Etsy Board Replaces Director Who Moved to Amazon

Etsy appointed Andy Ballard to its Board of Directors after Edith Cooper resigned a week ago to take a seat on Amazon’s Board.

Ballard is CEO of Wiser Solutions, “which enables brands and retailers to harness the power of data to drive better decisions to serve their customers.” His background includes stints at a private equity firm and a private investment firm, and he’s founder and managing partner of Figtree Partners, an investment firm focused on software and technology.

Cooper, who resigned from the Etsy Board on September 14th “to focus on other commitments,” according to Etsy, was named to Amazon’s Board of Directors on Monday. The first Black woman to become a partner at Goldman Sachs, she cofounded Medley and also recently joined the Board of Directors of Pepsico.

It’s unusual for someone to go directly from the board of one online marketplace to another. Cooper had served on the Etsy board since April 2018.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.