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Tag: Craig Newmark

  • Founders Syndrome Is a Real Thing, Says Craigslist Founder

    Founders Syndrome Is a Real Thing, Says Craigslist Founder

    “I wasn’t temperamentally suited to be CEO or really any kind of manager,” says Craiglist founder Craig Newmark. “So I was thinking maybe it is time to step down. I had also read about something called founder syndrome where somebody who’s good at starting something is really terrible at keeping it going. The biggest lesson is that founders syndrome is a real thing. The faster you think about that and then step down the better off you are.”

    Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, discusses the reality of founders syndrome where an entrepreneur might be really good at starting something but horrible at managing the business going forward in an Inc. featured video:

    As a Manager I Suck

    I can applaud myself thinking that it only took me a few months to overcome founder syndrome as opposed to running the company into the ground. The history of the first five years of Craigslist was just me running the thing, one year running it with volunteers, then after making it a company, one year with me as CEO. But towards the end of that year, people were kind enough to help me understand that as a manager I suck. I needed to find people who might be much better at it than I was. They were suggesting that maybe I didn’t have the right skill mix to be CEO. These are people who really cared about the site who believed and they were right.

    Founders Syndrome Is a Real Thing

    I wasn’t temperamentally suited to be CEO or really any kind of manager. So I was thinking maybe it is time to step down. I had also read about something called founder syndrome where somebody who’s good at starting something is really terrible at keeping it going. My decision to step down, well I winced a little bit because it was my creation and I didn’t want to feel stupid if I had made a big mistake. But it’s worked out and I don’t have regrets about stepping down. The biggest lesson is that founders syndrome is a real thing. The faster you think about that and then step down the better off you are. That worked out.

    Founders Syndrome Is a Real Thing, Says Craigslist Founder Craig Newmark

  • Craigslist Founder Takes up Cause for Squirrels

    Craig Newmark, founder of online communities network Craigslist, is conducting an experiment to expand his understanding of the use of social media to promote the causes he holds dear – this time around being nature – mainly squirrels. So, for anyone, (up to 5,000 anyones), who mentions the hashtag #Squirrels4Good on Twitter or his Facebook Page, Newark will donate $1 to the National Wildlife Federation. Likewise, he’ll also shell out $1 for each new follower he adds during the next few weeks. While setting the bar for squirrel donations at $5K is noble and cute, the second stipulation of his pledge, if honored, might quickly get out of hand – alas, squirrel awareness in the urban environment is integral, and Newmark is no neophyte when it comes to bids for charitable causes.

    craigslist squirrels

    Newmark told Mashable in an email, “In the short term, I’m learning how to use social media to support the stuff I believe in. I do most of my work in my home office, where frequent visitors remind me of a growing love of the natural world – Beyond that, I need to learn social media more effectively to support what I believe in the 20-year range and the 200-year range.”

    @craignewmark
    craignewmark    I’m a fan of @common_squirrel & want 2 raise money for @NWF in honor of squirrels. Will donate $1 each time u use #Squirrels4Good 21 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @lamclay
    Laura McLay    Are squirrels optimizers or satisficers? A blog post on squirrel decision theory. http://t.co/BRdy3ygz #Squirrels4Good #orms 41 minutes ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @ejstrick
    Erik    RT @squirepup: I don’t know about these #Squirrels4Good. They tease me all the time and whenever I come out to play, they run away. 2 minutes ago via HootSuite ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Newmark chose squirrels, because – he likes squirrels – “I do most of my work in my home office next to some woods, where frequent squirrely visitors remind me of a growing love of the natural world – Through social media, I became acquainted with @common_squirrel. We share a love of the little critters and nature in general. It made for a great partnership to raise money for related causes and social media is the method of choice for us both.”

    @common_squirrel
    common squirrel    blink blink blink 52 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @common_squirrel
    common squirrel    dig dig dig dig 20 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Newark also mentioned setting up squirrel-related pinboards on Pinterest, in his bid to solidify his stake in the cause of woodland creatures, in hopes his footprint regarding the movement will live on, 20 decades from now.

  • More People Think Facebook, Twitter Negatively Affect News Quality

    A new survey from Craig Newmark’s pro-philanthropy initiative, craigconnects, shows that social media isn’t really making any headway in changing how people get news about politics and elections. Furthermore, most who participated in the survey said that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter had a negative effect on the quality of news in the United States.

