Craig Newmark

And in my case, I just stuck with my moral compass. That worked. We did at one point way back then, maybe in 99 or 2000, we took a couple ads out in HR magazines for job ads that felt wrong and didn't work. And so we just didn't do that. And I've never done it since.

And in my case, I just stuck with my moral compass. That worked. We did at one point way back then, maybe in 99 or 2000, we took a couple ads out in HR magazines for job ads that felt wrong and didn't work. And so we just didn't do that. And I've never done it since.

I need to rewind. In the middle of 95, that's when the address list problem occurred. I had to start using a listserv. And there was a guy, Eric Theissa, who offered to let me use his server with a major domo on it. Now, I'm a nerd, very literal, so I wanted to call it San Francisco Events, because it was still pretty much events then.

I need to rewind. In the middle of 95, that's when the address list problem occurred. I had to start using a listserv. And there was a guy, Eric Theissa, who offered to let me use his server with a major domo on it. Now, I'm a nerd, very literal, so I wanted to call it San Francisco Events, because it was still pretty much events then.

And people around me told me they already called the thing Craigslist. They told me I had inadvertently created a brand. They explained to me what a brand is. I realized pretty quickly they were right. So we adopted that name. The only tricky part of it is that I insisted it be spelled as one word, all lowercase, to de-emphasize the Craig in Craigslist.

And people around me told me they already called the thing Craigslist. They told me I had inadvertently created a brand. They explained to me what a brand is. I realized pretty quickly they were right. So we adopted that name. The only tricky part of it is that I insisted it be spelled as one word, all lowercase, to de-emphasize the Craig in Craigslist.

That's correct. Surreal and a little horrifying.

That's correct. Surreal and a little horrifying.

Mostly no big moments. Mostly the site was about slow, steady growth, listening to customers, doing what felt right. Again, sometimes we are our customer's keeper in the sense of brother's keeper, just kept plugging away. And in a way, that's the whole history of things. slow, steady efforts, I guess, in the race between a hare and tortoise.

Mostly no big moments. Mostly the site was about slow, steady growth, listening to customers, doing what felt right. Again, sometimes we are our customer's keeper in the sense of brother's keeper, just kept plugging away. And in a way, that's the whole history of things. slow, steady efforts, I guess, in the race between a hare and tortoise.

We're the tortoise, and I'm the tortoise, and that's what works for me.

We're the tortoise, and I'm the tortoise, and that's what works for me.

The whole thing feels, again, very surreal, in some respects, fascinating, and in some respects, horrifying. But the commitment was in place. And even though I've retired, the commitment remains in place.

The whole thing feels, again, very surreal, in some respects, fascinating, and in some respects, horrifying. But the commitment was in place. And even though I've retired, the commitment remains in place.

Well, first, context. There have been problems along those lines. We found that they were artificially exaggerated by bad actors. We've tracked down some cases of people who were paid to greatly amplify the perception of a crime. However, it really was an actual thing. So we started working with the cops like 20 years ago, maybe 25 years ago.

Well, first, context. There have been problems along those lines. We found that they were artificially exaggerated by bad actors. We've tracked down some cases of people who were paid to greatly amplify the perception of a crime. However, it really was an actual thing. So we started working with the cops like 20 years ago, maybe 25 years ago.

They brought me to the Secret Service-based Electronic Crimes Task Force meeting when I talked to a lot of cops, and they were unhappy that dot-coms would not treat their subpoenas or search warrants seriously. I've remembered what I learned in U.S. history and civics. You know, you got to fight crime, but you also have to respect due process and the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

They brought me to the Secret Service-based Electronic Crimes Task Force meeting when I talked to a lot of cops, and they were unhappy that dot-coms would not treat their subpoenas or search warrants seriously. I've remembered what I learned in U.S. history and civics. You know, you got to fight crime, but you also have to respect due process and the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

And at that point, I said to the company, hey, we got to do the right thing here. And we proceeded to do that, sometimes running pretty comprehensive meetings. operations with law enforcement, which was pretty expensive, but that was the right thing. What we didn't anticipate was one other related effect of scaling, that people would attempt dirty tricks operations.

And at that point, I said to the company, hey, we got to do the right thing here. And we proceeded to do that, sometimes running pretty comprehensive meetings. operations with law enforcement, which was pretty expensive, but that was the right thing. What we didn't anticipate was one other related effect of scaling, that people would attempt dirty tricks operations.