A crafty IPO

Etsy, the quirky e-commerce site goes public very soon. Last year, the online retail platform generated revenues approaching $200 million, a jump of about 56 percent over the year before, according to SEC filings. But to raise the cash  from this week’s IPO,,Etsy is reportedly focusing on small investors. 

Wendy Liebmann, CEO of WSL Strategic Retail, says as Etsy grows, the company wants to show it’s not selling out.  Etsy sellers are reportedly among its target investors. Kirthi Kalyanam, who teaches marketing at Santa Clara University, says that’s a good way to avoid tensions down the road.

“It becomes easier from a corporate governance point of view, because all the decisions you make are pretty well aligned,” he says. 

Kalyanam says without that alignment, the company is more susceptible to pressure from big outside investors who couldn’t care less about vintage bath towels if stock prices are in the toilet.