The world may be entering one of the most promising periods ever for people looking to start their own businesses, according to Shopify President Harley Finkelstein, who believes technology is creating a new “golden age of entrepreneurship.”
Finkelstein’s view comes at a time when artificial intelligence, e-commerce platforms, digital payments and social media are changing how businesses are created, marketed and operated. Today, entrepreneurs can launch businesses, reach customers across the world and automate parts of their operations without needing the large teams or significant capital that were once required.
“This is the best time in the history of the world to start a business,” Finkelstein said while discussing the changing landscape of entrepreneurship.
His optimism is also influenced by his own entrepreneurial journey. Finkelstein began selling T-shirts online while he was a student and later became one of Shopify’s early merchants before eventually rising to become president of the company. His experience has given him a close view of how technology can transform a small idea into a scalable business.
“This is the Golden Age of entrepreneurship,” Finkelstein said. “The problem we’re solving here at Shopify is to make commerce better for everyone—to make entrepreneurship more common, easy, and accessible.”
Artificial intelligence is now adding another major dimension to that transformation. Small businesses can increasingly use AI to help with marketing, customer support, research, content creation and other tasks that traditionally required additional employees or expensive professional services.
The change is particularly significant for young entrepreneurs and small business owners. A person with an idea can now test that idea online, build a digital storefront, promote products through social platforms and sell directly to customers without necessarily having a physical location.
But the growing accessibility of entrepreneurship does not mean building a successful company has become easy. Competition remains fierce, customers are more demanding and entrepreneurs still need strong products, sound business decisions and the ability to adapt.
What has changed is the number of tools available to ordinary people.
For Finkelstein, that is what makes the current period different. Technology is increasingly removing some of the traditional barriers between having an idea and turning that idea into a business.
As artificial intelligence and digital commerce continue to evolve, the next generation of entrepreneurs may have access to more powerful tools than ever before. The opportunity, therefore, may not simply be about starting a company—it may be about using these new technologies to build businesses that were previously impossible to create.
The so-called “golden age of entrepreneurship” is already taking shape, and for millions of aspiring founders around the world, the biggest question may no longer be whether they can start a business, but what they are willing to build.
