Customer-Centered Leader: Craig Newmark
Armed only with a Treo, Craigslist founder, Craig Newmark, wages battle against the hordes that would defile his website.
Are You on Craig's List?
Craig Newmark has organized an influential web community. Here is his manual for (virtual) community organizers.
FC: Would that mean giving outsiders access to edit the site themselves?
Newmark: There are people who really like us and who are outraged by people who abuse the site. These folks wouldn't be able to remove stuff on their own, but we could more easily notify us to get things done. It would be much less work for us.
FC: How about removing categories or features -- how is that done?
Newmark: I don't think we've removed things. We've modified them -- for example, we've added TV to Media, particularly for folks in LA. We observe behavior and we listen to feedback. Sometimes we'll solicit feedback, depending on the situation.
FC: How did Jim become the CEO? What was that like to pass the helm?
Newmark: I realized that sometimes the guy who's good for starting things is not a good guy to lead things beyond startup. So I've surrounded myself with people who are smarter than I am -- in a savage corporate takeover, I got rid of myself -- and I'm in fact no longer in management. My primary duties timewise are customer service. Instead of just talking about customer service, we obsess about that.
Buckmaster: I originally came in as a lead programmer type, and that's how I spent the first eight months or so. Then I started getting involved in some other aspects. I think it was becoming clear to Craig that he wasn't interested in doing a lot of the management-oriented things that were becoming more necessary. So it was an organic process, as many of ours are.
FC: And Craig, has Jim taken the company in the same directions you would have?
Newmark: Identical, but smarter. Jim has helped us get a lot of stuff under our control. We're a leaner, more effective organization. We were wasting a lot of time and money before -- and now things are much tighter.
FC: There was a http://blog.fastcompany.com/archives/2004/01/12/craigslist_goes_to_holly... ">Craig's List movie made -- and Amy Blair has "The Week in Craig." Has Craig's List popped up anywhere else that I'm not aware of?
Newmark: (Laughter) The movie is done. The guy is shopping it to distributors, there've been a number of screenings, and it looks real good. But it's not really about us. It's about the people who use the site. The director pursued a whole lot of people -- took something like 120 hours of footage -- and distilled it down to about an hour and a half. He arranged it with us ahead of time; we worked with him to do it right, to respect everyone's privacy.
FC: And how about "The Week in Craig"?
Newmark: Amy does that independently, and I really like it even though it can be kind of cruel. She's asked me for a little help doing a less-cruel version.
FC: Any other media crossovers come to mind?
Newmark: Not necessarily media crossovers. We get picked up by a lot of blogs. For example, Wonkette likes to read us. I'm terribly fond of Wonkette. I use Topix, I use Bloglines, I use Technorati. We're out there.
FC: Craig, you've denied your own existence. How exactly does one go about doing that?
Newmark: Mostly with a sense of humor. (Laughter) Several years ago on April 1, we put out a press release denying my existence, which some people took very seriously. We said we were discontinuing the popular Craig's List icon as a cost-saving measure. Recently though, even when I'm talking to people, I may deny my own existence. Implicit in the joke is the notion that the site is not about me.
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Recent Comments | 47 Total
July 16, 2009 at 3:13am by Smith William
We do a lot with a little. And remember, it's a relatively small investment from their standpoint. It's not as though they're counting on us for their future financial performance.
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July 16, 2009 at 3:14am by Smith William
They have expanded into many countries; they're operating successfully in a number of different international regulatory environments, in a number of different languages.
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July 25, 2009 at 1:25am by jjuki kjkldfjslk
ya this is going to be a big use to me as it is informative and also good to let others know about this. Essay Writing.
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July 25, 2009 at 1:30am by jjuki kjkldfjslk
Its true that this enabled me to come out of my dark side of thinking and start in a new way of Nutrisystem.
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July 29, 2009 at 5:13pm by Lexus Lambert
Craigslist is one of the most powerful website these days. It grows from nothing, but now there are millions of people use it every single day. Wow! By the way, a social bookmark site like Digg or a social networking site like Twitter are so popular as well.
August 8, 2009 at 6:42am by kerma verma
craiglist is one of the best websites in the world. it is used by a number of people all over the world. thanks for sharing
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August 15, 2009 at 4:24pm by Lily Bra
This site develop very fast now, and become a greatest site for marketing.
