More time on your hands

Interview: Craig Newmark

by Stephen Moseley (Friday, August 8, 2008)

Craigslist.org founder Craig Newmark answers some chilling questions from CoolPeopleCare.

Craig Newmark of Craigslist.org
Craigslist founder Craig Newmark
Photo by Gene X Hwang of Orange Photography
Craigslist.org founder Craig Newmark was kind enough to sit down with us for an interview for our first-ever installment of our Cool Leaders Care 5-Minute Interview.

Ok, so we're not sure if he was sitting, standing, or settled recumbent upon the couch as the interview was conducted via email. But nonetheless, he took 5 minutes to answer some of our chilling questions.

And though he's apparently modest about his work's "cool" factor, based on our definition of the adjective ("caring makes you cool") we beg to differ.

Craig cares about participatory journalism, cleaning up politics and above all, customer service. Take 2 minutes to read 10 questions with Craig Newmark...

Q. Craigslist is a dot.org.... any particular reason why?
A. The intent of the dot org thing is community service, and that's what we're about.

Q. What does leadership and innovation look like for the next generation?
A. Genuinely engaging people online to make things better for people.

My favorite examples include donorschoose.org, votolatino.org, iava.org, consumersunion.org.

Q. Matsuo Basho said "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise; seek what they sought." What were you seeking when you first started Craigslist? And what do you seek now?
A. Just wanted to give back a little, maybe connect with people better.

Seeking now, mostly a nap.

Q. When did you realize you really had something cool with the potential to go big?
A. CL is more down to earth and useful than cool.

As a middle aged nerd, I'm the opposite of cool.

Q. What does work/life balance mean to you?
A. "balance"?

Q. What does Craigslist look like in 5 years? 10 years?
A. More cities, more countries, increasingly good customer service.

Q. If you woke up tomorrow and could no longer do your current job, what then would you do?
A. Take a nap, watch more TV.

Q. What's one problem (local, global, anywhere) you'd like to solve?
A. Need to deal with corrupt influence peddlers in Washington.

As a people, we could fix a lot if those guys weren't in the way.

Q. What's one dream or passion that won't let go of you?
A. Will Dr House and Dr Wilson still be BFFs?

Q. And finally, what makes Craigslist "cool"?
A. Not sure it's cool, prob don't care, the work is the thing.

Craig is a customer service rep and founder of craigslist.

He's a senior Web-oriented software engineer, with around thirty years of experience (including 17 years at IBM), and has learned a lot about online community and customer service as "customer service rep and founder" for craigslist.org for twelve years. He's compiled extensive experience evangelizing the 'net, leading and building, including efforts at Bank of America and Charles Schwab.

He's one of those guys you hear about who grew up wearing a plastic pocket protector, thick black glasses, (taped together), and who expresses his inner nerd via obsessive commitment to customer service to the craigslist community.

In 1995, he started craigslist which serves as a non-commercial community service with classifieds and discussion forums. craigslist focuses on helping people with basic needs, starting with housing and jobs, with a pervasive culture of trust. He brings with him all the glamor of George Costanza.

Craig's also involved with a number of community efforts, particularly involving public diplomacy/mideast peace and new forms of media, involving participatory journalism.

He's on the boards of Sunlight Foundation, OneVoice, FactCheckED, Consumers Union and VotoLatino.

I Did It 7 others have done this "5 minutes of caring"
To date, you've cared for 0 minutes on CoolPeopleCare.org

Post a comment

You must be a registered user to post comments.
Log in or create an account.

Save & Share



Related Articles