Etsy's CEO cut 22% of staff and refocused the marketplace; revenue growth hit 37%

Etsy's growth slowed after its 2015 IPO, drawing hedge fund pressure. In May 2017 the board replaced CEO Chad Dickerson with Josh Silverman, a former eBay and American Express executive, effective May 3, per Etsy's own announcement.

Within two months Silverman cut about 22% of the workforce, targeting marketing, product management and administrative roles, and ended side projects, as Retail Dive reported. In July 2018 Etsy raised its seller transaction fee from 3.5% to 5% to fund marketplace investment.

The refocus worked: the FY2018 10-K shows revenue up 36.8% to $603.7 million with net income of $77.5 million, and the FY2019 10-K shows revenue of $818.4 million (+35.6%), GMS of $5.0 billion and net income of $95.9 million.

Revenue grew from $441M (2017) to $604M (2018, +36.8%) and $818M (2019); net income was $77.5M in 2018 versus a $29.9M loss in 2016.

The marketplace was the asset; diversification had diluted it.

Cutting 22% of staff removed overhead without touching sellers.

The higher take rate funded the marketing that brought buyers back.

Machine-learning search and ads improved conversion per visit.

Sometimes the fix is subtraction: cut staff and side projects, raise prices, and spend only where the core marketplace converts buyers.

The refocused model delivered 36–37% revenue growth in both 2018 and 2019, and the rebuilt marketplace was positioned for the pandemic-era ecommerce surge that followed.