In 1995, Craig Newmark started an email list to publicize
events in San Francisco. As “Craig’s List” grew
in popularity, he switched from a mailing list to a
website and added categories. Without consciously
realizing it, he was about to take a big bite out of the
classified ad business.
In 1999, Newmark decided it was time to morph
craigslist.org from a hobby into a real business. Jim
Buckmaster joined on as lead programmer and CTO in
early 2000, and was promoted to CEO later that year.
Dedicated to his...

That’s a microcosm of our whole history: people would suggest things to me,
and then I would figure out what seemed to make sense—what a lot of people
were asking for—and then I’d do it. Even now, with a whole company behind it,
we listen. We do stuff, we follow through, and then we listen more. What we do
is almost 100 percent based on what people ask us to do.
The biggest entrepreneurial lesson I’ve learned has been that you really do
need to follow your instincts. I trusted some people who my...

Linux servers—small, cheap machines. We’re primarily Linux on the desktop,
with some Mac and some Windows.
We do worry about liability issues relating to the use of Windows, since it’s
pretty insecure. We don’t have much sensitive data, but we have to regard
Windows as a source of compromise.
Livingston: When you put craigslist on a website, did you get a positive
response pretty quickly?
Newmark: Our traffic has always been slow but sure. We’re the tortoise, not
the hare. Now and then we’ll get a surge of growth, but it’s been...

or apartment brokers.” Beyond that, there was some mix of opinion, but
we stuck with that.
Craig Newmark 249
Livingston: Did you come up with the policy on your own?
Newmark: Primarily the community dictated the policy. And they weren’t shy
about sending the feedback in. I’m mixing together a couple years worth of
feedback—’98/’99 and beyond, but primarily those years.
In the end of ’97, I was approached by some volunteers, and they said,
“Hey, let’s run craigslist and see if we can run a nonprofit.” To make a long,
...

Newmark: No, Jim helped lead us out of the difficulties. I’m being vague, but
I have to.
Livingston: Going back to the time when you were still in your apartment, was
there anything that worried you?
Newmark: I can’t think of anything. I may be forgetting a lot, but I think the
only worry I can recall was that, when you run your server on someone else’s
machine, if there’s a problem in the middle of the night, you have an issue. Or,
if you are running it at a service, and they...