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Story by
chaddickerson
Published on November 19, 2009 in Etsy News |
Photo by |
One day in early 2005, I got a call from a friend and former colleague asking for career advice. My friend was considering a role running site operations at a fledgling Internet company that was creating a whole new way of connecting people on the Internet. They were a small but inspired operation running in a data center in Vancouver and the site was starting to really ramp up. The company needed his unique blend of good humor, playfulness, creative spark, world-class technical chops, and unmatched ability to get things done. I was already an early adopter and major fan of the company he was considering and told him it seemed like a solid bet. The company was Flickr, and the friend was John Allspaw.
Fast forward to the present, and after five very successful years at Flickr, John and I talked recently about another career move, but this time it was a little closer to home: John will be joining the engineering team at Etsy as VP of Technical Operations, responsible for the site operations, database, and quality assurance teams. I think his reasoning for making the move from Flickr to Etsy illustrates just what a great fit John is for Etsy:
“The reason I stayed here for five years wasn't for the vesting or the accolades. It was because I worked with people who *care* about building something that people *care* about. This also happens to be the same reason why I chose my next step: Etsy. They care, and it shows.“
I couldn’t be more excited for someone with John’s incredible experience to be joining Etsy. Before Flickr, John and I worked together at Salon.com and IDG/InfoWorld. He then went on to Friendster, one of the earliest social networking sites. Once he got to Flickr, John built site operations from 20 servers in a small Vancouver data center into a cultural phenomenon spread across six data centers around the world, with 40,000 photos being served per second and four billion photos being managed. Over four years, traffic to the site grew 40x while the number of users grew tenfold. All the while, John and the excellent team he built were the ones turning the knobs and pulling the levers to make it all work along with the developers at Flickr.
John recorded his hard-earned knowledge in a well-regarded book about capacity planning for web sites (The Art of Capacity Planning) and became a favorite speaker at technical conferences – when you’re successful, everyone wants to know the formula. With all of that happening, he also found time to play guitar in an itinerant bluegrass band, filing in the gaps between the washboard and the banjo. And have two kids!
John will joining us officially in late January, bringing his know-how to help us make Etsy better. I can’t wait to work with John again. Without further ado, please join me in welcoming John to Etsy!
| Tags | About Us, Admin, company, employees, Engineers, Etsy.com, Etsy News, flickr, hires, John Allspaw, staff, Sys Ops, Tech Team |
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191 comments Login to add your own!
Piruli
I love reading these articles, and love to learn about the Etsy team! Keep them coming!
locomotive
estasketch
how exciting! flickr and etsy, my two favorite sites :) Welcome, John!
seababejewelry
Vanessa
Welcome, John! We are looking forward to your arrival in Brooklyn, and washboard jam sessions.
moonovermaize
Wow, congrats on your accomplishments and also on your move to Etsy!
pesmou
Welcome, John! Etsy and Brooklyn await you and your family. We're so thrilled that you're joining the team.
nadene
Welcome John! Congrats on your past success, wishing you lots more at Etsy! Thanks to Etsy too, as always, for fostering a wonderful community space.
moonovermaize
and you have such a darling family! Love the photo with the superhero, fairy and blueberry princess :)
moonstr
rebeccasanchez
ecoblingcouture
IlluminatedPerfume
MagnetGames
piperewan
theeye
missindie
blueberryshoes
NorthviewJewels
PunchDrunkPrince
JesseMosher
cmu55
Colliebox
dreamyvintage
Stemellina
HMAKO
SkyDreams
3SistersLove
FireStarSoapCo
WickedDarling
vintagemaison
starshinecompany
jessiemccann
WildOliveKids
mooshoopork
*claps*
welcome John Allspaw !
nice to meet you ..
im sure youll love it here :)
SimplyInvitingCards
Late January is too far away. Can't wait until you get here John!
iragrant
I love flickr and I hope he will bring something that make me more in love to Etsy!
And welcome JA:)
polkadotsandblooms
John - Congrats and Welcome to Etsy. Hope you have lot of fun and challenges!
