Scott Lake

Scott Lake is Tobias Lütke’s co-founder in the Snowdevil and early Shopify story told in Shopify: Tobias Lütke. How a snowboarder built a $150 billion business (2019). He worked at the local company Toby nearly joined, then partnered with him after Toby learned that Canadian work-permit limits made ordinary employment difficult.

Key Points

• Handled much of Snowdevil’s vendor, inventory, and business setup while Toby focused on technology.
• Helped run Snowdevil as a real retail business rather than only a drop-shipping or software experiment.
• Came up with the name Shopify by combining “shop” and “simplify.”
• Held the CEO role before leaving around 2008, after which Toby had to learn the CEO job himself.

Connections

• Tobias Lütke - technical co-founder and later Shopify CEO.
• Snowdevil - original snowboard store.
• Shopify - software platform that grew from the store tooling.
• Internal Tool Productization and Founder Role Transition - concepts his role helps illustrate.