Why Craigslist Is Such a Mess →
By eliminating marketing, sales, and business development, craigslist’s programmers have cut out all the cushioning layers that separate them from the users they serve, and any right they have to teach lessons in public service comes from the odd situation of running a company that is directly subservient only to the public. Here’s the lesson: The public is a motherfucker.
I loved this. The headline is misleading: it’s favorable to Craigslist and their style of management.
It looks like a “mess” by modern web-trend standards, but it works. It’s run by a very small staff of just 30 people, serving 47 million unique visitors and making an estimated $100 million per year.
The web-business world has a lot to learn from Craig Newmark and Jim Buckmaster.