Josh Silverman, The Future of the “Etsy Economy”

CEO Josh Silverman discusses how Etsy is transforming the global e-commerce marketplace, by connecting artists to consumers across the internet.

On the mission of Etsy: “Etsy is incredibly important in a world where automation is changing the nature of work. Creativity can’t be automated and we provide a path to economic empowerment for almost two million people, mostly women. I think that’s incredibly important.” 

On the importance of diversity in the workplace: “Diversity is a deeply-held and authentically-held value for everyone in the company, and has been since its earliest days... I think it’s critical for us to succeed, for at least two reasons. One, we run a platform, which means that our job is primarily to make decisions. We are a decision-making machine. And I believe we make much better decisions when different perspectives come together and hash it out in a very constructive way, and then come to answers. And that is better informed when you have people from different points of view and different backgrounds. Second, innovation is the lifeblood of our business. And innovation thrives when you have different points of view and different perspectives coming together.”