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“I Lived the Dilbert Life”: The Early Years of Craigslist Founder Craig Newmark

“I didn’t have a clue, just did what felt right.”

Creating the World’s Most Popular List: Craigslist is Born

“We don’t have much in the way of a business strategy,” says Newmark. “Like no business plan. Which I say to torment all my friends who are VCs or MBAs. That’s always entertaining. The deal is, it’s a mixture of luck and persistence.”

Lesson #1: “There’s no genius behind it. It’s persistence and listening to people.”

From its onset, Craigslist was born from the ideas and suggestions of its users. When Newmark began sending out his email list in 1995 to a small group of interested subscribers, almost immediately, he began receiving emails back with suggestions for job and apartment listings they hoped Newmark would add to his list.

Lesson #2: “Getting out of the way is really important”

One of the reasons why Craigslist has become such a success story is because Newmark has understood the importance of getting out of the way where and when it mattered. From content to overall management of the site, he knew that it was not going to be him who always had the best answers. And, where it counted, he was willing to step back and hand over the reigns.

Lesson #3: When we see something that could be done better, we do it

“We’re innovative in many small ways,” says Newmark. “When we see something that could be done better, we do it. This is the notion of kaizen, the Japanese practice of continuous business process reengineering.”

Lesson #4: “Treat People Like You Want to Be Treated”

With little fanfare and almost no advertising budget to help spin and sell the service, Craigslist has become a global force online due in large part to one factor: the website actually helps people.

Lesson #5: “Get yourself a comfortable living, then do a little something to change the world”

In 1997, Microsoft approached Newmark with a proposal to start running banner ads on his site. Microsoft had recognized the growing popularity – and even greater potential – of Craigslist and wanted to get a piece of the action. But, like all of the venture capitalists that Newmark had already turned down, so too did he reject Microsoft’s offer.

De-Classifying Craigslist: How Newmark Took the Site to the Top

“I’ve never wanted to believe we’re ‘bigtime’ and don’t focus on that,” says Newmark. “At times I kinda realized something was really going on, like hitting one million page views per month, end of ’97, hitting a billion, August ’04, and recently, we were a clue on Jeopardy.”

Craig Newmark Quotes

Craig Newmark Quotes

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