Etsy What do orthopedic surgery and governing a country have in common with knitting socks, scarves, and headbands? Nothing except the salary. Hobbyist Alicia Shaffer is earning $80,000 a month selling her handmade goods on Etsy, which adds up to an annual revenue of $960,000. That is the same amount as an orthopedic surgeon makes and more than twice as much as the U.S. president makes. Etsy is an online craft makerspace for handmade goods. Etsy is building a human, authentic, and community-centric makerspace that uses the power of business to create a better world. In an Etsy economy, creative entrepreneurs can find meaningful work selling their goods in both global and local markets, where thoughtful consumers can discover those goods and build relationships with the people who make and sell them. Its an ecosystem that connects buyers around the world to the communities where Etsy shop owners live, work, and create. As Etsy grows, it is committed to its mission to ensure its core values are woven into all decisions it makes for the long-term health of its business, from the sourcing of office supplies to employee benefits to the items sold in its marketspace. Shaffers company, ThreeBirdNest, is named after her bird tattoo that honors her three children. Shaffer attributes her success to deep-seated motivation and access to a global supply chain through Etsy. ThreeBirdNest launched in 2011, when she made a few headbands for the small womens clothing boutique she ran in Livermore, California. Her headbands were so popular she decided to start selling them online. I opened an Etsy shop, figuring Id help pay for my kids soccer and dance lessons to supplement the boutiques sales, states Shaffer. I was recovering from the failure of a business Id run selling baby productshandmade slings, carriers, and blankets. After that business tanked in the recession, Id lost a little bit of confidence in my ability to be an entrepreneur. In the first few weeks after its launch, ThreeBirdNest made 90 sales. Shaffer credits much of the traffic to Pinterest, where she pinned her items. Still, she said, It was absolutely mindboggling. I thought it was a complete fluke. But a few months later, Shaffer found herself hiring a friend to help with shipping as orders began flowing like water. Through its independent website and Etsy shop, ThreeBirdNest receives an average of 150 orders per day, with most orders consisting of three items. Around the holidays, that number goes up to 700 to 1,200 orders per day. Last January, the business raked in a total of $128,000 in sales. Since its launch, it has made 100,000 sales on Etsy alone. ThreeBirdNest is unusually successful on Etsy, as most Etsy shop owners feel lucky to sell 10 pieces a month, and 65 percent of Etsy sellers make less than $100 from their shops in a year. Etsy makerspace crafters usually need day jobs to support their hobbies.15

1. Apply the concepts of cloud computing to Etsys mode?

2. How is Etsy's business model similar to Software as a Service or utility computing?