Business Model Breakdown At the heart of Etsy's success is its business model. A business model is a firm's plan or recipe for how it creates, delivers, and captures value for its stakeholders. The Barringer/Ireland Business Model Template, completed for what Etsy looks like today, is shown nearby. The following is a breakdown of each of the four major categories of Etsy's business model. What is particularly instructive is the way the model fits together. As you read through the description of each category, notice how it affects the other categories and Etsy's business model as a whole. Core Strategy Etsy's mission is ambitious. It wants to “re-imagine commerce in ways that build a more fulfilling and lasting world." To do this, Etsy has built its business around the neighborhood feel. Its focus is on constructing a way to shop that is meaningful to both sellers and buyers. To illustrate this point, Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson said, “Etsy, technologically and culturally, is a platform that provides meaning to people, and an opportunity to validate their art, their craft.”" To further articulate Etsy's core values Dickerson said, “At the end of each transaction you get something real from a real person. There is existential satisfaction to that.” In addition to this set of values, Etsy is an advocate for small merchants and artisans. These are two categories of businesses that have been hurt by mass production and the advent of the big-box store. Etsy is helping bring back these businesses by providing them a platform to sell their products to a sizeable audience of buyers. Etsy's basis of differentiation flows from its mission to focus on handmade goods, the number of buyers and sellers on its site, and the sense of community that it has created. Although its website is easy to navigate, that's not what differentiates Etsy from its rivals in that many online businesses have websites that are easy to navigate. What differentiates Etsy are the factors mentioned above. It's instructive to note that Etsy's points of differentiation are made possible by its core competencies and key assets. From the beginning, Etsy has excelled at helping its sellers increase sales via web-based tools, educational materials, and offline events. It also set its business up in a way that encourages its sellers to build awareness of Etsy in general. Each seller has its own Etsy store. As sellers promote their Etsy stores, they introduce people to Etsy more broadly, which is a key factor that has enabled Etsy to grow so quickly. . Is Etsy's business model a standard or a disruptive business model? Explain your answer