Charlie Rose Science Series
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07/19/2007
Craig Newmark
A conversation with craigslist.com founder, Craig Newmark
Keywords:
A conversation with craigslist.com founder, Craig Newmark.
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Transcripts available through Voxant.
I have been trying to purchase items in your list the items are wheelchair lifts, and items for handicap people but every time I try it says error could you please help me? item#674078768
DEAR MR.CRAIG, I AM TRYING TO GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU BECAUSE I AM DEALING WITH THIS ILLNESS MS (THE SAME ILLNESS M0NTEL WILLIAMS HAS) I THOUGHT IF I COULD GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU BECAUSE YOU KNOW A LOT PEOPLE IHAVEN'T SINCE JUNE 06 AND I AM STILL TRYING TO GET SSI THAT IS DO TO ME. I AM 33 YEARS OLD AND I HAVE TWO REALLY SMART GIRLS. SO I JUST TRYING TO GET LIVING ROOM FURNITURE SO CAN YOU PLEEEEEEEEEASE HELP ME.
Craigslist does better for both itself and the world if it maximizes its own profits. (Of course, appearing to be unconcerned with profit might maximize profit, due to unhealthy philosophies amongst its users.) Optimization of outcomes towards peace and prosperity all require individual freedom. To that end, I can think of some places to donate money. Of course, I want individual freedom, here in the USA. That would involve directly opposing the US federal government, because they have become unconstitutional, prosecutorial, and tyrannical. http://www.fija.org -a group fighting to return jury trial to its pre-1895 state (the state that puts the individual ahead of the other 3 branches of government in power), using informational tactics and attempting to pass a law that requires judges to inform jurors of their right to acquit (which they still possess, but are misdirected by the judge and prosecution to not understand properly). Consider this: the fugitive slave act was made impossible to enforce because of juries. Such a power is not possible with the fraudulent jury instruction of today. Just look at the site. http://www.ij.org -the institute for justice. A group of lawyers who take on the cases of the poor and oppressed. A great group that is always struggling for money (legal help is expensive, and it's hard to retain good lawyers, especially in hard-to-win cases where an individual is fighting the full weight of the US government). http://www.eff.org -the Electronic Frontier Foundation - seeks technological privacy and freedom of speech. http://www.flexyourrights.org -a group of people who inform motorists and civilians what their rights are, so they are not made victims of tyranny http://www.jpfo.org -Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership: a group of jews who educate people about kristallnacht, as well as educating people in the US, so that they will not give up their guns to the American version of the shutzstaffel (the ATF). An important history lesson. http://www.innocentsbetrayed.com -educational DVDs about genocide and mass murder by government, into highschool classrooms. http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills -the educational site of RJ Rummel that contains the research that helped create the DVD in the first site http://www.rootforamerica.com -the frontrunner for the Libertarian Party's 2008 presidential nomination (a candidate for freedom) http://www.lp.org -The Libertarian Party - the only choice in politics that does not lead to a loss of open elections and personal freedom. http://www.isil.org -The International Society for Individual Freedom -the international version of the Libertarian Party http://www.optimal.org - Adaptive AI, the push towards greater intelligence in the world (and the creation of a synthetic "general" intelligence, or SGI , also known as an "AGI" or artificial general intelligence). http://www.secondamendmentdocumentary.com -A DVD which reveals the historical meaning and significance of the 2nd amendment, so that there can never be a holocaust in the USA. Paying to put a copy of this in every high school history class in the USA would do a world of good. http://www.gunowners.org - Gun Owners of America a civil rights group that prevents anti-gun legislation, again, so that America does not experience its own kristallnacht http://www.blackmanwithagun -A website that reveals the long history of racist enforcement of the USA's many gun laws. (In fact, the first and most enduring "gun control" laws in the nation were originally "Jim Crow" laws that prevented blacks from defending themselves from white southern klansmen. Those same laws now allow cities like Chicago to put poor minorities in jail on s selective basis for the same reason: noone likes 2nd class status under the law, and a lot of blacks have armed themselves to become equal under the law in effect. Daley's answer? Make them into literal slaves of the state! The same as the "Dixiecrats" of the south once did!) Now then, I don't know if Craig is a libertarian or not, or if he has a deep understanding and support for "decentralization of power". I don't know if he has a deep understanding of individual freedom or not (I know my own path to this level of understanding was slow enough). But he seems like he has a good spirit, and is compassionate (without being stupid). We'll see what happens. :) I'm joining the sunlight foundation now, becuase their goals appear to be similar to the goals of the above organizations. Thanks Craig! Love your website! -Jake http://jcwitmer.blogspot.com
We started a classic rock band this year called Craigs Band. All the members were found on Craigslist. We play the first Friday of every month at the Boll Weevil in San Marcos Ca.We're in our late forties to fiftyish. The funny thing is, we pack the house every month.Capacity is around 200.We are grateful to Craig and his list, but I think his name is why we pack the house. Thankyou Craig
I just listened to the archive and read the comments. Can anyone tell me how Craigslist makes the reported $150 million revenues if it doesn't take adverts and charges low fees for only some services?
