#218 CEO Etsy, Josh Silverman: Second Acts

#218 CEO Etsy, Josh Silverman: Second Acts#218 CEO Etsy, Josh Silverman: Second Acts

00:00 01:09:52

Guest: Josh Silverman, CEO of Etsy

When Josh Silverman joined the board of Etsy, he had one condition: “Don’t ask me to the be the CEO.” And technically, they didn’t ask. One day, he got a phone call informing him the board had elected him as the new CEO, just days before an earnings miss. He knew the odds were against him — layoffs would be necessary, and “I was going to have to be the villain” — but decided to say yes out of a sense of duty to Etsy’s users and workers. “If I can be helpful, I have a responsibility to do it,” Josh says.

Chapters:

(00:55) - Energy management
(02:42) - Meetings
(09:56) - Etsy’s strategy
(13:36) - Learning to delegate
(17:10) - Setting an example
(24:17) - Evite’s rise and fall
(27:46) - Self vs. company
(30:22) - Legacy
(34:21) - Control and agency
(37:44) - Joining Etsy’s board
(40:40) - Becoming CEO
(46:16) - Culture shock
(48:09) - “We need you, trust us”
(51:25) - eBay and Skype
(57:15) - Pushed out
(01:00:40) - Accountability and family
(01:03:53) - Time horizons
(01:05:55) - Gen AI-supported art
(01:08:29) - Who Etsy is hiring and what “grit” means to Josh

Mentioned in this episode: Ken Chenault and American Express, Nick Daniel, Rachana Kumar, Ticketmaster and IAC, Etsy Studios, Silverlake, Shopping.com, Google, Microsoft, and Austin City Limits.

Links:

Connect with Josh

Connect with Joubin

Learn more about Kleiner Perkins

This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

What is Grit?

Grit explores what it takes to create, build, and scale world-class organizations. It features weekly episodes highlighting the leaders who are pushing their companies to make a difference. This series is hosted by Joubin Mirzadegan, go to market operating partner at Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm investing in history-making founders.