Chad Dickerson, CEO of Etsy, presented at Vivid Ideas in Sydney, Australia about keeping values-based business at the core of Etsy. Etsy is an online marketplace that connects artists and crafters around the world and has over $525 million in annual sales. Dickerson discussed how Etsy measures its success through community impact and social values like self-sufficiency and happiness rather than just economic measures. Etsy is certified as a B Corp, which requires assessment of its social and environmental performance.

1. Keeping it real, always:
Values-based business at Etsy
Chad Dickerson
CEO, Etsy
Presented at Vivid Ideas, Sydney, Australia, May 31, 2012
Podcast: http://www.2ser.com/vivid-ideas-podcasts/chad-dickerson-etsy-generation-entrepreneur

3. ETSY BY THE NUMBERS
$525MM community sales
875,000 active sellers
41MM unique visitors
15MM registered members
150 countries
photo by Jared Tarbell

4. $525MM

5. “ grossallow for the health… does
not
national product
of our
children, the quality of their
education, or the joy of their
play, the beauty of our poetry
or the strength of our
marriages. . . it measures
everything, in short, except that
which makes life worthwhile.
Robert Kennedy, US Senator
1968

6. “ I love being being my own boss
and being in control of my daily
life. It is so liberating.
Nicole Carey
Shop: nicolecarey
Etsy Blog, October 11, 2011

7. “ I sell to people all over the
country and world and getting to
meet new people is really the
best part of it all. Making new
relationships has been uplifting.
Michael West
Shop: WestVintageTradingCo
Etsy Blog, November 8, 2011

8. “ handmade is an expression
of one’s inner love of the
world, its people, the very
experience of being a part
of this diverse and beautiful
planet.
Rodger Thomas
Shop: BenClifDesigns
Etsy Blog, May 30, 2012

9. 875,000 stories

10. ETSY’S VISION
A new economy where self-
sufficiency, durability, and
happiness are the key
measures of success.

11. Photo credit: http://mashable.com/2010/10/13/etsy-office-pics/

12. Company Community

13. Peter Drucker

14. “ [the corporation’s] social
function as a community is
as important as its economic
function as an efficient
producer.
Peter Drucker
Concept of the Corporation
1946

15. Community
Company

16. ORGANIZING AROUND THE VISION
A new economy where self-
sufficiency, durability, and
happiness are the key
measures of success.

17. Be the change you seek.

18. With the rise of small businesses around the world we
feel hope and see real opportunities: Opportunities for
us to measure success in new ways… to build local,
living economies, and most importantly, to help create
a more permanent future.
— Hello Etsy, September 2011

19. “ this is possibly not only the
best conference ever, but
potentially one of the most
important to the global
economy.
Angela D’Alton
Hello Etsy attendee
(now Etsy employee!)

20. ETSY VALUES
We are a mindful, transparent, and humane business.
We plan and build for the long term.
We value craftsmanship in all we make.
We believe fun should be part of everything we do.
We keep it real, always.

21. HOW DO YOU MEASURE COMPANY VALUES?

22. THE B CORP: A BETTER WAY TO DO BUSINESS
B Corps (“benefit corporations”) use the
power of business
to solve social and environmental problems.

23. B IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Framework for measurement that is:
• Independent
• Comprehensive
• Transparent
• Comparable
http://www.bcorporation.net/

24. B IMPACT ASSESSMENT: FOUR KEY AREAS
• Governance
• Workers
• Community
• Environment

25. GOVERNANCE: WEATHER REPORT

26. COMMUNITY: HACKER SCHOOL
• 3-month, full-time school to
become better programmer
• Joint program with Hacker
School to bring more women
into technology
• 20 full scholarships for women
• Providing space

27. ENVIRONMENT: COMPOSTING
272 kg/month refuse
from Eatsy delivered
by bike. . . .

28. ... and converted to
compost at Red Hook
Community Farms

29. http://bcorporation.net/etsy/

30. Be the change you seek.

31. B Corp + Funding

32. B CORP DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE
We hold these truths to be self-evident:
That we must be the change we seek in the world;
That all business ought to be conducted as if people
and place mattered;
That, through their products, practices, and profits,
businesses should aspire to do no harm and benefit
all.
To do so, requires that we act with the
understanding that we are each dependent upon
another and thus responsible for each other and
future generations.

33. photo by zizzybaloobah
Last year, $525 million (USD) changed hands
among people on Etsy.

34. http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheMapShop
The Etsy economy represents about
8.75 ten-thousandths of one percent of the global economy.
0.00000875

36. Many small things.

37. http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheMapShop
As we grow, we want to make
the rest of the world more like Etsy.

38. THE SHARING ECONOMY: A QUIET REVOLUTION
“ This sharing economy is based on people coming
together to create their own markets...[like]Etsy ...
This new shared market economy is being driven by a
quiet revolution... This movement is inadvertently
creating a new economic engine that has the potential
to reorganize our economy.
Occupy Big Business: The Sharing Economy’s Quiet Revolution
Sara Horowitz in The Atlantic, December 6, 2011