NottyPooch
RobWhite
We look forward to having you with us at Etsy! Can't wait for you to be here!
crochetgal
Welcome to Etsy John. I'm sure that you will find Etsy to be a nice challenge.
Bluejules2008
A warm welcome to John! I'm sure he'll add to the great experience that is Etsy.
awkward
TierraPercussion
BizzieLizzie
Welcome John! Great to have you here! Hope you'll jump right in with both feet like the rest of us!! Much continued success your way!
denizgunes
byAgnes
whyte
Welcome John, enjoyed reading http://www.kitchensoap.com
couldn't understand the techie stuff, but appreciate your endorsement of Tim O'Reilly's "work on stuff that matters" and not "me-too"!
virtuallori
diddlysmom
MooreMagnets
ThePaperTray
vivikas
bytheway
KBShimmer
TwinDreamCreations
LemonGrove
studio27
baconsquarefarm
Welcome to the Etsy family John~ happy you are joining the team, enjoyed reading your story too, January won't come soon enough~!
QuietStorytellers
Welcome to etsy John. Hope your work here makes you smile!
candythomasgourdart
VeraVague
ThatSomething
1022SeaShellAve
glorioushats
jurgitahandmade
FerntreeStudio
CaptiveStudio
littlealouette
stilettoheights
Kathleencavalaro
Welcome! I'm sure it must be crazy (fun crazy) working with the Etsy team! Enjoy it.
timesandchimes
sagittariusgallery
nauli
TheNebulousKingdom
kclarkphotography
OneClayBead
Welcome, John! It is exciting to watch Etsy grow, and John will be a key part of the continued success!
PeculiarForest
kotibeth
pamwares
ThePeachTree
dragonhouseofyuen
SimpleJoysPaperie
WingsDove
Welcome John! Wonderful to have you here to help Etsy keep going and getting better and better.
Mizdragonfly
UnaOdd
cicadastudio
edmdesigns
this will be fabulous.....Welcome, John....can't wait to see the new goodies that will come with his experience. Thanks, Etsy!
oldworldprimitives
metrostation
WoollyWonka
junquerevival
very cool...I've loved Flickr since the get-go...and we are lucky to have you!
monkeyandsquirrel
VixVintage
TataniaRosa
debhillart
MarlaJDesigns
MarKhed
so great to have so many talented people all helping us artists out! Thanks so much guys! keep up the good work!
xo
Marie
Tokyoinspired
lovelygifts
Welcome and good luck! Always nice to hear about the Etsy Team.
lavenderrabbit
Welcome John! Look forward to seeing the change you'll bring.
blackeyedsuzie
sewlola
mullishmuse
girltuesdayjewelry
citydetails
Waterrose
zippityduda
daniellexo
XPoppysWickedGardenX
THat is great news! Glad to see him on board! Things can only get better:)
greeniemarie
TJToubeaux
JessicaDoyle
twoknit
WinterRoseDesigns
Iammie
redyellowandblueink
Welcome! capacity planning you say? you've come to the right place-this place is HUGE, so you've got a lot to work with.
on a side note, always love when the guys chime in for the storque articles, I get to see the other side of etsy in the related item picks and always welcome that-very nice indeed.
DalkullanJewelry
adornnatural
DiBAjewelry
Welcome John .. Love to hear about the people behind the screen :)
emilywootton
OhFaro
HomeStudio
4GetMeNotTreasures
rikrak
yay to flickr and etsy minds! two of my fave cyberly spots!
welcome!
capitolagirl
hautecountryvintage
airportlovestory
Manicmushroomglass
ETSY is some thinig I care about and I am glad to hear about people like John who care a great deal as well. Thank you!!!
anadiazarte
LilaJo
ArtisticIntentions
recycledwares
Glad to hear that such a talented person is joining the Etsy team. Does that mean we get free bluegrass internet concerts :)) Maybe a video of John playing guitar or the washboard? Hey, by the way, the spam text I had to enter to post this comment was "mainmast John." How weird is that?
steinschmuckdesign
NatureVisions
That70sShoppe
StelmaDesigns
Welcome! I think it's fantastic you are joining the etsy team!
anandi
Awesome, sounds like your capacity planning experience will benefit Etsy greatly :)
stubbornwoman
What a wonderful piece of news. Congratulations to both.... and to us!
