Harley Finkelstein’s Vision for Entrepreneurship in 2025

“For the Cost of a Few Coffees”: Harley Finkelstein’s Vision for Entrepreneurship in 2025

It’s not every day that a LinkedIn post stirs the soul, but Harley Finkelstein, Shopify’s president, has a knack for turning simple observations into profound calls to action. In his recent New Year’s post, he laid down a truth that resonates far beyond the world of e-commerce: the cost of failure has never been lower, and the potential for success has never been greater. For anyone dreaming of starting their own business, his message was clear: 2025 is your year.

Let’s break it down. In his post, Finkelstein compares the cost of starting a Shopify store—$39—to the price of a few Starbucks coffees. On the surface, it’s a practical observation: entrepreneurship, once burdened by high entry costs and crushing risks, is now within reach for almost anyone.

But beneath that practical statement lies a deeper, almost philosophical reflection on how technology has democratized opportunity and reshaped what it means to take a leap of faith.

The Cost of Failure Has Changed

To understand the power of this shift, Finkelstein gives us a historical perspective. Decades ago, starting a business wasn’t just a gamble; it was an all-in bet. His own grandfather, who started a business in the 1950s, had to mortgage his house to fund it. If the business failed, it wasn’t just a setback—it was potentially life-ruining. The stakes were everything.

Fast forward to today. Thanks to platforms like Shopify, the financial barriers have crumbled. With $39, you can take an idea from the depths of your imagination, launch a global storefront, and start selling to the world—all in the same day. The “cost of failure,” as Finkelstein calls it, is no longer tied to losing your home or your life savings. It’s about experimenting, learning, and pivoting until you find what works.

This isn’t just a practical shift—it’s a cultural one. Failure, once a source of shame, has become a stepping stone. In the age of the internet, the iterative process of testing and tweaking isn’t just acceptable; it’s expected. Shopify embodies this ethos, creating a space where entrepreneurs can fail fast, learn faster, and ultimately succeed without the crushing weight of irreversible consequences.

Entrepreneurship as a State of Mind

Finkelstein’s message also challenges us to rethink what it means to be an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship, in his vision, isn’t about having a perfectly polished business plan or waiting for the stars to align. It’s about action. It’s about waking up with an idea—something that excites you, something you think could work—and taking the first step to make it real.

This mindset is deeply liberating. How many people spend years waiting for the “right time” to start? How many ideas die in the minds of their creators because of the fear of failure? Finkelstein’s post cuts through that fear with a single, compelling idea: the stakes aren’t as high as you think. You can start small, fail gracefully, and try again.

This doesn’t mean entrepreneurship is easy. It means the barriers to entry—the things that stopped people from even trying—are lower than ever. And when the barrier to trying disappears, the possibilities for innovation, creativity, and change multiply exponentially.

Shopify’s Role in the 2025 Entrepreneurial Revolution

At its core, Finkelstein’s post isn’t just a motivational pep talk. It’s a statement about what Shopify stands for in 2025: a launchpad for dreamers, creators, and risk-takers. Shopify isn’t just a platform—it’s a philosophy. It’s built on the idea that commerce should be accessible, adaptable, and empowering.

This philosophy is reflected in the tools Shopify provides. From AI-driven product recommendations to seamless integrations with social media platforms, Shopify isn’t just helping entrepreneurs build stores—it’s helping them build systems. Systems that can scale globally, adapt to changing markets, and compete with the biggest brands in the world.

And yet, at the heart of all this technology is something profoundly human: the desire to create. Finkelstein’s post isn’t about Shopify as a tool; it’s about Shopify as an enabler of human potential. It’s about giving people the freedom to dream, the tools to act, and the resilience to keep going.

The Challenge of 2025

Finkelstein ends his post with a simple, powerful challenge: “Make 2025 the year you start.” It’s not just a tagline—it’s a philosophy of action. It’s a call to stop waiting for the perfect moment and to start building something today.

But his challenge isn’t just for first-time entrepreneurs. It’s for anyone who has felt stuck, anyone who has an idea sitting on the backburner, anyone who has dreamed of something bigger but hasn’t yet taken the leap.

2025 isn’t just another year—it’s a unique moment in time. The tools are here. The market is global. The risk has never been lower. And yet, the potential impact of starting a business—of building something that matters—has never been higher.

A New Era for Entrepreneurship

Harley Finkelstein’s post isn’t just a reflection on how far we’ve come—it’s a vision for where we’re going. We’re entering a new era of entrepreneurship, one where the barriers to entry are smaller, the opportunities are bigger, and the playing field is more level than ever.

For retailers, creators, and dreamers, 2025 is the year to stop hesitating and start building. It’s the year to test ideas, learn from failures, and iterate until you succeed. And with Shopify at the helm, the tools you need are already at your fingertips.

So, what’s stopping you? As Finkelstein reminds us, starting a business today costs less than a few coffees. The only question left is: What are you waiting for?