing to big losses from big profits when there is a big macro shift, which is exactly what happened to Shopify. That's meaningfully different from a company that has had a sea of losses since inception, especially when those losses grow proportionally with revenue increases.
dehrmann 4y ago
My favorite apocryphal explanation for the origin of the term "black friday" is it's the first day in the year retailers are in the black. I wouldn't be surprised if Shopify follows this pattern, too. You really need to look at YoY numbers for them.

unity1001 4y ago

> Shopify is publicly traded and is an e-commerce platform. It isn't dependent on VC money to run But it still floats on the inflated stock values like a majority of the big tech companies.

dehrmann 4y ago
The stock price is somewhat independent of the underlying business. The stock price is based on what investors think other investors will pay for it sometime in the future, weighted against other investments.
- unity1001 4y ago
  > The stock price is somewhat independent of the underlying business Yeah, it was. Now it will likely have to be dependent on the underlying business. At least, in the US. In Europe it was always highly tied to the success of the company's business. To profits, especially. In the US it was more like 'this will take over the market and go big in the future'. But, a lot of major companies haven't been able to do that. From Facebook to Twitter. Not even talking about those like WeWork or Uber.
- rchaud 4y ago
  > The stock price is based on what investors think other investors will pay for it sometime in the future, And sometimes that 'investor' can be the company itself, doing a stock buyback. Or prices rising because of a corporate tax cut. Often times these swings in share price have nothing to do with the underlying business.