What did you like about the way they built the site and community? What don't you like, if anything? Is there one lesson in particular people can take away from Etsy?
I have kinda asked this to the group, but thought I would direct it at you. Do you think other sub-markets of eBay could flourish as a separate entity? Or was Etsy just able to find a really good balance of a good market with a good audience?
I don't think Etsy was really a sub-market of eBay. This didn't occur to me at the time, anyway. I just thought that "handmade goods" are probably an aggregate multibillion dollar business.
I actually invested in another company that directly targets another eBay segment.
So yes, I strongly believe that other sub-markets of eBay are interesting to compete with.
I have this gut feeling that local furniture could be a huge market. Almost all my friends (even the ones with lots of money) got a large portion of their furniture from craigslist and other people.