Disruption and the Business Model
The Original Digital Disruption
In the mid-1990s, Craig Newmark, a former programmer from IBM, created a mailing list that, inspired by the WELL (Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link, one of the earliest virtual communities), looked to allow software engineers in the Bay Area to share information about events. Within a year, by popular demand, job postings had been added, and an online version had been set up as Craigslist.org, in 1996. Over the next decade and beyond, Craigslist enjoyed meteoric growth, growing to new cities, adding categories, and drawing ever-larger audiences. It had a revenue model of charging $25 for job postings. Even today, Craigslist is the world’s leading classifieds service in any ...
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