Both Shopify and Zoom have rocketed to $100B+ market caps this year

Zoom has perhaps gotten more attention, but Shopify has undergone at least as much change, and has exploded to a $3.2B+ ARR run-rate since Covid (!)

Let's take a look at 5 Interesting Learnings from Shopify:

#1. Shopify moved from a 14-day free trial to a 90-day one during Covid ... and conversions went >up<

The lesson? Let the customer buy the way they want, and need, to buy

And often making a free product >freer< can work

Don't always tighten the gates

#2. "SaaS" can be consumption-based. It doesn't even have to be primarily subscription-based anymore.

Shopify's subscriptions grew 48% this year ... but its payments revenue grew 132%, and now is much larger than the subscription side

Subscriptions fuel payment revenue now.

#3. You don't have to leave your SMBs behind as you go upmarket.

We also saw this with Zendesk. Shopify "Plus", its enterprise offering, has exploded with top brands.

But its SMB business grew just as fast, so the SMB:enterprise ratio didn't change much in 2020

#4: Referrals and agencies work again well here with SMBs.

We saw this with Hubspot and RingCentral and more.

37,000+ agencies and design shops sent Shopify a customer in just 12 months alone

#5: Be patient with your ecosystem. Shopify waited to monetize it heavily. Perhaps you should, too

Shopify has one of most dynamic app ecosystems out there. And while they do charge to be on the platform, they haven't overcharged.

It wasn't until 2020 they really monetized it

A deeper dive here: https://www.saastr.com/5-interesting-learnings-from-shopify-at-3-billion-in-arr/