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The Craigslist Secret

June 6th, 2007 Posted in Advertising/Marketing

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.

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31 Responses to “The Craigslist Secret”

  1. Michael Krotchie Says:

    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..


  2. Harry Says:

    I guess it’s all about the corporate culture.


  3. Sam Says:

    no meetings would be enough for me to work there


  4. Trey Copeland Says:

    interesting….


  5. tndal Says:

    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.


  6. dahveed Says:

    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.


  7. bill Says:

    How old is Craigslist?


  8. gene Says:

    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.


  9. The Craigslist Secret - Adam Howell dot org Says:

    […] 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”. […]


  10. WillyPete Says:

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


  11. Son Nguyen Says:

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


  12. rabble Says:

    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.


  13. Deaf Musician Says:

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


  14. links for 2007-06-09 « Romulo Lopez Cordero Says:

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


  15. L’ingrediente segreto di Craigslist.org » TecnoDuo Says:

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


  16. gadfrey Says:

    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


  17. The Craigslist Secret - why no tech has ever quit Craigslist in 12 years « Veronica’s Lore Says:

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


  18. Dirk Says:

    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!


  19. Craiglist facts. » EdwardJames.org Says:

    […] —Mark Evans - The Craigslist Secret […]


  20. Mark Evans Says:

    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.


  21. mmb » Blog Archive » links for 2007-06-10 Says:

    […] 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) […]


  22. warpedvisions.org » Blog Archive » Craig'sList on not sucking Says:

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


  23. Sean Tierney Says:

    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


  24. award tour » craigslist info Says:

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


  25. the new shelton wet/dry Says:

    […] 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] […]


  26. Patrick Kallie Says:

    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!


  27. TikiRobot!, Mai Tais and Blinky Lights, Ahoy! » Interview With Craig Newmark Says:

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


  28. Craigslist Doesn't Meet | The Substantially Similar Weblog Says:

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


  29. Patrick Kallie Says:

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


  30. BNET Intercom mobile edition Says:

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


  31. Make Money Online Expert Says:

    Yeah I bet they work really hard too. lol


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