He is such a geek and that's why I love him. Truly making this world a better place and not in an arrogant way but in a way that encourages others, even lazy geek boys like me.
Everything you know about Craig Newmark is wrong. The tale that Craigslist's founder and CEO Jim Buckmaster like to tell about how eBay got a stake in their company goes like this: Newmark, the clueless business naif, issued shares to an employee, never thinking they'd be cashed in. That employee turned around and sold the shares right under Newmark's nose to rapacious auctions giant eBay back in 2004. It's a good story. But it's nothing like the truth, according to sources close to the transaction. And the truth? That Newmark and Buckmaster, who love to portray themselves as unpretentious types who care nothing for money, can be bought. For a mere $16 million. Phillip Knowlton, the employee in question, is believed by friends to be a cofounder of Craigslist, although the company does not recognize that status. He had earned a 25 percent stake in the company. But he held common shares, while Newmark and Buckmaster held preferred stock. That allowed Newmark and Buckmaster to try to squeeze Knowlton out of the company by issuing new shares to dilute his ownership stake. Desperate to protect his ownership in Craigslist, Knowlton got in touch with people at eBay, who struck a deal for their employer to acquire his stake. Publications as august as Fortune have reported this as a straightforward sale, without Craigslist's consent. Here's what Adam Lashinsky wrote in 2005: The transaction only occurred because Newmark had given a quarter-share to an employee, Phillip Knowlton.... As for the money eBay shelled out, that went to Knowlton, not Craigslist. I know Lashinsky, who's a good reporter, and can only conclude that a source -- likely one close to Craigslist -- led him astray. Because both of those statements are false, according to my sources. (Thanks to valleygurl for the tip left in the comments.) So what actually happened? eBay, my sources tell me, agreed to pay an amount around $16 million to Knowlton, and an equal amount to Craigslist, bringing the total paid by eBay to more than $30 million. The company, in turn, immediately paid out that $16 million sum as a dividend to Newmark and Buckmaster, according to their stakes in the company. Buckmaster reportedly holds 40 percent, with Newmark owning the rest, which would suggest Buckmaster got about $6 million and Newmark $10 million. And those amounts, in turn, are dwarfed, insiders believe, by the amounts Newmark and Buckmaster take out of the company in salaries and other forms of pay. With only around 20 employees and an estimated $150 million in revenues, Craigslist is widely thought to be staggeringly profitable. Remember this whenever you see Craig Newmark pull his "I'm-just-a-customer-service-rep" act. Remember this when Buckmaster says Craigslist only cares about its customers. Because, like the rest of Silicon Valley, they're all about the money. Unlike the rest of you, they're just better at hiding it.
