Founder: Jordan Shamir
Business: Yofi
Revenue/Month: $350K
Founders: 3
Employees: 15
Website: www.yofi.com
Location: Remote-first (global team)
Founded: 2022

In a world increasingly shaped by automation and AI, Yofi is rewriting the rules of online engagement. Co-founded by Jordan Shamir, the innovative customer identity platform is tackling the growing problem of bots, not just by blocking them, but by reshaping the way brands understand and interact with their customers. Yofi’s approach doesn’t stop at addressing fraud—it transforms data chaos into actionable insights, enabling businesses to forge authentic connections in a digital-first economy. 

For Shamir, the journey to Yofi wasn’t sparked by a hypothetical problem. It was deeply personal. “I’ve always loved sneakers. But buying a pair of Jordans, or really any limited-edition drop, started to feel impossible,” he said, recalling how bots dominated the resale game, leaving everyday buyers with few options other than inflated prices. Instead of just complaining about it, Shamir and his team dove into the problem—first as participants in the botting ecosystem and later as disruptors of it. “We built some of the fastest bots out there,” he admitted, “but being on the inside made the bigger issue impossible to ignore: bots weren’t just ruining drops; they were destroying the trust between brands and their customers.” 

Shamir’s candid perspective reveals why Yofi is so effective. His team’s expertise didn’t come from a textbook; it came from lived experience in a rapidly evolving market. Their insider knowledge became the foundation for a technology platform that’s as informed as it is innovative. But Shamir emphasized that Yofi’s mission quickly expanded beyond bots. “What we realized was that bots are only one part of the problem. The real issue is fragmented identity online. People are interacting with brands in ways that make perfect sense to them—using multiple accounts, random emails, whatever—but it leaves businesses trying to piece together a puzzle with half the pieces missing.” 

The consequences of this fragmentation are staggering. Shamir described how inaccurate customer data can spiral into larger issues. “Say a customer signs up with two different emails—one for a discount code and one for a raffle. The brand thinks they’ve got two customers when really it’s one. Now scale that across millions of users. Suddenly, your inventory forecasts are off, your marketing dollars are going to waste, and your product launches don’t hit the mark.” 

Enter Yofi. The platform doesn’t just block bad actors; it helps brands untangle the web of digital identities to see the bigger picture. Shamir pointed to the numbers as proof of its effectiveness: “Just during the holiday season, we blocked 51 million bot checkouts. That’s not just stopping fraud—that’s giving brands the bandwidth to focus on their real customers.” Beyond bot mitigation, Yofi’s tools are driving meaningful outcomes for businesses, from a 67% increase in clickthrough rates to a 12% lift in customer lifetime value. “One of our clients saw their raffles go from a nightmare of bot abuse to a reliable way of bringing in hundreds of new customers every month,” Shamir said. 

These results haven’t gone unnoticed. Yofi’s integration with Shopify, where it has been downloaded 46 times, is just the beginning. Shamir proudly shared how partnerships with major players like Nike, Adidas, IBM, and Gucci have solidified Yofi’s reputation as a must-have solution for e-commerce brands across industries. “It doesn’t matter if you’re selling sneakers or luxury handbags,” he explained. “The challenge is the same: knowing who your customers really are and creating a relationship that lasts.” 

Shamir spoke passionately about the broader implications of Yofi’s work, framing it as a shift in how brands think about digital interactions. “For years, we treated customer data as numbers on a spreadsheet. But those numbers are people—people who want to feel valued, not just targeted. What we’re doing is giving brands the tools to move past the surface and actually understand their customers.” 

While Yofi’s technology is undeniably sophisticated, its impact is refreshingly straightforward: protecting brands from fraud while improving the customer experience. Shamir calls it a win-win. “When you know who your customers are, everything changes. You can allocate your budget more effectively, create better products, and build loyalty that lasts. That’s what Yofi is all about.” 

