Craig Newmark from Craigslist on VIPVino

The very modest Craig Newmark, founder of the wildly popular on line classified web site Craigslist took time out of his busy schedule to stop by and have a conversation with us with us.

Craigslist started as a benevolent resource to keep Craig’s friends and acquaintances connected to local events here in the bay area. Through small increments of progress brought on by listening and integrating peoples suggestions it has become a hugely sucessful cultural phenomenon – a brand that is synomous with helping consumers find virtually ANYthing.. they need whether that is a new bike, roommate or even casual hook-up.

That philosophy of staying close to and listening to the customer is very much engrained not only in Craig’s personal dealings, but at the heart of how the business is run.  And while he now has a team that helps him field the thousands of daily emails that come in,  Craig still holds the title of customer service representative staying in touch the community at the grassroots level.

It’s clear from talking to Craig that he has always been a helper and truly altruistically motivated.  In fact, his focus these days has shifted to more involvement in charitable causes and he is passionate about finding ways to utilize social media & technology to develop more accountability and efficiency in the non-profit sector.  Growing out of need to help consumers understand where their charitable dollars are going, Charity Navigator is an online community of non profits that helps consumers find “charities they can trust” through an online rating system and participant feedback – bring much needed accountability and transparency to the world of non-profits.  In much the same way that Consumer reports (which Craig is a board member) has brought unbiased, and sometimes exciting ratings (such as refrigerator reviews) to consumers looking to educate themselves on new purchases.

Craig’s involvement in social good is expansive – from working with veterans, to victims in Haiti, to educational causes – the list is long and inspiring.  You can check out some of his recent causes on his blog  http://www.cnewmark.com/