How Are We Going to Change if We Donâ??t Change? July 22, 2007 Dear Charlie Rose, I love your show and I think you do a fine job interviewing the great guests you have on your show. However, I was taken back when I saw your recent interview with Craig Newmark. I guess what really bothered me was when you continued to ask him the questions that he did not want to respond to. I felt like your reaction was one of disapproval or annoyance due to his reluctance to answer the questions in a forthright manner about what he does with his money. Obviously, Craig did not want to be in that conversation with you; I also got the feeling that this was not OK with you â?? your interpretation was that somehow, he (Craig) was not cooperating in a way that is expected when someone comes on your show. I saw you as a bit annoyed at him because he did not want to reveal certain things to the large TV audience by which he was certainly aware of. It was obvious from the get-go that Craig did not want to discuss certain issues about his life with you. I was sitting there, watching, and wanting to tell you to â??get off itâ??. This is not your place to inquire about. In an interview I want to see respect on both sides, the respect that each person in the interaction trusts the other, such that their rights of privacy will not be intruded upon. I found that Craig wanted to keep his financial life more private for reasons that are personally his own. I then saw you as an interviewer become the â??establishment with a set of pre-formed ideas that needed to be addressed and discussedâ??. I realized that you do not know how to â??let it beâ?? and go on to something else. This led me to believe that you had a real agenda - your focus was to get certain answers that were not willingly available. I also realize that you know your job quite well, and are very successful at what you do, and should be, as you are very good in your conversational style on interviewing. However, my problem is that you do not have to win all of them, and, more than this, you were not able to appreciate/respect the interviewee for his reluctance to answer what you wanted or needed to know: your personal result in this interview might then be considered â??unsuccessfulâ??. It was the stretch and pull that I wanted out of you â?? I could care less what Craig does with his money. Actually, from what he said, he is doing more good than a lot of people who have large sums of money to spend. This was quite obvious in Craigâ??s response. His need for privacy is not wrong, and he has the freedom to own and express what he chooses. I hope you can learn something from Craig, with this is mind: the knowledge or wisdom to know where the road ends.
Perhaps a "selective" monetization is the right thing for Craigslist? They already charge for a few services in a few select cities! I came across NUMBR (formerly Craigsnumber) as a very useful service I'd love to see as part of Craigslist. When I am selling a car, for instance, I wouldn't mind paying a small fee to retain my privacy for all calls made to me!
i think we should clear up the 'profit' stuff that Craig was talking about. It seems that most large U.S.-based newspapers are not in trouble at all - it's just that these days they are taking in slightly less than their usually-extraordinary profits. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1425 Newspapers are making higher profit margins than oil companies. I'm not bent at the decline and eventual disappearance of large corporate newspapers - the sooner the better. That'll open-up room for smaller/better newspapers that actually represent the interests of the community.
Charlie, you missed an opportunity to snag a topic that Craig Newmark mentioned: The Golden Rule. He mentioned, (twice?) treating others as you'd like to be treated-- and how that informs his actions as well as those of the Craigslist culture/business. The most profound and basic wisdom passed down by religions and philosophers throughout the ages is the Golden Rule... and here is a man trying to live this wisdom. Charlie, instead of going into that depth, you stayed on the superficial topic of money, thereby missing an incredible opportunity. The golden rule vs. making money: how to balance the two in the zeitgeist of today...particularly in the USA... now wouldn't that be an interesting topic for our lost-our-way republic... Thanks for providing Craigslist Mr. Newmark: I appreciate you. I also appreciate you, Charlie Rose: you bring us so much. I've been a fan for years.
In an age when so much seems to depend on the almighty dollar, and yes, even PBS has succumbed to whoring itself, isn't it refreshing to see Craig Newmark standing at the gates of integrity fending off the dragon of mammon in the guise of Charlie Rose.