For a company born from the frustration of sneaker drops, Yofi has grown into a powerhouse redefining the way businesses and consumers interact online. 

From Hustler to Innovator: The Road to Yofi 

Jordan Shamir’s entrepreneurial journey is anything but conventional. His knack for identifying inefficiencies and turning them into opportunities traces back to his early days as a young hustler in Singapore, a far cry from the e-commerce world he would later revolutionize. From reselling candy to crafting tools for private school rankings, Shamir’s path has been marked by a relentless curiosity and an ability to tackle problems that others overlook. That instinct, combined with a drive to innovate, became the foundation for Yofi—a platform born at the intersection of personal frustration and market-wide demand for change. 

“I’ve always been drawn to the idea of creating something from scratch,” Shamir said, reflecting on his early years. “When you’re selling candy in the middle of class, you learn fast about supply and demand—and, more importantly, about people.” That curiosity followed him into his career. After cutting his teeth in investment banking, Shamir transitioned to IBM, where his passion for building systems that solve real problems found fertile ground. There, he led the development of a groundbreaking platform that ballooned into a $350 million-a-year revenue driver. “IBM was where I realized that I didn’t just want to follow the rules—I wanted to rewrite them,” he noted. 

But the true catalyst for Yofi came closer to home. It was a conversation with his sister Alex, who had been working in the digital identity space, that planted the idea for what would eventually become a transformative solution for brands struggling with skewed customer data. “She’d seen firsthand how much bad data was out there—bots, duplicate accounts, you name it,” Shamir explained. “We realized brands were making million-dollar decisions based on information that wasn’t just flawed; it was flat-out wrong.” 

This wasn’t a hypothetical issue for Shamir. His own frustration with bots, particularly in the sneaker and concert industries, gave him a personal stake in solving the problem. “You’d go online for a sneaker drop, and within seconds everything’s gone,” he said. “Not because people bought them, but because bots gamed the system. It’s frustrating as a customer, but it’s devastating for brands trying to understand their audience.” 

By the time Black Friday 2021 rolled around, the scope of the problem was undeniable. Over one-third of online shoppers during the holiday event weren’t real people, but bots or fraudulent accounts. Shamir’s voice carried both exasperation and determination as he recalled the impact. “We’re not just talking about driving up resale prices anymore. This is data corruption on a scale that affects everything—marketing, inventory, customer trust.” 

Yofi was born from that collision of personal pain points and industry-wide dysfunction. Its mission wasn’t just to block bots, but to address the root causes of digital identity distortion. “We realized this wasn’t just a tech problem—it was a human problem,” Shamir said. “Brands needed better tools to really understand their customers, not just their clicks.” 

From the beginning, Yofi’s approach reflected Shamir’s blend of entrepreneurial grit and technical expertise. For him, the problem wasn’t just a challenge to overcome—it was an opportunity to create something transformative for both businesses and the consumers they serve. 

Building, Testing, and Evolving: How Yofi Took Shape 

The success of Yofi wasn’t built on luck or instinct alone—it was the result of meticulous experimentation and relentless refinement. From its earliest days as a niche tool designed to combat sneaker bots, the platform evolved into a robust solution tackling the broader issue of digital identity distortion. Every step of that journey was carefully plotted, starting with a highly specific focus and scaling outward as the team uncovered new ways to address their customers’ pain points. 

“When we first launched, it was all about sneaker raffles,” Shamir explained. “The bots were a huge issue, especially for Shopify merchants running limited drops. Smaller stores couldn’t afford enterprise solutions, so they had no way to compete.” Originally branded as BotNot, the platform’s name reflected its initial mission of blocking bot checkouts, offering smaller merchants an affordable alternative to the high-cost fraud prevention tools used by larger players. 

The team quickly identified Shopify as the ideal launchpad. Its ecosystem of independent stores provided the perfect testing ground, giving Shamir and his co-founders direct access to merchants who were deeply affected by bot activity. The first iteration of the product was laser-focused, with a streamlined portal that separated human customers from automated accounts. While simple in its early form, it was effective enough to gain traction with a small group of pilot users. “We had maybe five stores using the platform at first,” Shamir said. “They were our guinea pigs, but they were also our collaborators. Their feedback was invaluable.” 

