This 29-year-old is the founder of Etsy.com - a private business now valued at about $100 million. Talk about following through when you have a good idea. Now, if only I could think of something as great as Etsy...
A. It means growing big, while staying small. Etsy itself is hundreds of thousands of very small businesses and I want to be able to keep that intimacy within our own company, even as we grow and the number of people we need to support grows. It means always keeping a human face on what we're doing. I don't want to hide behind a corporate firewall and start speaking with some third-person voice. I want to always speak with a human voice.
Q. What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
A. Make sure that you stay directly involved, even as things get bigger. If you're disconnected from the real work that's being done, it's easy to be impatient. So really get down in the trenches. Be ready to do a hundred different things really well, and in a short period of time.
Q. How do you do that and stay sane?
Part of staying sane is enjoying it. It's kind of like the conductor of an orchestra, listening to lots of different instruments, taking in the feedback and making adjustments. It's not passive though, because part of being a successful entrepreneur is being an inspiring leader. You have to get up in front of people, set the vision and inspire them to give it their best.
Read more of the WSJ article here.
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