The Craigslist Secret

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The Craigslist Secret

By Mark Evans | June 6, 2007

Curious about Craigslist’s success? Then check out this podcast that founder Craig Newmark did with David Weinberger. Quote of the podcast from Newmark: “Everything on the site is based on user feedback. Frankly, I have no vision whatsoever.” At the mesh conference last week, Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster dropped a few mind-blowing facts:

1. The site is serving up seven billion pageviews a month from 200 servers
2. All 24 employees work at a Victorian house in San Francisco
3. The company has never had a tech quit in 12 years
4. Craigslist never holds meetings.

Technorati Tags: Craigslist

Topics: Advertising/Marketing |

Comments to “The Craigslist Secret”

Michael Krotchie Says:
June 7th, 2007 at 11:44 am

Pretty wild stuff, with such a simple concept I suppose you wouldn’t neat to adhere to a traditional corporate structure! Seven billion pageviews is just ridiculous.. think of how much money they could be making..

Harry Says:
June 8th, 2007 at 12:57 pm

I guess it’s all about the corporate culture.

Sam Says:
June 8th, 2007 at 3:43 pm

no meetings would be enough for me to work there

Trey Copeland Says:
June 8th, 2007 at 3:46 pm

interesting….

tndal Says:
June 8th, 2007 at 3:57 pm

would _you_ want to be the tech known to have quit (and therefore lost millions) before craigslist went public?

No wonder that they won’t quit.

dahveed Says:
June 8th, 2007 at 4:19 pm

I would have never found or used craigslist if it wasn’t for listpic.com I have sold and bought things because of them. If everything WAS based on userfeedback then they would have never banned listpic.com. I CANNOT believe that taking away a website that lets you browse thru a hundred pics of ads at once is progress or in their best intrest. I have NO desire to READ each ad when I can SEE them all. After all this IS 2007 not 1987. Until they unblock listpic.com I have NO time or use for craiglist.

bill Says:
June 8th, 2007 at 5:25 pm

How old is Craigslist?

gene Says:
June 8th, 2007 at 6:19 pm

It’s refreshing to see that there is still someone who hasn’t sold out and
let greed dictate every decision they make. Life is not about trying to
accumulate as much money as possible despite what capitalist society
want you to believe.

The Craigslist Secret - Adam Howell dot org Says:
June 8th, 2007 at 8:25 pm

[...] The Craigslist Secret. “3. The company has never had a tech quit in 12 years. 4. Craigslist never holds meetings.” I believe that’s what those in the business call a “causal relationship”. [...]

WillyPete Says:
June 8th, 2007 at 9:57 pm

Does E-Bay still have a 25% stake in CL?

Son Nguyen Says:
June 8th, 2007 at 10:32 pm

Very cool, it’s quite an aspiration and actually very hard to keep the same community focus

rabble Says:
June 8th, 2007 at 11:41 pm

That’s not quite true. One of my friends works there, J. He quit his job as one of the programmers then came back about 6 months or a year later.

Deaf Musician Says:
June 9th, 2007 at 1:29 am

He never answers this question… how does CL make money?

links for 2007-06-09 « Romulo Lopez Cordero Says:
June 9th, 2007 at 2:23 am

[...] Mark Evans - The Craigslist Secret No meetings? I need to move to that office. (tags: craigslist management entrepreneurship success secrets) [...]

L’ingrediente segreto di Craigslist.org » TecnoDuo Says:
June 9th, 2007 at 2:42 am

[...] Un mix notevole di elementi a cui se ne aggiungono altri altrettanto interessanti dal blog di Mark Evans: [...]

gadfrey Says:
June 9th, 2007 at 3:42 am

how in the hell do they make any money? I have never seen an ad or a request for donation on craigslist.com ever. stange

The Craigslist Secret - why no tech has ever quit Craigslist in 12 years « Veronica’s Lore Says:
June 9th, 2007 at 3:42 am

[...] June 9th, 2007 [link][more] [...]