A Carefully Staged Rollout 

Shamir and his team approached Yofi’s launch with precision, ensuring that every step prepared the company for the next. The initial pilot phase was intentionally small, with just five Shopify stores testing the platform. These stores weren’t chosen at random—they were merchants Shamir identified as both ideal use cases and willing partners who could provide constant feedback. That collaboration allowed the team to fine-tune Yofi’s features, leading to an expansion of the pilot group to 12 stores before the product was officially released. 

“Our goal wasn’t to rush to market,” Shamir noted. “We wanted to make sure that what we were offering truly worked and addressed the specific pain points of our users. Scaling too quickly would have been a mistake.” 

On August 6, 2022, Yofi officially debuted on the Shopify App Store. The launch was far from quiet, thanks to a targeted marketing campaign that leveraged the team’s network of investors, early adopters, and social media followers. The campaign generated nearly a million impressions on LinkedIn alone and drove 10,000 unique visitors to Yofi’s website, creating instant visibility and buzz. 

But the process wasn’t without its hurdles. Shamir acknowledged the nerve-wracking reality of releasing an early-stage product to the public. “You always feel like your product isn’t ready, like it needs more polish,” he said. “But we learned that early adopters don’t expect perfection—they appreciate being part of the journey. Their excitement and feedback outweighed the imperfections.” 

Finding Their Audience and Building Trust 

What truly set Yofi apart in its early days was the team’s hands-on approach to finding its audience. Shamir and his co-founders leveraged their deep understanding of the botting ecosystem to identify which stores were most likely to be affected. They reached out directly to merchants through cold emails, social media messages, and other personal channels, offering solutions to the bot-related issues that were costing them revenue and trust. 

“Store owners were frustrated, and we could speak their language,” Shamir said. “We didn’t just show them a tool—we showed them we understood the problem better than anyone else.” This direct outreach accounted for roughly half of Yofi’s initial downloads, with the other half coming from word-of-mouth referrals and inbound interest. 

A major driver of that inbound interest was Yofi’s strategic content marketing. Shamir and his team positioned themselves as thought leaders in the digital identity space by publishing timely, insightful pieces that connected their expertise to larger industry conversations. One standout moment came during the height of the Twitter bot controversy in 2022, when Yofi released an analysis that caught the attention of high-profile brands and industry insiders. 

“That report put us on the map in a big way,” Shamir recalled. “It showed people that we weren’t just tech founders—we were experts who understood the entire ecosystem.” 

This combination of proactive outreach and thought leadership helped Yofi build not just a user base, but a loyal community of merchants who trusted the platform. As Shamir described it, “We weren’t just selling software. We were selling confidence—the confidence that their data was accurate, their customers were real, and their decisions were grounded in truth.” 

Through it all, the team remained focused on continual improvement. Yofi’s evolution was guided as much by user feedback as it was by the team’s vision, ensuring that the platform stayed relevant and effective as it scaled. Whether through collaborative pilots, targeted campaigns, or high-profile industry reports, Shamir and his team showed that building trust and delivering results go hand in hand. 

Expanding Horizons and Refining Customer Impact 

As Yofi’s reach grows, so does its ability to reshape the way brands engage with their customers. What began as a platform focused on stopping bots in sneaker raffles has transformed into a sophisticated tool now supporting industries like beauty and luxury. These markets face their own unique challenges, from combating resellers who exploit pricing loopholes to creating highly personalized customer experiences that set them apart in fiercely competitive sectors. For Yofi, the mission remains the same: to clean up fragmented digital data and turn it into a strategic advantage for brands. 

