Mar 11, 2005 11:32 am US/Pacific
The listings Web site craigslist gets almost
two billion page views a month."We don't need another place to get stock quotes, but boy everyone needs help now and then getting a place to live or a job," say craigslist Founder Craig Newmark.
And with that as a goal craigslist was born -- the creation of a software programmer who describes himself as both Jewish and nerdish.
"I'm basically just a guy who did wear the plastic pocket protector and thick black glasses taped together in high school and I remember what it feels like to be a nerd and I've learned to embrace that," says Newmark.
At 52 years old Newmark has dedicated himself to customer service and lets a hired CEO run the company and handle its 18 employees.
He's worked for companies such as SUN Microsystems, IBM and Bank of America. Then a decade ago it dawned on him.
"Early '95 I was thinking, 'hey, I've seen a lot of people giving a lot away in different forms and helping others out. That fits pretty well within my value system -- I should do some of that myself,'" says Newmark.
Craigslist has become a painful competitor for traditional newspaper classified ads. It expanded beyond the Bay Area in 2000 and has grown to include 66 U.S. cities, Europe, Asia, Canada and Australia.
The list reportedly brings in $10 million a year, and its only source of revenue is job postings in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York. Everything else is free.
"Our value system says we're a community service: we're helping people," say Newmark. "We're just giving people a break and as a result we get a lot of those job postings."
And Web users have proven the other listings are just as, if not more, interesting. There's stuff for sale, discussion forums, and some very "personal" personal ads.
And no where else are you going to get Craig's blog.
He blogs about his neighborhood in san Francisco, Condoleeza Rice and even his recent, controversial proposal to start charging craigslist customers for rental ads in New York.
Newmark still calls craigslist his personal hobby although it's been his livelihood since 1999.
And even though he may be high tech, Craig claims to be low maintenance. He lives below his means despite a weakness for new gadgets and maybe a newer Toyota Prius.
"Yeah, I do like the newer model more especially since it has Bluetooth and much better electronics," says Newmark.
As for the rumor that Craig sold a portion of the list to online auction giant eBay, it wasn't Craig who sold out. It was another original investor who sold his 25% stake. But Craig says so far eBay has proven to be beneficial as a partner and has shown no interest in buying the list outright.