Mr List is obviously a dog-ooder, his unwillingness to hand checks to Ph D's notwithstanding...and Charlie Knows it. As usual, Mr Rose plays to the cheap seats effortlessly, almost invisibly; which is why we love him, his love for Coke and the nation-state, notwithstanding. To one who has spent the better part of two decades in customer service, it brings pain to see him give Mr List the opportunity, the wide open door, to share with transparency and candor, evidence of values espoused, only to see a chance squandered to serve the interest of a coy disguise; to leave unknown, in terms understandable to the audience, the extent of his power and aspirations...unless he is leading a suicide cult or a punk band. (Mr List! If the next time you are on Charlie Rose should you talk about anything but toilets, I know people who know how to start a blog to say only that you are full of poo. Why else go to Table Rose? Talk about toilets and everything will be fine. You have nothing to worry about. Everything will be OK. Only poo. Got it? Show some backbone! Don't let him digress. How many lives do you have anyway? Get on with it. Look, you are young, nearly as young as your supposed uncounted fortune. You are clearly enamored of the attention of the elite and that's OK. (if you are a punk, please disregard this message)) The typical metric best understood by PBS viewers and others in the elite is... um money. The humble millionaire don't wanna talk 'bout no money. To reject the values normally associated with those who apply this metric (how many zeros?) to make judgment, is honorable. To employ the tactics of those who abuse and kill in the name of profit serves, beyond the short term satisfaction gained by the idea of confounding them to look like one of them. Which is fine?
I was very impressed with your interview. We need so many more people like you to counteract the corporatists that want to make everything about more money for them. Thank you! I'm going to check out the onevoicemovement.org website.
I too found Rose's insistence on addressing the monetization issue rather annoying. To me, it seemed that CN's point was the monetizing craigslist to endow other philanthropic endeavors was a "robbing peter to pay paul" scenario; that the benefit from any possible monetization of craigslist would not be worth the social loss in not having the free platform to begin with. CN sort of alludes to the dangers with his reference to the effects of big media's foray into wall street; that it sold its soul for its quarterly results. An even better example might be eBay, which owns 25% of craigslist. In the past decade, it transformed from a communal marketplace for the everyday joe to a platform increasingly geared for the power sellers.
I saw craig newmark on the charlie rose show last night and I appreciate the opportunity the internet provides me to speak out even though I am not a professional journalist. I am confused why charlie rose seemed so resistant to an internet business model that did not adopt advertising like google or yahoo, because Rose's own company, PBS, has adopted that very same business model. (oops....'brought to you by pfizer'...sorry). And Rose seemed to openly ridicule the idea that Newmark may have not huge personal cash flow. Again, rose has adopted that very same life style. Tom Brokhaw, Dan Rather, Katie Curic...they are all mega millionaires. Why isn't Charlie Rose a mega millionaire???? And then the point Newmark made that craigslist is not responsible for the financial problems of newspapers seemed to leave Rose combative, yet it is obvious to most people over the age of about 15 that media has been consolidating since well before the internet. I grew up in tidewater, VA in the 1970s when there were two newspapers there, the VA Pilot and the Ledger Star. In the 70s they began to slowly merge, and their excuse was price inflation for their paper and print expenses. First they co-published the Sunday edition, then in 1995 they merged outright. This was well before the internet. This pattern repeated over and over across the country. Here in SF, it was revealed in a lawsuit the Chron and the EX had been conspiring to subvert antitrust laws since before I arrived here in the late 1980s, well before the internet. First it was paper and printing costs, then labor costs and a big strike....always something. The internet has become merely the latest excuse the newspaper industry uses to facilitate massive media consolidation that ultimately may strangle democracy itself. The internet didn't destroy conventional media. The internet is saving America FROM conventional media. I have posted several ads in craiglist and IN NO WAY would I have paid a newspaper for those classifieds.....so thanks!
Nearly forgot how annoying and flaky 1999 was and why... ...Thanks for reminding us all that dot com-ers can be more than just puffed-up marks for real- estate agents, Craig!
It was really insightful learning about Craig and his website. I always enjoy these interviews since the Internet is changing the world so rapidly and we are just in the beginning. I am not sure I understand why Craig is so reticent about how much his company is worth. It doesn't make sense to me why he is so nonchalant about it. Even if he really does have altruistic motives, at least he can use the money from his site to support his causes?
Saw Craig Newmark on Charlie Rose last night. Service to this countries values comes in many forms, and Mr. Newmark certainly seems to be more in line with it's values than most of the elected politicians that are supposed to be representing "we the people". Don't get an ego Craig!
It's OneVoice, onevoicemovement.org thanks! Craig
It's OneVoice, onevoicemovement.org thanks! Craig
What is the organization Craig Newmark talked about which is working for peace in the middle east?