“Resellers are a huge pain point for so many businesses, and it’s not just about lost revenue,” Shamir said. “They disrupt everything—your pricing integrity, your marketing strategy, and, most importantly, your relationship with your real customers.” He pointed to the case of Spangler Candy, which reportedly loses millions of dollars annually due to resellers flipping their products on major platforms like Amazon and Walmart. This is where Yofi’s technology comes into play, not only identifying and blocking bad actors but giving brands the clarity to make smarter decisions. 

The ripple effects of clean data have been transformative. Once Yofi isolates bots, duplicate accounts, and resellers, brands gain access to actionable insights that fuel growth. “We’re not just stopping fraud,” Shamir explained. “We’re helping brands connect the dots. They’re using these insights to run segmented campaigns, tailor product recommendations, and even create exclusive early-access events for their most loyal customers.” This strategic use of data has delivered measurable results, from higher conversion rates to improved customer satisfaction. In industries where every customer interaction counts, these small wins add up to significant gains. 

He shared an example of a high-end beauty brand using Yofi to refine its loyalty program. By eliminating duplicate accounts and fraudulent sign-ups, the brand was able to focus its rewards on its true customer base, resulting in a 15% increase in retention rates within six months. “It’s about giving brands the tools to do more with less,” Shamir said. “When you remove the noise, everything else just works better.” 

Lessons in Credibility, Community, and Culture 

Behind Yofi’s steady climb are the lessons Shamir and his team learned along the way, many of which shaped not just the company’s product but its broader ethos. One of the most critical? The importance of acting before everything feels perfect. “When we were starting out, there was always this temptation to wait—one more feature, one more tweak—but we realized that momentum matters more,” Shamir said. Early mockups, even those that felt unfinished, evolved into polished demos, which turned into a live product. “The more you put yourself out there, the more opportunities you create to prove what you’re capable of.” 

That same mindset extended to building relationships. Shamir recalled the surprisingly positive responses Yofi received from cold outreach, whether to potential clients, investors, or even acquaintances with industry knowledge. “People want to help if you give them the chance,” he said. “We’ve had people we barely knew step up in big ways—making introductions, sharing advice, or even just answering questions at 2 a.m. It taught us the value of asking for help and being open about what we’re building.” 

This willingness to build in public became a defining strategy for the team, fostering a network of supporters who felt invested in Yofi’s success. Transparency about challenges and milestones didn’t just attract customers—it brought in valuable feedback and strengthened relationships with early adopters. 

Yet, for all the external progress, Shamir admitted that one of Yofi’s biggest breakthroughs came internally: the realization that culture wasn’t something they could put off until later. “At first, I thought, ‘We’ll worry about culture once we’re more established.’ But that was a mistake,” he said. As the team grew, spanning six languages and a 15-hour time zone difference, it became clear that defining shared values was critical to staying aligned. “We needed a framework for how we worked together, especially during tough moments.” 

Those values were put to the test when Shamir and his team had to make the difficult decision to part ways with a co-founder who no longer aligned with the company’s vision. “It was one of the hardest things we’ve ever done, but it taught us the importance of clarity—clarity about who we are and where we’re going.” 

Even in the midst of serious challenges, Shamir emphasized the importance of creating space for levity. Whether it was a late-night round of Jackbox games or an inside joke that carried through meetings, these moments of connection kept the team grounded. “It’s those little things that remind you why you’re doing this in the first place,” he said. “They’re just as important as the work itself.” 

As Yofi scales, Shamir remains laser-focused on what has propelled the company forward: a willingness to adapt, a commitment to building trust, and a culture that values the people behind the progress. Whether it’s merchants finding relief from resellers or a global team bonded by shared purpose, Yofi continues to evolve with an eye toward making every interaction—digital or otherwise—more meaningful. 

Tough Decisions and Long-Term Vision: Lessons from Yofi’s Journey 

The story of Yofi is as much about resilience and decision-making as it is about technology. Building a business, as Shamir puts it, often comes down to “choosing between what’s easy now and what’s better later.” For him and the Yofi team, this philosophy has shaped every step of their journey—from refining their platform to reorganizing their team—highlighting the importance of difficult, sometimes uncomfortable, choices that pave the way for sustained growth. 

