As Etsy Turns A Profit, Founder Rob Kalin Takes Over Again As CEO

December 21st, 2009

Etsy founder Rob Kalin will be taking over the reins as CEO once again in January, 2010, he writes in a blog post. Etsy’s current CEO, Maria Thomas, will be leaving the company. Thomas was brought on as CEO in mid-2008, and helped grow the marketplace for hand-crafted goods. The comScore chart above indicates that it’s been on a bit of a tear lately, with 3.4 million unique U.S. visitors in November, 2009, up from 1.7 million a year ago.

It’s not clear how much those visitors bought on the site, but Kalin also discloses for the first time that the company is profitable. Perhaps Thomas was brought in for adult supervision while Kalin, who is young, was learning the ropes. I asked Kalin if he is looking for another CEO, and he responded via email, “I’ll be CEO as long as it’s good for Etsy.” If he’s in it for the long haul, as he appears to be, now’s a good time to transition back into the CEO role.

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