Martin Cox has spent 14 years inside the Shopify ecosystem — first as founder of one of Australia's earliest Shopify Plus agencies (acquired in 2018), then as Technical Director working with brands like Patagonia, Salomon and Globe. In 2024 he walked away from agency life to bet on a contrarian thesis: that the next generation of Shopify apps shouldn't have their own databases.

Martin Cox has spent 14 years inside the Shopify ecosystem — first as founder of one of Australia's earliest Shopify Plus agencies (acquired in 2018), then as Technical Director working with brands like Patagonia, Salomon and Globe. In 2024 he walked away from agency life to bet on a contrarian thesis: that the next generation of Shopify apps shouldn't have their own databases. His company Native App Co builds four apps — Fish Wishlist, Stork Credit, Omnibus Owl and Product Pelican — entirely on top of Shopify's native data structures. He also hosts The Shopify App Show, a podcast for app founders building in the Shopify ecosystem.