    It’s not just social media that’s getting the negative reviews as respondents didn’t really find any of the six media outlets included in the survey – newspapers, cable news, network news, talk radio, internet news sites, and blogs & social media – to be all that trustworthy. Obviously, such a low opinion of all news sources isn’t great news but when it comes to social media sites, only 6% of people said they think the news found on social media is actually credible. As far as how the quality of the news was reflected on social media, 34% felt that it had a negative effects on the quality of the news.

    “Most people aren’t getting hard election news from social media,” Newmark said, who is also the founder of craigslist. “Tech folks and early adapters are, but not most people, not yet.”

    Newmark opined on how he felt all news sources could boost their credibility among audiences. “It’s called fact-checking, and there are a lot of good people working on it,” he said. “They’re looking at ways to help the news media hold candidates and other public figures accountable for what they tell the public. So far it’s hard, and it’s not inexpensive, but it’s really important.”

    Newmark also identified one of the greatest perils of SEO journalism: rumors. “People often hear rumors, report it on social media and then the news outlets scramble to get on top of the story and sometimes things are not fact-checked enough in today’s battle to scoop the news first,” he told WebProNews. “Overwhelmingly, I hear that people have kind of given up on trusting political news.”

    As you’ll see below, Newmark put together an infographic that displays the full findings from the survey.

    (To see a larger version of this graphic, go here.)

  • Craig Newmark: Could SOPA, PIPA Protest Prompt An “Internet Spring”?

    Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist.org and SOPA protester, may have christened yesterday’s massive protest against SOPA and PIPA with a tweet he posted earlier today:

    @craignewmark
    craignewmark    Are we seeing an Internet Awakening? http://t.co/CYbrXQBE (similar in sentiment to @jeffjarvis and @Mlsif) http://t.co/vwK1MgJO 27 minutes ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    The first link included in his tweet takes you to a post he wrote over on his blog at craigconnects:

    People have asked me about the whole SOPA thing, how bad a law it could be.

    Sure, SOPA and PIPA are really destructive, potentially damaging US competitiveness and genuinely killing jobs. However, there’s some good news associated with the reaction to the bad law, news that we’re missing.

    As an industry, we’ve been able to rationalize that bad laws and politics don’t matter, but now we’re waking up. More importantly, this has also gotten the attention of “the Internet,” meaning a lot of the people who use the Net. That includes some really smart Hill staffers who believe in the democratic potential of the Net.

    It’s taken some really bad potential laws, but it’s roused the sleeping giant, both the people who build the Internet, and people in general who comprise the Internet community.

    Maybe a mixed metaphor, but this might be a genie that can’t be put back into the bottle. I’m hoping that we’re seeing an Internet Spring leading to an Internet Awakening.

    So that may be it: The Internet Spring. The Internet Awakening (although that’s a little too similar to The Great Awakening, so I vote we stay away from that one). Anybody else got any suggestions for what to call this movement?

  • EXCLUSIVE: Craig Newmark Gives Update On #perfectgift Campaign

    Earlier this month, we did a story about a campaign launched by Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist, to raise money for the American Red Cross. To recap: for every post on Twitter and Facebook describing the perfect gift (using the hashtag #perfectgift), Newmark will donate $1 to the American Red Cross up to $10,000.

    I contacted Newmark about some of the details of this donation drive and why he feels its an important cause (other than the obvious reasons). As for his primary motivator for the #perfectgift campaign, Newmark explained, “People everywhere need a hand and I want to help. One great way to do that is to support very effective, boots-on-the-ground groups like the Red Cross.” The cause couldn’t have a more noble mission as the money will go towards purchasing comfort kits for members of the military.

    The fundraiser runs throughout the month of December, but as of the middle of this month Newmark says they’ve tracked 1,741 tweets and 200 Facebook comments so far about the #perfectgift. Roughly equating $2K raised so far, that’s not a bad sum at all.

    To help get out the word about the campaign and to explain a little more about the donations, Newmark headed over to the American Red Cross to chat with Gail McGovern, president and CEO of American Red Cross, about #perfectgift:

    As I said, the campaign is active throughout the rest of the month so there is still time to contribute to #perfectgift on Twitter and Facebook. Seriously, it couldn’t be easier: just tweet or comment what you think the perfect gift is, tag it with #perfectgift, and another dollar goes to the American Red Cross.

  • Craigslist Founder Starts Donation Campaign Using Twitter

    If you’ve ever sold or purchased goods, searched for a job, looked for an apartment, cruised for a hook-up, or generally used the Internet for anything, you’ve likely at least heard of craigslist.org if not used it yourself. Despite being a minefield of trolls and scams and very “interesting” people, craigslist has always been free and for that we should be thankful (even if we have only used it as a source of lurid entertainment).

