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The Output Model

posted on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 12:42 AM

Q&A with the top two executives of Craigslist, founder Craig Newmark and CEO Jim Buckmaster:

Q: I know you guys don’t want to sell out to make a fast buck, and I appreciate that independent spirit. But you could be making more money by charging minimally for posting in certain categories. Wouldn’t it be worth it to obtain that money, and donate it to non-profits, charities, or other worthy causes?
JIM: The traditional philanthropic model is to make as much money as possible and then give a percentage back to the community. We do donate more than 1 percent of our revenues to charitable causes, but we feel it is much more important to serve the community directly as our primary business.
CRAIG: It’s more effective to let people keep the cash. We also see that groups like the Gates Foundation have lots of money to donate, but it’s very hard to do so in a sustainable way. No one has really figured it out yet.

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