Tech Companies Need English Majors Just As Much As They Need Engineers

Last week, I attended the Next:Economy Conference on the future of work at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. After an onstage interview with Medium’s Steven Levy about my vision for a people-powered economy, I sat down with LinkedIn New Economy Editor Caroline Fairchild. We spoke about why Etsy is getting involved in the 1099/W2 worker debate, the role machines will play in Etsy’s future and my advice for companies heading toward IPO.

Edited excerpts:

Caroline Fairchild: You were an English major. How did we get to a point where the liberal arts education is seemingly so undervalued in today’s job market?

Chad Dickerson: It’s overly simplistic thinking. One of the things I find fascinating is the discussion that says that the world is increasingly about technology and software, so therefore we need more math, science and engineering majors. That sounds sensible on the surface, but when you take a step back and see what people are building today, they are building software and interfaces to be used by everyday people to complete everyday tasks. The idea of only having an education in math and science so you can build new products, but not having the skills to communicate, to me is a fallacy. You need both a liberal arts education and a technology education to build products that people will use and understand. I am legitimately surprised that so few people view it that way.

CF: What does Etsy do to make sure they are hiring people with that balance?

CD: We look for technology skills, but we look for people who are really well-rounded. A lot of our engineers have creative hobbies on the side. Some of them are DJs and artists and writers. Culturally we also spend a lot of time in the company creating programs where our sellers and employees can meet each other. We have support rotations during the holidays and we ask everyone in the company, including engineers, to answer emails from sellers and buyers. With a liberal arts degree, you learn how to communicate and write. We also do seller studio tours. Groups of employees in the company go out and meet with sellers in their workspaces. We try and build an empathetic relationship with sellers by connecting the sellers with people who work with Etsy across the world.

CF: How does Etsy play a part in the hiring debate we are having right now in startup land between 1099 and W2 workers?

CD: I think it has become politicized because the two sides in the discussion didn’t go to the table to talk to each other until they were upset with each other. We signed the Portable Benefits letter because we believe everyone deserves economic security, regardless of the way they earn income. Etsy sellers, nannies, and freelance writers all need health insurance, retirement and paid leave. When we talk to our sellers, they see themselves as independent business owners. They don’t see themselves as Etsy employees. We signed the letter because we wanted to start and participate in the conversation. The antagonism has developed because it is hard to have a collaborative discussion when everyone is at odds with each other. There has got to be another way than the way we are doing it now.

CF: Do you imagine a future where the work those sellers do is replaced by machines?

CD: Machines in the world of Etsy are an enabling mechanism. A [completely non-controversial] machine that helps many of our sellers is the sewing machine. If you tried to take a sewing machine away from a seller on Etsy who uses one you would have a fight on your hands! A dystopian relationship with machines doesn’t exist on Etsy because our sellers are using machines to do what they want to do. They are the masters of the machines, not the slaves of the machines. The machines keep changing too. We have jewelry makers who are using 3D-printing to preview designs. That’s just really cool. New technologies generally enable new forms of creativity and our sellers are excited by that.

CF: We are watching right now as late-stage companies are seeing huge valuations drops as they move toward IPO. When Etsy was a private market unicorn going through the same process, what were you focused on?

CD: We didn’t decide to go public until we had a sustainable business. When we went public in April, the company had done nearly $200 million in revenue in 2014. We had been adjusted EBITDA positive for several years. We went public when we were 10 years old, so we were not a young company. We didn’t rush it. Some CEOs can become too enamored with their headline valuation. You have to focus on the value that you are creating in your business, not the valuation you are given. You have to think about the purpose of your business. It is a very interesting time to watch.