What are the 10 consumer web companies that are best positioned for the 2010s? continue reading...

And then came tumbling down: continue reading...

No more hookers on Craigslist.

There, are you happy? continue reading...

If Craiglist wasn’t “profit-agnostic” how much would Google be worth?  Think about it: The run up in Google’s revenues, profit, stock and market cap has to do not just with how profitable the business is, but also with the fact that investors view it as the best play on both the Web and the destruction of print media.

So since Craigslist has itself done a lot to suck out the value from newspapers, you have to wonder, would Google be worth as much as it is worth today if investors could buy stock in Craigslist too? continue reading...

Can you think of any two bigger phonies in a contest:

in the one corner, eBay; in the other, Craigslist.  One was started a brazen capitalist who like to promote socialist tenets in a veiled attempt to take the focus away from their massively profitable business that is applying crazy pressure to their peers, and the other is… oh wait, that described both companies. continue reading...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

I think we’re living in the best of times, mind you, especially if you’re fortunate enough to be on this side of the digital divide. Sure, cars don’t fly - yet, but when you hop on a flight, you can make phone calls and surf the Web. I think that is my description of euphoria (well, the surf the Web part, I hope no one can make calls on a flight). continue reading...

I could not help how ironic it is to read the NYT covering eBay’s launch of Kijiji in the US:

“This is going to be our classified ad play in the United States,” said an eBay spokesman, Hani Durzy. “We look at it as competition to Craigslist and other platforms. But we think there is room for competition.” Mr. Durzy said eBay was planning to keep its stake in Craigslist. continue reading...

The prevailing wisdom is that by bringing internationally-focused Kijiji to the US, eBay is taking on Craigslist.

That’s not the case.  Craigslist is growing too fast to give a damn, frankly.  And, as everyone has mentioned by now, eBay is 25% owner of Craigslist, they also have a board seat.  While Craig Newmark might not say so, one day, he’ll get tired of being the CSR extraordinaire at Craigslist and want to sell.  Trust me, it’s a matter of time.  He won’t sell to MSFT, won’t sell to Yahoo!, won’t sell to Google, either.  Not sure beneath the bravado Jim Buckmaster or Craig appreciated Google Base.  What’s Google Base?  Exactly.  continue reading...

LiveDeal.com raised $4.85M in its second round in October 2005.  If everything we read about VCs are true, that’s a low return on their investment.

I don’t know what the valuation was at the time of that second funding, but according to Alarm Clock and reported by Paid Content, today it sold to Yellow Pages (ticker: YPNT) for roughly $12M - or 15M shares of YP @ $0.80 per share. continue reading...

Craig Newmark is a fascinating soul.  He’s either a real, genuine gentleman or the world’s greatest fraud.  Clearly, I’m biased into thinking that he’s in the former - and not latter - camp.  Craig Newmark has built Craigslist.org into the most powerful thorn in the newspapers’ industry side, the strongest classifieds business and a profitable machine, without even trying to. 

Well, not so fast, while Newmark confides in his latest interview that he built CL’s with no vision, the truth is that Craigslist.org’s success comes as a result of a few major decisions, or no-decisions. continue reading...