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August 26, 2009 at 10:35am by andrei mihnea
craigslist works because it gives people a voice, a sense of community trust and even intimacy
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August 27, 2009 at 1:32am by cashforcars cashforcars
Eventhe Craiglist has been popular since months ago in my area, I just checked the site yesterday. Looks great and really cool. cash for cars |junk car removal
August 28, 2009 at 12:10am by UKtraffic UKtraffic
And now Craiglist isn't that small anymore, not at all. It is a phenomena in the world of Internet. UK Website Traffic
August 31, 2009 at 2:44am by ConcreteSealer ConcreteSealer
Now the list come from many people's from all around the world. It makes the page richer and thus there is no problem with that. Concrete Sealer
September 1, 2009 at 4:34am by UKproperty UKproperty
Craig's list. The list has grown rapidly to millions. I wonder how the site can make such great promotion. Proviser UK Property
September 1, 2009 at 4:36am by UKproperty UKproperty
Craig's list. The list has grown rapidly to millions. I wonder how the site can make such great promotion. Proviser UK Property
September 4, 2009 at 5:05am by CarInsurance CarInsurance
They get the popularity in such short a time. Feels like just fewmonths ago I heard about Craiglist for the first time. cheap car insurance
September 8, 2009 at 12:28am by WillisDanielle WillisDanielle
It's bad to hear about the sold gift. You get gift from someone else, and then you sell it to other parties. I hope none of my frinds do this to what I give. I won't ever do too. Thank you. Los Angeles Cosmetic Dentist
September 8, 2009 at 10:20pm by SyntheticGrass SyntheticGrass
Wow, 5 million unique visitors? That's a big record! Craigslist gets the popularity in relatively short time. eBay should change their mind soon. Artificial Turf Synthetic Grass San Diego
September 16, 2009 at 11:39pm by doctor review doctor review
It was other big names in the past. Now it slowly turns to Craiglist. Let's see if the list can keep growing over time. I just listed my doctor reviews website there.
September 20, 2009 at 11:22pm by apotik obat
Actually first time heard about craigslist, haven't heard it before.
new things for me. apotik
September 22, 2009 at 3:20am by Krishna Pandey
Yes its still as it was. Although the research done by fastcompany is awesome.
Thanks for the information.
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September 24, 2009 at 1:14am by John Ting
Yea. CL has been a very great way to promote or to find a suitable person or business. It is both suggested and used by millions of people world wide!
Thanks for the article.
Regards,
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September 25, 2009 at 6:06am by fahedjam fahedjam
Craiglist is a great website but and new websites like Craig's list and other online classified advertising websites have made it much easier to sell and buy articles from exercise equipment, jewelry, to automobiles and even houses. But sometimes the seller has nothing to sell (except a fraud) or the buyer is more interested in passing a bad check than buying your articles!
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September 25, 2009 at 7:32am by fahedjam fahedjam
My only advice is - With Craiglis pay attention -
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September 25, 2009 at 10:26pm by lillie ann
WOW,just got too used to having it there, 1 billion page views per month is a really big number! There are lot of junk in it now,but a very ulility site with good value for money,
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September 26, 2009 at 1:42am by lillie ann
i think craiglist is becoming the number one portal,and it can only expand as there are other places where it has not got great presence, way to go, thanks for the good post,
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September 27, 2009 at 1:34am by lillie ann
one could always argue about the platform,but it is doing fine for a lot of people and so with some focussed placement,it is a great investment,better then adwords imo.
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September 27, 2009 at 6:15am by Anil kumar
Now the list come from many people's from all around the world. It makes the page richer and thus there is no problem with that.
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September 29, 2009 at 7:12am by Krishna Pandey
Yes its still same in my opinion. Ebay may not be sincere.
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October 1, 2009 at 12:42am by Mike Oswell
Craiglist is a great website but and new websites like Craig's list and other online classified advertising websites have made it much easier to sell and buy articles from exercise equipment, jewelry, to automobiles and even houses.
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October 1, 2009 at 7:38am by yani yani
I love craiglist. this site is great and informative.
cheers,
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October 1, 2009 at 1:29pm by marcus sloth
wow, never know this story, craiglist and ebay are going to have a rough ride ,wonder who will stay up,
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October 4, 2009 at 12:53am by benjamin lathe
there seems to be a bit of debate that with this happening there will be some conflict,however there is great potential for growth as well,
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October 8, 2009 at 1:37pm by Lee Weber
This guy is insane. I would have sold out a long time ago and bought my own tropical island.
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October 8, 2009 at 1:39pm by Lee Weber
This guy is insane. I would have sold out a long time ago and bought my own tropical island.
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October 13, 2009 at 1:04pm by tintin man
craiglist is one of those sites with lot of scope for growth! it can go to other countries as till now it covers mostly us cities, its almost has unlimited potential.
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October 18, 2009 at 1:06pm by Bogdan Martinescu
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October 19, 2009 at 12:21pm by lim lao
Craiglist is an amazing success story where you see when they start and where they are now.
October 20, 2009 at 2:11am by Abby Thompson
Craig seems to have ideas above his station, for above, read, STELLAR!!!!!
October 21, 2009 at 11:25pm by renwen yan
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October 30, 2009 at 9:10am by elly hutt
Good article, I think the time for craigslist however has come and passed everybody seems to be turning towards angie’s list its just as good and easy to use so you may as well give it a try.
October 30, 2009 at 12:36pm by Rose Manandhar
Craigs list is now a place for blackhatters tricking people to signup and get profits which is regretfull and bad for people who fall into it. if you want to know how not to be scammed you can check out forums.jucktion.com and be safe.