Rob Kalin, Founder of Etsy
Etsy is an online marketplace where buyers and sellers can connect from all over the world to exchange unique handmade and vintage products. Etsy’s niche market attracts buyers who are looking to purchase personal handmade and vintage products that cannot be found anywhere else. Robert Kalin, Haim Schoppik, and Chris Maguire are three entrepreneurs and friends who founded Etsy in 2005. The trio wanted to build a business that catered to sellers and allowed for sellers to advertise their products as they pleased. The idea for Etsy was that a group of sellers would generate more interest from potential buyers than a single seller would selling handmade products.
The idea for Etsy was born out of Kalin’s need to find a marketplace for his wooden computer cases. Kalin was working on building a forum for woodcrafters around the same time, and saw that crafters were desperately looking for a way to sell their goods. Kalin immediately recognized the need for a marketplace that could cater to artisans and small businesses. Etsy was able to capture hundreds of thousands of sellers within months due to many different factors. Etsy mostly was able to attract feminist crafters from a growing feminist movement in the early 2000s and was also largely seen as a more seller friendly alternative to eBay. In addition, Etsy was able to appeal to the masses who were anti-establishment and anti-consumerism by selling handmade and vintage goods.
Etsy did have it’s shares of challenges in its early days. In an interview Kalin stated: “the launch actually wasn’t going quite fast enough, so Maguire and Schoppik ended up basically moving into my apartment and we spent a solid six weeks working on it day and night.” I admire Etsy’s entrepreneurs because they demonstrate work ethic and doing whatever it took to make sure Etsy had successful growth. I also like how the company took a bold stance on its views and appealed to certain niche markets as opposed to the masses. Kalin, one of Etsy’s chief founders demonstrates that determination and focus is needed to drive growth. Etsy’s founder’s have taught me that identifying issues can lead to innovation and creativity.
