Comments on: Will No One Say What Everyone Is Thinking? Craig Newmark Was Lucky As Hell. End of Story.

By: In Defense Of Craigslist: Humility, And Everyone is Lucky » Webomatica - Technology and Entertainment Digest

Sat, 22 Sep 2007 23:10:49 +0000

[...] Tony over at Deep Jive Interests voices some annoyance at Craig Newmark’s non-desire to moneti…, even calling him lazy. [...]

By: Rasmus

Rasmus — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 01:41:00 +0000

Well done to him on not taking the money and splitting!

By: Elaine Vigneault

Elaine Vigneault — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 22:38:00 +0000

Eh, I can’t fault anyone for refusing to maximize profits. Too many people sacrifice everything for profits. It’s nice to hear someone say, “I’ve got enough money. I don’t need more.”

Sure, more money could do more good. But there’s always a point where you have to decide if you’re willing to make the necessary sacrifices to make that extra buck. I can’t fault anyone for choosing to enjoy life rather than work harder than they’re comfortable working. In fact, I think that’s the major problem with our society. We value work more than life.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 21:39:35 +0000

Maybe Craig knows something you don’t know. I’m impressed that he refuses to chase quarterly earnings to pacify a bunch of short-sighted investors.He doesn’t fit the corporate mold. His simplistic approach to running a business is refreshing.Good luck to him.

By: Martin Edic

Martin Edic — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 20:09:56 +0000

I guess I’d be perfectly happy with a company that throws off $75-100 mil annually with less than 100 employees (quite a few less I understand).
Maybe he’ll do a Bill Gates and monetize it at some point to raise a huge chunk of change for charity- that would be a bold move.

And, BTW, sometimes no design can be good design. That’s why classified ads worked so well in the first place. Easy to scan, brief, to the point.

By: Mark Evans

Mark Evans — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 19:53:50 +0000

Tony,
People are fascinated with Craigslist in the same way they’re fascinated with the Caramilk Secret. Everyone wants to know the secret even if there’s no secret – it’s human nature.

By: rslux

rslux — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 19:06:29 +0000

There’s a lot of people for whom work is just a way of funding the rest of their life, and especially in San Francisco, people for whom significant business and/or financial success is looked on with a level of suspicion. The laws of chance say that sooner or later, someone like that would start a successful company. Craig is that guy.

Side Note: I can’t say I’m much of a CL fan. I’ve never found either a job or an apartment from its listings, and the one time we sold some household items on CL we had a very unpleasant experience. Obviously, though, I’m in the minority on that view.