Buckmaster Rocks the House
There were plenty of great things happen during the mesh conference but a personal highlight was getting to do a keynote with Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster. It was an interesting challenge because Craiglist is not your typical Web company, and Buckmaster is far more Zen-like as opposed to a Red Bull-charged Web 2.0 executive. It means you’re not going to get outrageous statements that will leave bloggers with no choice but to immediately post something. What you do get is an executive and company armed with a well-rooted - albeit different - philosophy about how to do business. Craiglist is not able making as much money as it can. Buckmaster suggests it’s making enough. Craigslist is not about charging more fees so it can support philanthropic efforts. Buckmaster said people can what they want with their money. Craigslist will roll out features demanded by its customers as opposed to trying to diversify into different areas. Buckmaster said the company, for example, has little interest in video. And best of all, Craiglist isn’t into meetings! Yeah!
Judging by the many questions from the audience, which left us no choice but to extend the keynote, there’s a clear fascination with how Craigslist operates. In a world full of fastballs, Craigslist is a change-up. After all, how many companies leave money on the table? If you think about it, what makes Craigslist different is what makes Craigslist so successful. There’s a sense the people running Craigslist are a lot like the people using Craigslist. Buckmaster charmed the house with a wickedly dry sense of humour, which left people wanting more.
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