Etsy founder Rob Kalin resumes control

Etsy founder Rob Kalin.Etsy founder Rob Kalin wrote in a blog post today that he will resume his position as CEO of the handmade site as the company has started to turn a profit. Etsy’s current CEO, Maria Thomas, who came to the site from NPR to help it make some money, will be headed for greener pastures.

Etsy’s not just turning a profit now, it’s blowing up. The site has grown from more than $100 million in sales in 2008 and 1.7 million unique US visitors to nearly $200 million in sales and 3.4 million unique US visitors. Worldwide the site gets some 11 million unique visitors per month.

As young as Kalin is, a lot of people wondered if he would be looking for another CEO. He responded to TechCrunch saying, “I’ll be CEO as long as it’s good for Etsy.” Now that the site is making some money, and has some potential for ad revenue, I’d say Kalin should be fine.