    Now’s your chance to show your appreciation.

    Craig Newmark, the eponymous founder of craigslist, has chosen a unique way to observe his birthday this year. Instead of the self-congratulatory ritual of celebrating one more year he didn’t die (like the rest of us do), Newmark has decided to ask for something considerably different this year:

    Folks, yesterday was my 59th birthday, and I decided to celebrate by asking for a unique kind of gift – a tweet on Twitter about what someone considers the perfect gift this holiday season. Each time someone responds and tweets using the hashtag #perfectgift, I am giving a $1 contribution to the American Red Cross, up to $10,000 to purchase military comfort kits for our troops. It’s amazing because 91% of every gift goes to people in need.

    Newmark, who has a little over 45,000 followers on Twitter, says that following the aforementioned hashtag will help him keep track of how many support his humanitarian cause and, subsequently, how much money he will donate to the American Red Cross. He also hopes that the 585K followers of American Red Cross, who retweeted his original post, will help spread the word and get more people involved in his campaign. The promotion is also active on Facebook but actual donations will only be calculated through Twitter.

    I implore anyone reading this to head over to Twitter and tweet a quick post about what you think the perfect gift is in order to contribute to Newmark’s campaign (I posted that my perfect gift is a world with no pepper spray). It only takes a minute and, like the clickable awesomeness that is craigslist, doesn’t cost you anything. You’ve got through the end of December to do your part. Just think of this as an easy way to say thanks to Newmark for all of those Missed Connections that have kept you entertained over the years.

  • LikeMinded Launched by Craigslist Foundations

    Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, has just announced a new site called LikeMinded.  The site will attempt to serve as an aggregate source for community involvement and local action.  People can use the service to share stories of successful community projects and also as a place to find resources for getting their own project off the ground.

    @craignewmark
    craignewmark    ideas for local change? @craigslist_fndn launched #LikeMinded today so
    you can share them. @lkmnd http://bit.ly/lkmnd1 22 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    According to the site, here’s how you can use it:

    Discovery

    In LikeMinded Beta, you can discover two kinds of information about local issues you care about:

    Resources: Resources are articles, videos, tools, and audio from around the web related to local community change. It’s information in its original form, available free from the source.

    Projects: Projects are the story behind community change. What issue was addressed, how did the team do it, and did it work? Projects include visibility for the people and organizations who did the hard work and info about where and when it all happened. They are a great way to get a snapshot into how people addressed issues in their neighborhood.

    You can discover information through the topics on our homepage, and you can explore more deeply at our full search page.

    Sharing
    Individuals and organizations are sharing local community stories through LikeMinded. The real magic comes when you share your story. What have you or your organization taken on? What cool projects have you read about? Help inspire others by sharing what you know as resources or projects.

    The beta site allows users to search or share stories and resources in a variety of topics including health, education, safety, literacy and technology.  Once within a category, you can learn about specific initiatives either completed or still in progress – for example, “Book Drive to promote literacy in San Francisco.”  Each initiative’s page hold information about affiliated networks of sponsors, methodology and resources.

    “We should all live in great communities: strong, healthy, democratic, sustainable, collaborative places. We built LikeMinded to make that happen.  People are doing incredible things to strengthen their local communities. Too often, they don’t get credit for their amazing work. As importantly, people in other communities don’t learn from one another’s successes often enough.”

    Last month, Craig Newmark launched craigconnects, a web platform that attempts to connect people through information and resources in certain “social good” areas like volunteering and community building.

  • Craigslist Founder Announces New Site

    Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist, is trying something new – and substantial – today.  This morning, he launched Craigconnects, an initiative (and website) designed to encourage and trigger charitable acts all over the world.

    Craigconnects isn’t intended to be any sort of side project or hobby for Newmark.  In a video introduction, Newmark mentioned his ties to Craigslist, then stated, “Now I’m starting something even bigger, which I’m calling Craigconnects.  Its long-term purpose is to help connect everyone of goodwill across the entire world for whatever they feel is the common good.”

    Also, as the screenshot below shows, Newmark said in a tweet that Craigconnects has become “the biggest thing in my life . . .”

    Unfortunately, not a whole lot more information is available right now, as all the official material is a little vague.  One other problem: the Craigconnects site is experiencing server issues.

    An official announcement (linked to in Newmark’s tweet) was clear that the program isn’t a fundraising or grant-giving organization, however, and Newmark indicated that – while he will support it in every way – he’s open to the idea of letting more qualified individuals join or perhaps take the reins.

    Given what Newmark achieved with Craigslist, it should be very interesting to see what happens here.