craig newmark

craig newmark is the founder of craig's list. he was a software contractor who started an email list in 1995 to help his friends find out about cool events happening around their town (san fran). ten years later craig's list covers 100 cities and offers jobs, furnitures, event listings, personals, you name it. i am a huge fan and sold a bunch of furniture this year on it.

the coolest thing about craig's list is how focused it on its users. posting or buying doesn't require divulging my family history to build a user profile or creating yet another user name and password. and the posting technology works with flickr. it's so user-friendly!

although craig's list is actually a for-profit company, it maintains a very bohemian, community-minded ethos. i love that craig himself demoted himself to bring in a professional CEO and is now just a regular emplyoee there.

click here to read more about why craig's list works.