Dirk Says:
June 9th, 2007 at 8:31 am

I first heard of craigslist in 1996. Even met Craig when he worked at Charles Schwab in San Francisco. Quiet guy. I believe he started it in late 1995, shortly after Netscape went public and Windows 95 came out in August 1995. At the time, it was how high-tech employees got work in the Bay area. My, how it has changed!

Craiglist facts. » EdwardJames.org Says:
June 9th, 2007 at 12:34 pm

[...] â€”Mark Evans - The Craigslist Secret [...]

Mark Evans Says:
June 9th, 2007 at 7:15 pm

Gadrey: Craigslist charges to list job postings in San Francisco, Los Angeles and NYC. It also charges brokers a fee for apartment listings in NYC.

WillyPete: Yes, eBay owns 25% of Craigslist. eBay purchased the stake from one of Craiglist’s early employees, who was given the shares.

mmb » Blog Archive » links for 2007-06-10 Says:
June 10th, 2007 at 6:19 pm

[...] Everything on the site is based on user feedback. Frankly, I have no vision whatsoever. (via http://del.icio.us/popular) (tags: craigslist web design) [...]

warpedvisions.org » Blog Archive » Craig'sList on not sucking Says:
June 10th, 2007 at 6:55 pm

[...] 10th, 2007 in Links The Craig’sList secret sauce (which is mostly, don’t [...]

Sean Tierney Says:
June 12th, 2007 at 7:33 pm

CL makes $$ off of charging landlords and employers for listing properties in 3 major metro areas and, yes, eBay still has a quarter of the company. The book “Founders at Work” has a great summary of their story. I wrote up a digest of it here->
http://www.grid7.com/archives/126_faw-18-craig-newmark-of-craigslist.html

sean

award tour » craigslist info Says:
June 15th, 2007 at 3:44 pm

[...] across this post about craigslist which points out some interesting facts. Craig Newark: “Everything on the [...]

the new shelton wet/dry Says:
June 18th, 2007 at 6:08 am

[...] Craigslist never holds meetings. All 24 employees work at a Victorian house in San Francisco. The company has never had a tech quit in 12 years. [podcast] [...]

Patrick Kallie Says:
June 22nd, 2007 at 4:45 pm

Starting this website was one of the best things to happen on the net. If you have a product to sell it will sell on Craigslist!

TikiRobot!, Mai Tais and Blinky Lights, Ahoy! » Interview With Craig Newmark Says:
June 23rd, 2007 at 1:13 pm

[...] an interview with Craig Newmark earlier this month. Some interesting things about craigslist (according to their CEO Jim [...]

Craigslist Doesn't Meet | The Substantially Similar Weblog Says:
June 23rd, 2007 at 3:38 pm

[...] tikirobot, an interesting interview with Craig Newmark. My favorite newly-learned fact: Craigslist never holds [...]

Patrick Kallie Says:
July 21st, 2007 at 4:20 pm

I know that one day Craigslist may go public, and when that happens they will probably cash out!

BNET Intercom mobile edition Says:
October 3rd, 2007 at 2:32 pm

[...] their laid-back approach to revenue growth and competition, as CNET wrote about last year?Â Is it a complete lack of vision and a pliability that puts users in control?Â Or perhaps it has something to do with Buckmaster’s “no-meetings” management [...]

Make Money Online Expert Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 4:56 pm

Yeah I bet they work really hard too. lol

Tutortrac Review « THE TECHNICAL LEARNING CENTER Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 4:17 pm

[...] This interview with Craigslist founder Craig Newmark describes the relationship between the Craigslist site and its users. I’ll leave you to determine its relevance to this post. Via Mark Evans Blog. [...]

Tutortrac Review | techcenterblog Says:
September 29th, 2008 at 9:56 pm

[...] Craigslist site and its users. I’ll leave you to determine its relevance to this post. Via Mark Evans Blog. Categories : Tutortrac, legacy Tags [...]

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The Craigslist Secret