Inside the Revolution at Etsy

Inside the Revolution at Etsy
Senior employees at the company during this period say
that Mr. Dickerson was already pressing the team to accelerate the rate of sales growth, and that he had encouraged employees to read “A Sense of Urgency,” a management book by John Kotter.
“The company had the best of intentions, but wasn’t great at tying that to impact,” Mr. Silverman said.
Black and White Capital, a small hedge fund, took a stake in Etsy and sent a private letter to the board, saying it was insufficiently focused on sales growth,
that operations were inefficient, and that the company should “explore strategic alternatives” — a euphemism for selling the company.
“It’s hard to bite the hand that feeds you, but that’s the best way to describe how I feel about what’s going on.”
Ms. Stringer-Mowat’s company got started on Etsy, but she said sales on the site have slumped in recent months.
But Mr. Silverman says Etsy’s greatest potential for impact is helping sellers
— many of whom are women running small businesses — increase their sales.