“Clash of near-epic proportions”
Recently Jim Buckmaster, CEO of the famous Craig’s List made the headlines. While at the UBS Global Media conference, when asked by an analyst what he was doing to maximize the company’s profits, he responded: "That definitely is not part of the equation. It's not part of the goal." HOLY SUICIDE BATMAN! You never say such a thing at an investor conference. Right? Well the folks at Craigs List don’t care. Their focus is on giving the best service to its users...profit comes second. The funny thing is that profit does come.
In the past anyone saying something like this, would watch their stock tank in seconds. Ask George Zimmer of the Men’s Warehouse how he felt when he uttered similar words at a Wall Street Conference years ago. His stock took a beating but he stuck to his principles and has produced some of the industry’s best records of sustained profit.
Craigs List is now the 7th most trafficked site on the net and although it is a private company, eBay now owns a significant share. So far it seems eBay has intelligently maintained a hands-off approach.
To read more on the incident. Read Craig Newmark’s recent post:
"Craigslist CEO: ATTITUDE ASTOUNDS ANALYSTS, FUND MANAGERS AT CONFERENCE"
at:
Thanks for fighting the good fight Jim & Craig and showing us how to get there.
Cheers!
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Craig Newmark, Founder, Chairman, Customer Service Representative
Jim Buckmaster, President, CEO, & programmer AKA anti-establishment, a communist, and a socialistic anarchist