- As Gen Z grads struggle with an uncertain job market, Etsy CEO Josh Silverman shares how he just threw himself into any job early on in his career—not knowing if he would stick with it forever—to get the ball rolling. Once he was in it, he soaked up as many lessons as possible, and took on work no one else wanted. It’s the same type of grit Mark Cuban and Steve Jobs embraced to achieve success.
The class of 2025 is stepping into an uncertain job market, unsure of where to start on the winding path to success. Etsy CEO Josh Silverman told the next cohort of workers that two steps he made in his early career set him up for triumph down the line: picking something he enjoyed, and going above and beyond in his junior-level role.
“For me, the most important thing has always been to start by throwing myself in with zealous passion to something that I liked enough and I was good enough at,” Silverman told Pace University graduates during his commencement speech on May 19.
Like many others navigating their careers in their 20’s, the $8 billion handcraft goods executive didn’t know exactly what he wanted in college.
Silverman hopped industries and jobs throughout his career, but having the determination to get the ball rolling was essential to figuring it out. He noted that delving into the work, and soaking up all the knowledge he could, also opened new doors that led him to executive success. And it’s a career journey many people can relate with, especially given how chaotic and uncertain life feels in one’s early 20s.
“Life shouldn’t be full of adventure—it should be an adventure, and don’t let that scare you. Embrace it,” Silverman said.
Etsy’s CEO got his first job answering calls—and he went above and beyond in it
Silverman first enrolled as a theater student at Brown University in the 1980s, but recounted not being able to score any opportunities as a young undergrad. So he switched his concentration to public policy, knowing he enjoyed it and had the skills to make it into a career.
“Was I convinced that I wanted to spend the rest of my life as a health care policy analyst? Maybe,” Silverman said during the speech. “But I knew it was a way to get started and the best way to figure it out was to throw myself into it wholeheartedly.”
That was the Etsy CEO’s first learning lesson—pick an interesting job where you have relevant skills, and go all-in. The next came shortly after; upon graduating from Brown University, Silverman got his first job answering phone calls for U.S. Senator Bill Bradley. He went above and beyond his regular responsibilities, picking up other duties no one else wanted and bonding with his co-workers.
“[I] was an absolute sponge in meetings. [I hung] out by the water cooler, determined not to miss the most interesting conversations,” Silverrman said. “Then life opened a totally unexpected door.”
Silverman’s diligence and enthusiasm paid off; three years later, he was invited to join a consulting practice launched by Bradley’s chief of staff. This was his first foray into private business, which feels far away from his later years spent co-founding Evite, becoming CEO of Skype, leading consumer products at American Express, and rising to chief executive of Etsy in 2017. Without his early career choices, Silverman may not have the stellar resume he holds today.
Other leaders who drive home the importance of initiative
There are many entrepreneurs and business leaders who drive home the importance of being scrappy when they’re young. Like Silverman, Shark Tank mogul Mark Cuban is a huge proponent of “sweat equity”—working hard will help drive you to the finish line, even if it means picking up more responsibilities outside of your nine-to-five.
“Work like there is someone working 24 hours a day to take it all away from you,” Cuban said.
The late Apple legend, co-founder, and CEO Steve Jobs echoed the same sentiment. Jobs was just 21 years old when he launched the $3.2 trillion technology business with his partner, Steve Woznaik. As a college dropout, Jobs threw himself into the industry working at video game company Atari before becoming an entrepreneur. Even at the age of 13 he knew his calling, working as a computer technician at Hewlett-Packard. Those early years were a total grind—but set Jobs to be a pioneer in his space.
“I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance,” Jobs once said.
