[madamelic]

This seems like the 'bubble' deflating.

Not so much a bang, more of a fizzle as "the big kids" come in and cut deeply.

That and investors keeping out of seed-stage funding because it has gotten so bloated by everyone wanting their own startup.

I've seen Genius, Etsy, Uber... etc. It seems like a lot more startups are getting shook up and cut down.

[adventured]

Etsy looks to be just fine. Sales grew 33% for 2016 vs 2015. Their operating loss is down to a very small trickle at $2m for the latest quarter. To go with $275m in cash.

They appear to have a very nice business that's trading for a reasonable four times sales and likely heading toward profitability. What's the problem? Cutting bloat is exactly what they should be doing, it'll drive them to profitability faster.

[hinkley]

This smells like prep for a sale.

But I would warn them, based on prior experience, that having a pile of cash can turn you into a target for takeover from someone who wants your cash. Once the companies merge, all that cash becomes 'our' cash and they can use it to buy themselves a couple extra years of burn rate.

[LoSboccacc]

it's still in a very precarious position - if they open too much to resellers and large manufacturers people will go back to the more convenient alternative - amazon.

[treehau5]

More convenient, better experience, better search, better customer support, better shipping, more reviews, etc. etc.

I know this is a dead horse here but Etsy needs to go back to it's roots or die. I would use eBay or alibaba before Etsy if they want to sell cheaply manufactured goods.

[huebnerob]

There's no reason why the cheaply made goods couldn't be their "day job", funding the true passion of supporting the creative entrepreneur.

What would be concerning is if they see it as anything more than a way to pay the bills.