When it comes to looking for a job, an apartment, or even a good garage sale, more than 26 million unique visitors each month turn to a Craigslist.com site in one of 450 cities in 50 countries. No one can dispute the cult-like reputation Craigslist, founded by Craig Newmark, has earned. As a company, Craigslist runs frugal with 25 employees working out of an old Victorian building in San Francisco. However, Craigslist has proven that even a well meaning, grassroots bunch of nerds can put a big dent in the advertising profits earmarked for 1,000 of newspapers. Let's not forget how Craigslist, which is 25 percent owned by eBay, has changed the way many of us live and work.
So how did Craigslist, which started as Newsmark's idea for a San Francisco events list 12 years, come this far? Why would a company that could be making hundreds of millions of dollars each year continue to offer a primarily free service? What drives Craigslist's quirky form of innovation and culture? These are some of the things enterpriseleadership.org asked Jim Buckmaster, craigslist CEO. Since 2000, Buckmaster has led craigslist to be the most used classifieds in any medium, and one of the world's most popular Web site.
Bio
Since 2000, Jim Buckmaster has been CEO of craigslist.com, which is 25 percent owned by eBay. Before craigslist, Buckmaster directed Web development for Creditland and Quantum, a major disk drive company. He built the terabyte-scale, database-driven Web interface at ICPSR through which researchers worldwide access the primary data archive for the social sciences. After graduating summa cum laude with a degree in biochemistry, Buckmaster attended medical school at the University of Michigan. Business publications, such as The Wall Street Journal and Fortune, frequently write about him. He also has made dozens of television appearances.
Resources
Business Week -- A Talk With Craigslist Keeper
USA Today -- Jim Buckmaster's Best Business Book Picks
Fast Company - Is It Still Craig's List
New York Times -- What eBay Could Learn from Craigslist
Production Credits
Elizabeth Ferrarini, Executive Producer
Tom Parish Host and Audio Producer
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