Craigslist is one of the weirdest success stories in tech. It’s the 26th most visited site in the US and still cracks the global top 100, yet it looks like a time capsule from 1999.
No endless ads, no engagement hacks, no “growth at all costs.” Just a brutally simple site that works. It all started with Craig Newmark, a self-described “nerd patient zero,” who turned a simple email list into a billion-dollar company without ever selling out.
Unlike the typical Silicon Valley founder, Craig wasn’t chasing investors or an IPO, he was solving real problems and letting users shape the platform.
This stubborn approach created one of the most trusted communities on the web, but it also attracted trouble. When eBay bought a stake in the company and tried to push Craigslist toward heavy monetization, Craig and his CEO Jim Buckmaster fought back hard, protecting their users at every step.
Even today, Craigslist is proof that you don’t have to follow the Silicon Valley playbook to win.