These Moo notecards are an example of the kinds of products being sold by companies whose users do all the creation and design of the things they buy.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)AUSTIN, Texas--Why invent the wheel by yourself if you can turn instead to a group of peers and solve it together?
That was the premise of a gathering here of executives from most of the leading companies in what might be called the "people-powered" industry.
These are companies like CafePress, Moo, Etsy, and 8020 Publishing whose business is manufacturing physical products designed by customers. CafePress, for example, makes T-shirts, coffee mugs, hats, and many other products emblazoned with logos and designs uploaded by users. Moo makes business and greeting cards adorned with users' own photos and images, and 8020 publishes photo and travel magazines full of readers' work.
But each of these outfits has until now had to solve a set of problems unique to this nascent industry--legal issues, community management processes, and even questions of nomenclature.
So as many of the people behind these companies prepared to go to Austin for this year's South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) festival, Moo CEO Richard Moross decided that maybe this would be a good time and place to get everyone together and discuss whether a cooperative investigation and search for solutions to common problems would be a good thing for everyone involved.
After all, there's strength in numbers, right?
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One of New York's most talked about tech start-ups these days is undoubtedly Etsy, the Brooklyn-based online marketplace for buying and selling handmade goods. And it's continuing to generate headlines: co-founder Robert Kalin announced in a blog post Wednesday that the company has picked up an impressive $27 million in Series D financing.
The venture funding comes from existing investors Union Square Ventures and Hubert Burda Media, as well as Accel Partners' Jim Breyer, who will take on a seat on Etsy's board of directors.
Etsy is "almost break-even" when it comes to profits, Kalin admitted in his blog post, but it does have 650,000 registered users, 120,000 of whom are classified as "sellers." The company employs about 50 people, and last year opened the Etsy Labs community space in a converted industrial space in Brooklyn.
With the new financing, the company hopes to achieve a laundry list of goals: expand beyond the U.S. dollar and the English language, improve its search and checkout technology, ensure that it can pay its employees fairly, keep its servers running, and have a "cushion" to ensure stability through current economic woes.
It's as much a social mission as an economic one, Kalin wrote. "Throughout the myriad challenges since we launched the Web site, we have worked day and night to see things through. We're in this for the long haul," he said. "We believe that the world cannot keep consuming the way it does now, and that buying handmade is part of the solution."
How do I justify all the time I spend on Etsy, the sophisticated and simply brilliant marketplace for hand-crafted goods? If I didn't visit Etsy every day, I wouldn't be able to report back to you on the best shops for buying custom tech goodies. (I'm also certain that my Etsy obsession makes me a better gift giver. Friends and family, if this is not true, please keep it to yourselves.)
Without further ado, my favorite Etsy shops for iPod cozies, laptop wallets, and the like:
(Credit:
iPod Crafts/Etsy)
iPod Crafts
The name says it all. This store sells simple, sweet suede cases for all kinds of iPods, from the iPod Classic to...wait for it... the new 3G Nano. No iPhone/iPod Touch cases yet, but it's probably just a matter of time.
QuietDoing
This shop out of The OC (the county, not the show) sells more than iPod cases, but deserves mention for the sheer marvelousness of its turntable-motif iPod cases. The cases accommodate iPod Classic/5G, but you can have a conversation with the owner to request a custom-sized case for whatever your player.
(Credit:
tinymeat/Etsy)
tinymeat
Looking for a decidedly less-girly iPod case? In the iPod case aisle of the tinymeat shop, you'll find campy and ironic cases that profile monsters, religious symbols, race cars and--my personal favorite--one that proclaims what must be true but few have experienced: Bears are smelly. (Thanks to the Etsy's Most Wonderful Things blog for leading me here.)
Working Class Heroes
Classy, classy, classy. This Austrian shop makes the most subtle and elegantly designed laptop cases I've seen. Other CNET Networks authors love 'em, too.
(Credit:
Janine King Designs/Etsy)
Janine King Designs
No list of Etsy tech shops would be complete without mention of this laptop case mecca. This shop builds custom-sized laptop briefcases, totes, and sleeves in every pattern under the sun.
The deeper I dig on Etsy, the more I find. To find custom tech cozies and cases yourself, try these Etsy tags: iPod, mp3 player, cozy, laptop, and computer. Have you found a secret Etsy tech gem? Leave a comment.
As some of you may know, I host a weekly video feature on our sister blog Crave, where I talk about fun tech-related stuff that's going on in New York City. This week, my video turned out to be rather Webware-related, so I'm posting it here for you as well. In this clip, I go over to Etsy Labs, the new real-world communal space opened by online handmade craft marketplace Etsy. It's a really cool convergence of the online and offline, in a way that kind of made me wonder--will the next iteration of the Web see a greater push toward giving Web sites physical space? Check out the video and see if you agree with me.
(PS: The first minute is devoted to a mini-rant about Mooninites. It's kind of a running joke over at Crave.)
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