Biography of Craig Newmark - Research Paper Example

Craig Newmark The careers we pursue in life can bring about the realization of our dreams in a manner that can be overriding our expectations. Craig Newmark is an example of the few people who can be considered to have reached their level of self-actualization. From pursuing a degree in Computer Science to the formation of Craigslist as the most widely visited site in the world, Newmark has confirmed that right choice of career can help exploit one’s potential fully. This research paper is aimed at reviewing the different and significant events that have put Newmark on the limelight. The thesis that hold this paper is that the success realized at Craigslist has helped in the realization of one dream that Newmark had; the use of social sites in trust to enable and encourage people to do good. The aim of this discussion is achieved by compiling of literature from different sources like blogs, websites, journals and online magazine and newspapers. Thus, the literature review part will look at the early life of Craig Newmark, the formation and business life of Craigslist, the life of Newmark after the launch of Craigslist and lastly the economic worth of Newmark. The conclusion will draw a summary of the major events that led to his success and realization of his childhood dream. Early Life Craig is a 62-year-old man who was born in the town of Morristown, NJ. He was born in a Jewish family of Lee and Joyce Newmark (Newmark, 2013). His religious background is based on Jewish teachings as he also had a bar mitzvah after attending a Jewish religious school. His father was known to be a business man especially in the field of insurance. He died when Craig was thirteen years old (Newmark, 2013). This left Craig and his family struggle to make a living and pay the expense of staying in an apartment. His mother thus took all the financial responsibilities in the family to make sure the children went to school and lived comfortably (Newmark, 2013). In his educational life, he did a Bachelor of Science degree course in Computer Science (Newmark, 2013). This degree was earned in the year 1975. Later in 1977, he graduated with another degree in Masters of Science in Computer Science. In this course he did a project with the thesis ‘Fundamental Models of Computer Systems and their Relationship to information Security’ (Craigconnects, 2014). The Launches Craigslist After his first degree and before he completed his Masters course, Craig got a job with the IBM and did business with the company for the next 17 years (Diamond, 2012). His main area was programming especially for Charles Schwab, Bank of America and many other firms (Craigconnects, 2014). While he was working for Charles Schwab, he launched craigslist in his flat. It was a free way for people to exchange and share information about any news or events that took place in San Francisco (Craigconnects, 2014). This led to the launch of Craigconnects in March 2011 (Craigconnects, 2014). Craigconnects was an initiative that was meant to link people on the planet using social media. They were to witness any good efforts they saw or recognized and encourage others through such sites to emulate the same behavior (Craigconnects, 2014 & Diamond, 2012). The main objective for setting up Craigconnects was to provide technological support and set a platform that would ensure effective connectivity (Craigconnects, 2014). The aim was to make people to do good in this world and help improve and ensure that the media that existed in this world remained to uphold integrity (Newmark, 2013). The inspiration to develop Craigconnects was drawn from the experience got by Craig, after working for a long time with non-profit organizations (Diamond, 2012). He got engaged with such organizations at a personal level especially in solving issues he thought were very vital (Aitoro, 2013). This has since given him an opportunity to serve as a member of the board of directors of three non-profit making organizations (Diamond, 2012). Sitting in these boards with eleven others, he provides personal as wells as financial support to many other such organizations (Diamond, 2012). Most of these organizations are involve in making use of the internet to provide solutions to may social issues that arise in the world (Aitoro, 2013). The organizations also use the internet to provide for America’s returning veterans and conduct a funds drive for schools projects directly to the staffroom (Aitoro, 2013). The activities of such organizations were as well extended to giving assistance to government agencies and groups on their innovative projects (Aitoro, 2013). Communication In his ways to communicate with the outside world, customers and friends, Craig connects through the social media on twitter @crai (@craignewmark) and Facebook (facebook.com/craignewmark). He also posts blogs on cnewmark.com. he often contributes to the Huffington Post (huffingtonpost.com/craig-newmark). Most of his customers and friends do reach him through the Craigconnects website (Diamond, 2012). About Craigslist Professionally, Craig is a computer scientist after doing even a Masters degree in computer science. He is known as the founder of craigslist. Craigslist has significantly changed the manner in which classified advertisements are done. The site was founded in 1995 and has thus become one of the most widely visited English language web platforms (Diamond, 2012). The websites are available everywhere and serves all the continents except the Antarctica. The site gives its users a chance to advertise freely and thus allows people to help each other with basic needs like housing and jobs (Aitoro, 2013). Craigslist began in a simple way as an e-mail distribution list among friends. A closer look at its history shows that Craig himself (Diamond, 2012) did the majority of the earliest posts. They were majorly notices of the social events that would be good opportunities for internet developers in San Francisco. The web platform got famous through a word of mouth thus making it have an increased number of users. This surprised Newmark as people even started to use the site for for non-event listings. They listed even technical positions (The Wall street Journal, 2014). The