Commerce SaaS & Shopify App Advisory.
Positioning, pricing, and distribution for software that sells into commerce, from a six-figure ARR app to a nine-figure payments platform.
The ecosystem is the specialty, not the ceiling.
Taylor Sicard advises commerce software companies on positioning, pricing and distribution, from a six-figure ARR Shopify app to a nine-figure payments platform. He helped build and scale the Shopify Partner Program, which now moves more than a billion dollars a year in partner revenue, and he sold his own app, Uptime, to Tiny. Most engagements land on four things: positioning, pricing and packaging, distribution, and the fundraising story that has to agree with all three.
- Fit: apps, ecommerce SaaS and payments platforms from six to nine figures ARR. Shopify is the deepest specialty, not the boundary.
- Why commerce SaaS is different: the buyer is a merchant already pitched by forty tools this quarter, distribution runs through channels standard SaaS playbooks skip, and the platform underneath you can ship your feature next quarter.
- The work: positioning, pricing and packaging, distribution motion, and a raise narrative the metrics actually support.
- Shape: retainer, weekly cadence, 12 months then month-to-month.
- First step: a free 30-minute scoping call, then a fixed-fee two-week diagnostic. You own the written output whether or not the engagement continues.
Commerce software is an odd market to sell into. Your buyer is a merchant who has already been pitched by forty other tools this quarter. Your distribution runs through channels most SaaS playbooks never mention. And the platform underneath you can ship your feature next quarter, or write a cheque into the leader of your category instead.
I work across the whole span of it: Shopify apps at six figures ARR, ecommerce SaaS in the middle, and payments platforms doing nine figures. Shopify is where I go deepest, because I helped build and scale the Partner Program that now moves more than a billion dollars a year in partner revenue. That depth is why founders call. It has never been the limit on who I work with.
Most engagements land in four places: positioning, pricing and packaging, distribution, and the fundraising story that has to agree with all three. Founders who are strong technically and want a thinking partner on the commercial side get the most out of it.
The math starts with the math in the free tools. The app valuation tool and the SaaS CAC payback calculator are the two I send founders first, and the wider suite covers churn cost, revenue share, and free-to-paid conversion.
Six shapes of software business.
Six profiles · self-select below
- P.01App founders past initial traction, working out which motion turns installs into a durable business.
- P.02Apps and SaaS companies at scale deciding what comes next: ARPU, profitability, ecosystem partnerships, a raise, or an exit.
- P.03Ecommerce SaaS and payments platforms entering or expanding inside the Shopify ecosystem, where the rules are not the ones they are used to.
- P.04Founders preparing a round who need the narrative, the metrics, and the pricing model to tell the same story.
- P.05Solution partners trying to differentiate an offer and move up-market.
- P.06Investors sizing up a commerce software opportunity who want a practitioner's read rather than a market map.
Specific to you, not recycled.
Five deliverables
- D.01A clear read on where you sit in the ecosystem and which opportunities are actually open to you.
- D.02A go-to-market plan built on how merchants discover and adopt software, not on how vendors wish they did.
- D.03Pricing and packaging that captures the value you create instead of leaving it with the merchant.
- D.04A fundraising narrative and metrics story that survives a partner meeting, when a round is on the table.
- D.05A network built over more than a decade at the centre of this ecosystem, and a candid answer on what to build, who to partner with, and what to skip.
You do not have to read the rest of this page.
Every engagement opens the same way: a 30-minute scoping call, no pitch and no deck. Bring the pricing question, the distribution question, or the round you are about to raise, and you will get a straight read on it in the call.
Both sides of the table.
I was an early Shopify employee and helped build and scale the Partner Program, so I watched this ecosystem grow from a small platform into commerce infrastructure. Then I co-founded WIN Brands Group and became the merchant your software is trying to win. Not many people have sat in both chairs.
On the software side I founded getuptime.co and sold it to Tiny (TSX-listed). As an advisor I have taken a company from under $2.5M to $140M in ARR. The range matters: a $1M ARR app and a nine-figure payments business are solving different problems, and I have worked both.
I take on one or two new clients a quarter, so the guidance is built for your situation rather than lifted from the last engagement.
Who is this advisory for?
Founders and operators building commerce software, from a six-figure ARR Shopify app to a nine-figure payments platform, plus the partners and platforms deciding how to work with Shopify.
Do you only work on Shopify apps?
No. Shopify is the deepest specialty, not the boundary. The work covers ecommerce SaaS and payments platforms too, and the same questions come up in all three: positioning, pricing, distribution, and what the next investor or buyer will underwrite.
What does the work actually cover?
Positioning, pricing and packaging, distribution and partner-program mechanics, retention, and the fundraising narrative. Most engagements concentrate on two of those rather than all five.
How is this different from a fractional exec or a board member?
A board member meets quarterly and a fractional exec runs a function. This is a weekly working relationship focused on the few decisions that change the trajectory.
Can you help with distribution beyond the App Store?
Yes. The App Store is one channel. Partnerships, agency relationships, and integrations often move more revenue, and the work is figuring out which of them fits how merchants actually adopt your product.
How much does it cost and how do we start?
Pricing is set after a scoping call. Engagements run 12 months on a weekly cadence: a 30-minute call first, then a focused diagnostic, then the cadence.
If this sounds like the right fit, tell me what you're building.
Fill out the inquiry form and describe where the software is and what is in the way. I respond personally to every submission.