“There’s always this temptation to avoid the hard decisions,” Shamir said. “You tell yourself maybe the issue will work itself out, but it almost never does. By delaying, you’re only dragging out the stress and making it harder to move forward.” Whether it was deciding to leave school to focus fully on the company or parting ways with team members who no longer aligned with Yofi’s vision, the team faced those moments with what Shamir describes as “short-term discomfort for long-term freedom.” 

Short-Term Discomfort for Long-Term Gain 

The willingness to prioritize long-term goals over short-term ease has been a hallmark of Yofi’s leadership approach. Shamir explained how this mindset has helped the team overcome obstacles that could have otherwise derailed their progress. “We’ve had to make calls that weren’t easy,” he said. “Letting someone go or changing direction on a product feature—it’s never fun. But every time we’ve made a tough decision, we’ve seen the benefits in the weeks and months that followed.” 

A pivotal moment came when the team realized that scaling too quickly without the right structure in place could jeopardize the business. “We had this surge of interest early on, and it was tempting to go all in, but we realized we needed to take a step back,” Shamir said. “We had to slow down and really focus on the foundation—our product, our team, and our customers. That decision probably saved us from burning out or making promises we couldn’t keep.” 

This philosophy has also shaped Yofi’s approach to customer relationships. Instead of rushing to onboard every potential client, the team has been deliberate about finding the right partners—businesses that share their values and can truly benefit from the platform. “It’s tempting to just say yes to everyone, especially early on when you’re trying to grow,” Shamir said. “But we’ve learned that the wrong fit can be more harmful than no fit at all. It’s better to have a smaller group of customers who are the perfect match than to stretch yourself too thin trying to please everyone.” 

Patience in the Process 

In addition to making tough calls, Yofi’s journey has been defined by an appreciation for incremental progress. Shamir is quick to point out that the mythology of the overnight success story is just that—a myth. “The reality is that most success is built over time, one step at a time,” he said. “It’s sending 300 emails and getting three responses. It’s reworking a strategy that failed and trying again. It’s not glamorous, but that’s where the real progress happens.” 

The team has embraced the value of small victories, recognizing that these moments are what ultimately fuel momentum. Shamir recounted how a single piece of feedback from an early customer led to a significant improvement in Yofi’s user interface. “It was such a small thing—a button that was hard to find—but fixing it made the whole platform feel smoother,” he said. “It was a reminder that every little win adds up.” 

This mindset has also helped the team stay focused during periods when growth felt slower than expected. “It’s easy to get frustrated when things don’t move as fast as you want,” Shamir said. “But when you take a step back, you see how far you’ve actually come. Those small wins—whether it’s closing a deal, fixing a bug, or getting a shoutout on social media—they’re the building blocks of everything else.” 

By balancing ambition with patience, Yofi has carved a path that feels both deliberate and forward-looking. The team has learned to trust in the compounding effect of consistent effort, understanding that true progress often comes from grinding through the unglamorous, day-to-day challenges that define startup life. 

The Hard Path to Extraordinary Outcomes 

Shamir’s reflections on Yofi’s journey offer a glimpse into the mindset required to build a business that lasts. For every win the company has achieved, there have been moments of doubt, sacrifice, and difficult decisions. Yet, for Shamir, those challenges are what make the success meaningful. 

“Anyone can go the easy route,” he said. “But building something real—something that lasts—takes a different kind of focus. You have to be willing to push through the hard stuff, because that’s where the real progress happens.” 

From leaving the security of a traditional career path to making the call to restructure his own team, Shamir’s approach has been one of clear-eyed determination. And while the road hasn’t always been smooth, the lessons learned along the way have shaped both the company and its culture. 

