Role Model: Craig Newmark
by Miki Saxon
Is anyone in tech truly immune from the lure of the big bucks that come from mining user data?
Not just in the short haul, but over the long haul — like 25 years?
Certainly not Google, with its management-trashed “don’t be evil.”
Or Facebook, that continually violates its users in the name of revenue.
but there is one site known to techies and the rest of us alike.
Craigslist started as an email listserv in 1995, when early web enthusiasts were looking for a sense of community and DIY education. By 1996, it had become a website with job listings, apartment rentals, and personal ads. Almost as soon as the internet was becoming widely available—roughly 1 out of 5 households was online at the time—Craigslist was there to help people find roommates, look for jobs, go on blind dates, or sell used furniture.
Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster has been at the helm since 2001, and the founder, Craig Newmark, is still involved in the company. For years, Newmark did customer service, responding to design complaints and concerns about scams. Today, Craigslist has more monthly page visits than The New York Times or ESPN, and it’s been incredibly profitable.
Its profitability might come as a surprise to some. Many of those I spoke with thought Craigslist was a nonprofit or that it was community-run. In fact, Craigslist has always charged money for certain ads, such as job postings and classified ads. (By siphoning revenue from classified ads, Craigslist has been one reason newspapers across the country have struggled to stay in business.)
More recently, Craigslist has started charging for other kinds of ads, such as real estate listings from firms and car ads from dealers.
But regular users don’t have to pay a fee. The site doesn’t display banner ads, nor does it sell user data to third parties.
Way back when Craigslist was a startup I met Craig and found him to be a very nice, unassuming guy and it seems he’s still the same, as reflected in a 20017 interview.
“Basically I just decided on a different business model in ’99, nothing altruistic,” he said. “While Silicon Valley VCs and bankers were telling me I should become a billionaire, I decided no one needs to be a billionaire — you should know when enough is enough. So I decided on a minimal business model, and that’s worked out pretty well. This means I can give away tremendous amounts of money to the nonprofits I believe in … I wish I had charisma, hair, and a better sense of humor,” he added in a completely deadpan voice. “I think I could be far more effective.”
Current entrepreneurs seem more focused on charisma, hair, and reaching unicorn status via multiple rounds of investment. A sense of humor is considered optional.
Image credit: Cambodia4kids.org Beth Kanter
