QA
SOMETIMES, AMAZING businesses are built by a driven founder long obsessed with a single idea. Then there’s Craigslist. The ragtag online classified-ad operation happened by accident, threw every tenet of design out the window, and has always been run by individuals apparently allergic to virtually every dearly held belief of business and management. It nonetheless became one of the lasting icons of the early Web and is, by all reckonings, insanely profitable. Though its tightlipped founder, Craig Newmark, won’t talk about that, in his Inc. interview he still has lots to say about Craigs list’s rise, the power of listening, how he’s using his newfound influence, and why he’s such a terrible manager.
Inc.: What was high school Craig like?
Newmark: I was a full-on nerd, and that was a lonely thing. I didn’t realize that wearing thick black glasses taped together and a pocket protector was not attractive.
My definition of nerd has to do with a lack of social instinct for people, a lack of learned and ingrained social skills. I was reasonably socialized sometime into grammar school, but around the fifth or sixth grade, my social skills didn’t develop. I didn’t gain the normal instincts people have for how you relate to others. I have since learned social skills and I can simulate them for short periods, but I do feel somewhat detached.
But nerds are kind of cool now.
New-school nerds are cool. There’s nothing
