There’s a really good interview on Spiegel Online with Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist. You can read the whole thing there, but one of the things that impressed me most is how this guy has stuck to his guns and not sold out for billions, which I’m sure he could very easily do. When asked what makes Craigslist so successful. He had a very straightforward and easy to appreciate answer… “It is a community service, a simple platform to meet everyday needs -- like finding a job or a place to live. We're a very simple classifieds operation with a culture of trust that works well in terms of connecting people. That's why I'm a customer service representative -- not a manager. I answer a lot of e-mails.” The interviewer points out that the Internet is developing into a gigantic data-collection operation -- like Myspace for example. The information Craigslist generates would be a marketer's dream. Newmark’s answer is beautiful… “We deliberately don't collect data -- because it doesn't feel right. We often operate by what feels right or not. No business plans. We're engineers." My, if only there were a few more like that!
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Craigslist... It's everywhere!
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