As Yofi continues to scale, its trajectory serves as a powerful reminder of what’s possible when resilience, focus, and a willingness to embrace the hard decisions converge. Through thoughtful choices, a relentless pursuit of progress, and a deep understanding of their customers’ needs, Yofi has grown into more than just a platform—it’s a symbol of how hard work and clear vision can create something that truly matters. 

Success Factors: Why Did Yofi Succeed? 

• Clear Problem Identification and Unique Insight: Yofi’s success started with its founders’ firsthand experience of the problem they set out to solve. Shamir’s background in sneaker botting gave the team a deep understanding of bots and their impact on e-commerce. This insider knowledge allowed them to develop a solution that addressed not just the symptoms (blocking bots) but the broader issues of digital identity distortion, such as fragmented customer data and resellers. 

• Deliberate and Focused Rollout: Yofi didn’t rush into the market; the team approached growth methodically. Starting with a pilot on five Shopify stores, they worked collaboratively with early adopters to refine their platform. This feedback-driven process allowed them to release a polished product and avoid the pitfalls of scaling too quickly without a strong foundation. 

• Customer-Centric Approach: The team’s willingness to listen to and act on customer feedback was pivotal. By engaging directly with merchants, they didn’t just build trust—they also refined Yofi’s functionality based on real-world pain points. This allowed them to address urgent needs in specific industries like beauty and luxury, where resellers and fragmented data were major challenges. 

• Resilience and Tough Decision-Making: Shamir and his team embraced difficult choices, such as restructuring the company or parting ways with misaligned team members. Their philosophy of prioritizing long-term goals over short-term comfort allowed them to make decisions that positioned the business for sustainable growth. 

• Patience and Incremental Progress: The team understood that building a successful company is a gradual process. Instead of chasing rapid success, they focused on small, incremental wins—whether that meant tweaking features based on customer feedback, sending cold emails to build a client base, or making their product more intuitive. 

• Technical Expertise Paired with Strategic Insight: The platform’s success stems from both technical sophistication and a strategic understanding of customer needs. By isolating bots, duplicate accounts, and fraudulent actors, Yofi helped brands access clean data and leverage it for targeted marketing, improved loyalty programs, and better resource allocation. 

• Authentic Thought Leadership: Yofi positioned itself as an authority in the digital identity space by creating timely, insightful content that resonated with industry leaders. For example, their analysis during the Twitter bot controversy helped elevate their profile, proving they weren’t just software providers but experts in their field. 

• Culture and Team Alignment: Shamir emphasized the importance of building a unified team culture from the beginning. By defining shared values and communication practices, Yofi fostered alignment across its global team, even during difficult periods. Moments of camaraderie, such as bonding over games and inside jokes, helped sustain morale during tough times. 

• Proactive Outreach and Targeted Marketing: The team’s proactive outreach, including cold emails and direct engagement with merchants, allowed them to find and connect with their ideal audience. This hands-on approach complemented a smart content marketing strategy, which attracted inbound interest and positioned Yofi as a trusted partner for businesses. 

• Balancing Ambition with Practicality: Yofi’s leaders avoided overreaching by focusing on quality over quantity. Instead of signing up as many customers as possible, they sought out merchants who aligned with their values and whose needs they could address effectively. This approach ensured stronger client relationships and better results. 

• Leveraging Early Wins to Build Momentum: Yofi used every success, no matter how small, as a stepping stone to the next. Whether it was refining the interface based on a single customer’s feedback or leveraging a viral LinkedIn post to boost visibility, the team capitalized on each win to build credibility and grow steadily. 

Key Lessons to Learn 

1. Start with a Deep Understanding of the Problem: Yofi’s success stems from its founders’ firsthand experience with the problem they set out to solve. Shamir’s background in botting gave the team a unique advantage—they weren’t just guessing at the issue; they lived it. Lesson: Businesses are most effective when built on real insights into the problems they aim to solve. Founders who understand their customers’ pain points at a deep level are better positioned to create impactful solutions. 

