Leadership shakeup, layoffs at Etsy
There’s been a couple of change in the C-suite of hand-made goods marketplace Etsy.
The company said chairman and CEO Chad Dickerson is stepping down, to be succeeded as CEO by board member Josh Silverman, effective May 3. Fred Wilson, who has served as lead independent director of the Etsy board, since October 2014, will succeed Dickerson as chairman.
Also leaving the company is John Allspaw, Etsy’s chief technology officer. He will be succeeded by Mike Brittain, Etsy's vice president of engineering, while the company searches for a permanent replacement. Etsy also announced that it expects to eliminate about 80 jobs, or 8% of its workforce.
Etsy announced the changes in its first-quarter earnings report. The company posted a loss of $421,000, down from after earning $1.2 million a year ago. Revenue totaled $96.9 million, below expectations.
Outgoing CEO Dickerson joined Etsy as CTO in 2008, and was named chief executive in 2011. In a statement, he said “the board decided that it was time for new leadership to take Etsy forward and I support that decision.”
"On behalf of the board and the entire Etsy team, I want to thank Chad (Dickerson) for building Etsy into the wonderful company that it is,” stated Wilson. “Over the last six years as CEO, Chad has transformed a chaotic startup into a world class company, and in the process grew the revenues our sellers make over nine times, the revenues Etsy generates almost fourteen times and the operating profit Etsy generates almost fifteen times. And in doing that, Chad never lost sight of the original vision and the unique culture that makes Etsy the very best home for creative entrepreneurs. We have benefited greatly from his leadership."
Silverman most recently served as president of consumer products and services at American Express. Prior to that, he was CEO of Skype, CEO of shopping.com, an eBay company, and held various executive roles at eBay. He was also a co-founder and CEO of Evite, and he currently serves on the board of directors of Shake Shack.
The company said chairman and CEO Chad Dickerson is stepping down, to be succeeded as CEO by board member Josh Silverman, effective May 3. Fred Wilson, who has served as lead independent director of the Etsy board, since October 2014, will succeed Dickerson as chairman.
Also leaving the company is John Allspaw, Etsy’s chief technology officer. He will be succeeded by Mike Brittain, Etsy's vice president of engineering, while the company searches for a permanent replacement. Etsy also announced that it expects to eliminate about 80 jobs, or 8% of its workforce.
Etsy announced the changes in its first-quarter earnings report. The company posted a loss of $421,000, down from after earning $1.2 million a year ago. Revenue totaled $96.9 million, below expectations.
Outgoing CEO Dickerson joined Etsy as CTO in 2008, and was named chief executive in 2011. In a statement, he said “the board decided that it was time for new leadership to take Etsy forward and I support that decision.”
"On behalf of the board and the entire Etsy team, I want to thank Chad (Dickerson) for building Etsy into the wonderful company that it is,” stated Wilson. “Over the last six years as CEO, Chad has transformed a chaotic startup into a world class company, and in the process grew the revenues our sellers make over nine times, the revenues Etsy generates almost fourteen times and the operating profit Etsy generates almost fifteen times. And in doing that, Chad never lost sight of the original vision and the unique culture that makes Etsy the very best home for creative entrepreneurs. We have benefited greatly from his leadership."
Silverman most recently served as president of consumer products and services at American Express. Prior to that, he was CEO of Skype, CEO of shopping.com, an eBay company, and held various executive roles at eBay. He was also a co-founder and CEO of Evite, and he currently serves on the board of directors of Shake Shack.