BunnySafariPottery
Hurray for Esty! I hope that Flickr doesn't suffer in quality (I have a great time with flickr!).
Cheers!
HeyChica
ohvotrecoeur
duckfoot
Fairyfolk
mybirch
amarkofmyown
RogueRetro
jodieflowers
TheMysticCircleArt
John, Welcome to the Etsy family!
You came to a glorious place of fun and adventure.
LisaKaser
ABoxForMyTreasure
worksandfinds
Welcome to Etsy John. Great having you here and good luck!!!
zombiequeensusan
FoundVintageStyle
this sounds like a great fit...
thank you Etsy & thank you John!
beyondthepale
Welcome, John! You sound just the thing. Well done, Etsy, too! :)
asundrynotion
furnacebrookcreation
auntsuesoldnewlovely
lainedesign
Welcome John! I appreciate your comments on why you're making the move from Flickr to Etsy. It warms my heart :-)
jennyleefowler
ClaudiaLord
siiri
Hello John and welcome to Etsy!
Thank you Chaddickerson for the featuring.
cravejewelrydesign
rocknartisan
My hat is off to John and the IT Department of ETSY!
I am no computer guru but I do give credit where credit is due. I have only recently joined ETSY, but have already had small successes. I give credit to the ETSY community, sellers, artisans and the ETSY staff. Case in point...from what little I know, metatags are used to prompt Google searches, which all of us know how important Google is. Well one of my main artisans is rock handled knives (Rock n Knives). I just happened to Google search "rock handled knives" and guess what? Bad news is there were 4,460,000 hits. Good news is my listing was on the first page at number 7 of the very first page! That blows my small computerized mind!
Thank You Thank You Thank You!
arcoirishandcrafted
Welcome to Etsy John! Cant wait to see what new idea's you bring to the table. Have fun! :)
decors
Welcome on board and congratulations to Etsy! I kept reading the same paragraph of this: The reason I stayed here for five years wasn't for the vesting or the accolades. It was because I worked with people who *care* about building something that people *care* about. This also happens to be the same reason why I chose my next step: Etsy. They care, and it shows.
All the best John and Etsy! :)
BabbidgePatch
rachelmaydesigns
Welcome! I hope you enjoy Etsy as much as we do!
Rachel May
Vintage50sEyewear
emilybidwell
btaylorquilts
natjacstudio
Congratulations on your move to Etsy. Good luck and continued success.
birdie1
shesbattydesigns
welcome! I love flickr and i love etsy! what a beautiful combo :)
TheriArtisansJewelry
ornamentsbydeb
Hey, John - thanks for joining us at Etsy! Wonderful to have such technical talent want to join our team!
livingstonandporter
"This looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship"...looks like people HEART you already! {and some caring folks who are thrilled to have you here}
All the BEST!
tallib
PeasantHollow
Stumbled on this article while looking around and WOW amazing...Congrats....
MerCurios
Congrats John! Looking forward to your contributions to Etsy and wishing you much success.
SandrasShop
No wonder Etsy is such a great site, with all the bells and whistles well oiled! You've started with great people, and you continue to attract them! All best wishes to you John!
VogueArt
SMART MOVE JOHN AND ETSY!!!!
Etsy is an awesome thing and is growing in name recognition very fast. I had not heard of it last year but NOW SEEMS LIKE IT IS ALL THE BUZZ!! My shop just opened because I believe it is the best place to buy on the internet. Who doesn't like to go to art shows to purchase artistic wares???!!! Now you can anytime on Etsy.
John will be a HUGE asset and all of you are so great at what you do already I can only imagine how so much more awesome it will be!! How fun to be able to work at Etsy!!!!! Congrats to us all!!
dazzlemedesign
taintbosh
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