2. Embrace Incremental Progress: Yofi’s journey highlights the power of patience and focusing on small wins. Instead of chasing overnight success, the team prioritized methodical growth, from starting with five pilot customers to gradually scaling their product. Lesson: Success is rarely immediate. By focusing on steady, consistent improvement, businesses can build a strong foundation that supports sustainable growth. 

3. Tough Decisions Are Inevitable—Make Them Quickly: Shamir and his team didn’t shy away from difficult choices, whether it was restructuring the company, parting ways with a co-founder, or pivoting strategies. They embraced short-term discomfort for long-term gains. Lesson: Avoiding hard decisions only delays the inevitable and can hinder progress. Confront challenges head-on, and prioritize what’s best for the company’s future. 

4. Listen to Your Customers and Act on Feedback: Yofi’s evolution from a bot-blocking tool to a full-fledged digital identity platform was driven by feedback from early adopters. Customers shaped the product’s functionality, making it more relevant and effective. Lesson: Building close relationships with early users and listening to their needs can be the key to developing a product that truly solves their problems. 

5. Focus on the Right Customers, Not All Customers: Early on, Yofi resisted the urge to scale indiscriminately. Instead, the team focused on finding the right customers—those who aligned with their values and needed their solution the most. Lesson: Not every customer is the right customer. Targeting a niche audience with urgent needs can lead to stronger relationships and better outcomes than casting a wide net. 

6. Build Relationships Through Transparency and Trust: Yofi’s proactive outreach and thought leadership helped build a community of loyal supporters. By being transparent about their challenges and milestones, the team earned trust from customers, investors, and industry leaders. Lesson: Authenticity and openness foster trust. By positioning yourself as a partner rather than just a vendor, you can create lasting relationships that go beyond transactions. 

7. Culture Matters—Even in the Early Stages: Shamir initially underestimated the importance of company culture but soon realized its critical role in unifying a global team. Clear values and communication practices helped Yofi stay aligned, even across time zones. Lesson: Culture isn’t just a “nice-to-have.” Define your values and establish strong communication practices early on—they’re the foundation of a cohesive and resilient team. 

8. Don’t Let Perfection Paralyze You: Yofi’s team learned that progress beats perfection. They released their product in stages, even when it felt unfinished, knowing that early feedback would only make it stronger. Lesson: Waiting for perfection can delay momentum. Launch, learn, and iterate—your early adopters will appreciate being part of the journey. 

9. Leverage Small Wins to Build Momentum: From refining a single interface button based on customer input to publishing an analysis during the Twitter bot controversy, Yofi capitalized on small victories to grow its reputation and refine its product. Lesson: Small wins add up. Celebrate and amplify them—they’re the building blocks of credibility and long-term success. 

10. Balance Vision with Practicality: While Yofi had ambitious goals, the team maintained a pragmatic approach to growth. They ensured their product was solid before scaling and avoided overextending themselves by targeting the wrong opportunities. Lesson: Big visions are important, but they must be supported by practical, thoughtful execution. Build the foundation before you scale. 

11. Thought Leadership Builds Authority: Yofi positioned itself as an expert in digital identity through timely, insightful content. By linking their product to broader industry trends, they caught the attention of key decision-makers. Lesson: Sharing your expertise through content can elevate your brand and establish you as a trusted authority in your field. 

12. Adaptability is Essential: Yofi didn’t stay locked into its original purpose of stopping sneaker bots. As they uncovered bigger problems like reseller fraud and customer data fragmentation, they evolved their platform to meet these broader needs. Lesson: Stay open to new opportunities and be willing to pivot as you learn more about your market. Adaptability is often the key to staying relevant. 

13. Surround Yourself with Supportive People: Shamir emphasized the generosity of those who helped Yofi succeed, from friends making introductions to acquaintances sharing advice. The team’s willingness to ask for help and build relationships played a big role in their progress. Lesson: Don’t underestimate the power of your network. People are often more willing to help than you expect—don’t be afraid to reach out. 

