32 min
Craig Newmark: The Internet Entrepreneur Messy and Masterful
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Aldo talks to Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, about his journey as an entrepreneur and as a philanthropist. Having donated over 60% of his net worth to charity, Craig reflects for the very first time to stop pledging & giving his fortune and speaks about what might be next.
Guest Introduction:
My next guest has achieved what many tech entrepreneurs (myself included) can only dream of.
In 1995, Craig Newmark started curating a list of San Francisco arts and technology events, which he personally emailed to friends and colleagues. People were soon calling it "Craig's List," and when Newmark turned it into a company, he monetized it minimally, opting for a business model that prioritized "doing well by doing good."
Today’s Craig’s e-mail list from the mid-nineties has turned into a massive company. With more than 5 billion ads that have been posted on the site, the vast majority for free.
Even though Craig Newmark hasn’t been involved in the day-to-day operations of Craigslist since the year 2000, he does appear to have continued his journey of making the internet a more safe and above all comprehensive place.
In 2011 my guest founded “craigconnects” an organisation to support the efforts of non-profit organisations who fight against global poverty.
And in 2015 he set up Craig Newmark Philanthropies to advance people and grassroots organizations that are “getting stuff done” in areas that include trustworthy journalism & the information ecosystem, voter protection, women in technology, and veterans & military families.
“The trustworthy press is the immune system of democracy,” Craig said in a recent interview with the Canadian Press Gazette in February of this year “Instead of limiting or stopping this spread of disinformation, I could see that frequently the press was being gamed into spreading disinformation. And so intuitively I recognised that something was going very badly wrong” -
And that my guest was serious about attacking anything that causes such disinformation and chaos became clear when he started putting his money where his mouth is:
To give a few examples:
In June 2018, Newmark gave $20 million to the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, which renamed itself as the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism after the gift. In February 2019, Newmark gave another $10 million to Columbia Journalism School to launch a new center for journalism ethics and security. Many other examples can be found where my guest visibly supports digital wellbeing, security and above all to support the people who fight to protect the values that America aspires to: fairness, opportunity and respect.
Most importantly!
Craig appears to be someone very grounded and very aware of what is going on around him. He is an avid bird watcher and last but most certainly he can very much appreciate Dad jokes.
Craig a very warm welcome to you!
Aldo talks to Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, about his journey as an entrepreneur and as a philanthropist. Having donated over 60% of his net worth to charity, Craig reflects for the very first time to stop pledging & giving his fortune and speaks about what might be next.
Guest Introduction:
My next guest has achieved what many tech entrepreneurs (myself included) can only dream of.
In 1995, Craig Newmark started curating a list of San Francisco arts and technology events, which he personally emailed to friends and colleagues. People were soon calling it "Craig's List," and when Newmark turned it into a company, he monetized it minimally, opting for a business model that prioritized "doing well by doing good."
Today’s Craig’s e-mail list from the mid-nineties has turned into a massive company. With more than 5 billion ads that have been posted on the site, the vast majority for free.
Even though Craig Newmark hasn’t been involved in the day-to-day operations of Craigslist since the year 2000, he does appear to have continued his journey of making the internet a more safe and above all comprehensive place.
In 2011 my guest founded “craigconnects” an organisation to support the efforts of non-profit organisations who fight against global poverty.
And in 2015 he set up Craig Newmark Philanthropies to advance people and grassroots organizations that are “getting stuff done” in areas that include trustworthy journalism & the information ecosystem, voter protection, women in technology, and veterans & military families.
“The trustworthy press is the immune system of democracy,” Craig said in a recent interview with the Canadian Press Gazette in February of this year “Instead of limiting or stopping this spread of disinformation, I could see that frequently the press was being gamed into spreading disinformation. And so intuitively I recognised that something was going very badly wrong” -
And that my guest was serious about attacking anything that causes such disinformation and chaos became clear when he started putting his money where his mouth is:
To give a few examples:
In June 2018, Newmark gave $20 million to the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, which renamed itself as the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism after the gift. In February 2019, Newmark gave another $10 million to Columbia Journalism School to launch a new center for journalism ethics and security. Many other examples can be found where my guest visibly supports digital wellbeing, security and above all to support the people who fight to protect the values that America aspires to: fairness, opportunity and respect.
Most importantly!
Craig appears to be someone very grounded and very aware of what is going on around him. He is an avid bird watcher and last but most certainly he can very much appreciate Dad jokes.
Craig a very warm welcome to you!
32 min