site thus had to be upgraded to take the category of jobs because of demands from users. The site was based on the culture of trust thus encouraging participants to play a role in policing the information that is shared on the site. As a result, other developments that took place on the site was a development of an interface especially after it grew in popularity and community members demand such a development (The Wall street Journal, 2014). Thus, in 1966, the Craigslist.org went live in 1996 (The Wall street Journal, 2014). The expansion of Craigslist to other cities throughout the world was very rapid. They thus started charging fee for any job postings that were done on their site. For example, for any job posting in Los Angeles and New York, they charged $25 per job posting (The Wall street Journal, 2014). This started on August 1, 2004 (The Wall street Journal, 2014). The company also launched another section known as Gigs on the same day. In this section, there was a chance to post jobs that were both paid and unpaid, and internships at a low cost (The Wall street Journal, 2014). Currently, there are more than 70 countries that have the Craigslist sites. The website has over 20 billion page viewers, 80 million classified adverts and 2 million new job postings every month (The Wall street Journal, 2014). This has made it the leading classifies service and the top job board in the world. The main source of money for Craigslist is the paid job ads that are posted in selected cities. For these ads, it charges $75 per ad in San Francisco and $25 per ad in New York, Los Angeles and San Diego, Boston, Washington, Chicago and California (Frontline, 2014). For broker apartment listings, it charges $10 per ad in the city of New York (Frontline, 2014). Despite making such less money, the company only has 30 employees. The estimated annual revenue comes to $ 130,000 million for 2012, with $100 million being profit (Frontline, 2014). This shows the company is doing great. Another fact to not be that on August 13, 2004, eBay purchased 25% stake of Craigslist thus making the company to be owned by Newmark, Buckmaster and 3 eBay board members (Frontline, 2014). Thus, it is clear how Craigslist has enabled people to find jobs, apartments and dates. All has been accomplished in their culture of trust as many have as well found their basic needs. Craig himself has had his life changed, as he is nowadays part of many community efforts. He promotes many organizations that have an interest in promoting public diplomacy, peace and reforms in the media industry (Frontline, 2014). Newmark’s Career Life after Craigslist Craig is the founder as well as the Customer Service Rep for Craigslist Inc. This was after training as a senior web-oriented software engineer (The Wall street Journal, 2014). In his thirty years as an IT expert, he has worked with several companies like IBM (The Wall street Journal, 2014). In 1998, Newmark was still a software engineer especially one in charge of the hardcore java programming. He still views Craigslist as a hobby with great perks. This site has enabled him to get invitations to best parts for geeks and nerds in the world. Following a great tremendous growth at craigslist, Newmark resigned from his work as an IT consultant and went to work on full-time basis in Craigslist. What actually started as a fun project on a desktop in his living room was now grown into one of the most known sites in the world of internet. It is in this 1999 year that Craigslist was considered as a private for-profit company. The company attracted may professionals in the field of IT thus making its growth become wider. For example, in April 2000, nine of the Craigslist employees were working out of San Francisco. One of them was Jim Buckmaster, who started working in the company on January 2000 (Frontline, 2014). His major duty was being the lead programmer and CTO-chief technology officer. Buckmaster’s major contributions to Craigslist are widely recognized as they left a great impact. He contributed to the creation of the site’s search engine, and discussion forums (The Wall street Journal, 2014). In addition to that, he also brought about the site’s flagging system, homepage design and personal categories (The Wall street Journal, 2014). Self-protecting process as well as best-of- Craigslist feature was also major projects that were successfully implemented under his tenure (The Wall street Journal, 2014). These major contributions in the company earned Buckmaster a promotion to the post of a CEO. He holds this position to date. Conclusion The above historical accounts shows how Newmark has been successful in his dream of having people in the world help each other and do good through the internet. The launch of Craigslist is a great achievement that few have realized in their lives. The site that currently serves millions across 70 countries in the world is a good example of those initiatives that grow when one exploits his/her potential fully. The site has not only changed Craig’s life but also the lives of many who have been able to find basic needs, apartments and jobs through the site. This shows how dedication to doing good can change millions of lives. References: The Wall Street Journal (March 2, 2014). Craig Newmark. Retrieved from < http://topics.wsj.com/person/N/craig-newmark/755> on 2 March 2014. Diamond, E. (2012). The Interview with Craig Newmark, Founder of craigslist. The Blog, 03/21/2012. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erica-diamond/erica-diamond-interviews-_b_1364628.html > on March 2, 2014. Aitoro, J.R. (2013). Craigslist.org founder Craig Newmark on federal IT: Get the popular kids out of the way. Washington Business Journal. Retrieved from < http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/fedbiz_daily/2013/12/craiglist-founder-craig-newmark-on.html> on March 2, 2014. Frontline (2014). Interviews Craig Newmark. Retrieved from < http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/interviews/newmark.html> on March 2, 2014. Newmark, C. (2013). Craigconnects Celebrates a Second Anniversary. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from < http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/craigconnects> on March 2, 2014. Read More