In this episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, hosts Karl Meisterheim and Taylor Page welcome Matt Sodomsky, VP of Product and Strategy at Lightward.

The conversation delves into Matt's journey in tech, his experiences with Shopify, and the development of Mechanic, an automation platform designed for Shopify users. They discuss the importance of community support, the unique pricing model of Mechanic, and the architecture behind the platform.

*Takeaways*
- Matt Sodomsky shares his journey from tech support to VP of Product and Strategy
- Mechanic is a backend automation platform that allows for complex customizations
- The community around Mechanic is supportive and encourages collaboration
- The pricing model of Mechanic is based on a 'pay what feels good' philosophy
- Locksmith is another product from LightWord that focuses on access control for Shopify stores
- The architecture of Mechanic is designed to handle large volumes of data and tasks efficiently

*Timestamps*
00:00 Matt's Journey to Shopify and Mechanic
08:57 Career Decisions and Growth Mindset
15:59 The Unique Value of Mechanic
24:55 Innovative Use Cases for Mechanic
33:47 Pricing Model and Developer Insights
42:34 The Value of Community and Authenticity
49:37 API Challenges and Future Directions
55:45 Lightward: The AI Product
01:01:30 Final Thoughts and Recommendations

*Find Matt and Mechanic Online*
- Matt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewsodomsky/
- Mechanic website: https://mechanic.dev/
- Lightward App Store: https://apps.shopify.com/partners/lightward
- Mechanic app listing: https://apps.shopify.com/mechanic
- Locksmith app listing: https://apps.shopify.com/locksmith

*Resources*
- Mechanic task library: https://tasks.mechanic.dev/
- Mechanic Partner directory: https://partners.mechanic.dev/
- Fly.io: https://fly.io/
- Crunchy Data: https://www.crunchydata.com/
- AWS CloudSearch: https://aws.amazon.com/cloudsearch/

*Changelog*
- Merchants on paid trial plans no longer able to leave reviews on Shopify's App Store - https://shopify.dev/changelog/merchant-eligibility-to-leave-reviews-on-shopifys-app-store
- Improved productTags, productVendors, productTypes - https://shopify.dev/changelog/improved-producttags-productvendors-producttypes
- Meta events for theme and app listings: https://shopify.dev/changelog/meta-pixel-events-for-app-listing-page and https://shopify.dev/changelog/meta-pixel-events-for-theme-listing-page
- [SCHEDULED] Minimum requirement is now optional on automatic discounts - https://shopify.dev/changelog/minimum-requirement-is-now-optional-on-automatic-discounts
- [SCHEDULED] Public apps must use new GraphQL Product APIs to be accepted in the Shopify App Store - https://shopify.dev/changelog/public-apps-must-use-new-graphql-product-apis-to-be-accepted-in-the-shopify-app-store

*Picks of the Week*
- Matt: Three body problem (Netflix documentary): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_Body_Problem_(TV_series)
- Karl: Silo (series): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silo_(TV_series)
- Taylor: Company of One (book): https://amzn.to/4gzSIxT