14. Stay Customer-Focused, Not Product-Focused: Yofi’s mission evolved as they realized their customers’ biggest pain points weren’t just bots, but broader issues around digital identity. This shift allowed them to create a platform with greater impact. Lesson: Don’t get so attached to your original idea that you miss bigger opportunities. Stay focused on solving your customers’ most urgent problems, even if it means pivoting your product. 

15. Celebrate Camaraderie: Beyond the technical and strategic aspects, Shamir highlighted the importance of lighter moments—like playing Jackbox games or sharing jokes—to keep the team motivated and connected. Lesson: Building a great business is about more than just the work. Foster moments of connection and fun—they’re essential for team morale and cohesion. 

Opportunity Matrix 

Founder Background 

Jordan Shamir and his team brought firsthand experience in botting and a deep understanding of the e-commerce ecosystem. Shamir’s entrepreneurial spirit began early, with ventures in reselling and tech-building, and later grew at IBM, where he developed a $350M/year platform. 

Problem Identification 

The founders identified the impact of bots and resellers on e-commerce—skewing customer data, disrupting brand trust, and inflating resale markets for limited-release products. They realized digital identity fragmentation was a systemic issue, far beyond bots alone. 

Market Opportunity 

Growing e-commerce industries (sneaker, beauty, luxury goods) face challenges from bots, resellers, and distorted customer data. Brands need solutions to protect revenue, improve marketing effectiveness, and deliver personalized experiences to authentic customers. 

Competitive Landscape 

Competing with larger enterprise fraud solutions (like Akamai and PerimeterX) and newer startups. Yofi differentiates itself through affordability for smaller merchants, ease of integration, and a focus on digital identity rather than just fraud prevention. 

Market Research 

The team leveraged their insider botting knowledge and conducted direct outreach to merchants to understand pain points. They validated the need for their solution during pilot testing with Shopify stores, using feedback to refine their product and expand its scope. 

Business Model 

SaaS-based platform, offered as an app on Shopify and other platforms. Revenue comes from subscription fees and usage-based pricing, targeting brands looking for affordable, scalable digital identity solutions. 

Initial Capital 

Bootstrapped initially with contributions from the founding team. Additional funding came from early partnerships, as well as support from investors and their network to scale the product and its reach. 

Product/Service Development 

Started as “BotNot,” focusing on bot detection for sneaker raffles. Evolved into a broader digital identity platform addressing resellers, duplicate accounts, and customer data fragmentation. Designed for scalability and easy integration on e-commerce platforms like Shopify. 

Marketing Strategy 

Yofi employed a mix of direct outreach (cold emails, social media messages) to connect with targeted merchants, thought leadership through content marketing, and a coordinated launch campaign that leveraged their network for visibility. Early adopters drove referrals and credibility. 

Milestones 

• Initial pilot with 5 Shopify stores, expanding to 12 stores before launch 

• Official debut on Shopify App Store (August 6, 2022) 

• 1M LinkedIn impressions and 10,000 website visits during launch campaign 

• Blocked 51M bot checkouts during peak holiday shopping. 

Scalability 

The platform’s SaaS model allows for easy scaling across industries and e-commerce platforms. Insights-driven tools offer potential expansion into adjacent markets like customer segmentation and loyalty programs. Current global team setup demonstrates operational scalability. 

Potential Risks and Challenges 

• Rising competition from fraud prevention startups and enterprise-level solutions 

• The need to continuously adapt to evolving botting and fraud techniques 

• Balancing rapid growth with maintaining product quality and customer satisfaction 

• Dependence on Shopify as a key channel. 

Key Performance Indicators/Metrics 

• Number of bot checkouts blocked (51M in two months) 

• Customer lifetime value (+12%) 

• Clickthrough rate improvements (+67%) 

• Number of new customers gained per client (hundreds through exclusive raffles) 

• Downloads on Shopify App Store (50 to date).