A VC - Latest Comments in What We Can Learn From Mess

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

Christian Brucculeri — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:55:54 -0000

i finally figured out how to use Diqus (case in point!!) and saw this reply. Awesome thoughts, Steffan-- and a much better articulation of what I was trying to say

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

Dorian Benkoil — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:53:17 -0000

Thanks, much. I have ready you write this, and appreciate you pointing out
how it applies here.

Also, fyi, loving Disqus. How I can log onto your blog, or keep the
conversation going here through email -- and also aggregate my comments
elsewhere.

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

fredwilson — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:55:34 -0000

Nope. I've blogged about this before. I think one way to create sustainability over the long run is to avoid over optimizing monetization in the short run and the earnings multiples go up if investors think you've got long term sustainability

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

Dorian Benkoil — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:30:14 -0000

I hear you. But doesn't it seem Craig and Jim are not only being patient, but also being willing to forego some gains, long- or short-term? And isn't that anathema to financial investing?

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

fredwilson — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:44:39 -0000

You have to be patient. Google, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Disqus, Etsy, etc, etc

Venture capital is supposed to be patient capital. When it is patient, great things can happen

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

Dorian Benkoil — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:23:32 -0000

Fred, the Craiglist model requires something that's very hard for many businesses, especially businesses backed by investors such as VCs, to emulate, and it's not financial or a business model. It's a mindset in which the founder and chief executive are willing to forgo financial gain and maximizing shareholder (or stakeholder) value in pursuit of "social capital." I'll be talking to Craig and other panelists at the Economist media convergence conf about this mindset issue, but I'd be curious your thoughts if any.

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

vivekpuri — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:46:35 -0000

Still MySpace is far from being dead. Anyhow, in my opinion marketplaces are very hard to kill since you dont visit those sites every day, which effectively makes it hard for negative word to spread. Till supply and demand cycle is maintained, individual users can care less. Another marketplace example, Paypal. In early 2000s there was more than enough negative news about Paypal, but that did not kill the site.

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

Guest 77130 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:43:33 -0000

Perfect solution. But they'll never do it.

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

guest7713452 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:40:47 -0000

Between 2006 and 2007 hordes of people left Myspace and migrated to Facebook because MySpace was becoming full of spam, fake people, and advertising.

Basically -- MySpace ceased being a trusted community. The difference within twelve months time was noticeable.

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

paramendra — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:02:15 -0000

"Craigslist gets more traffic than either eBay or Amazon.com. eBay has more than 16,000 employees. Amazon has more than 20,000. Craigslist has 30."

Mind boggling. And Craig manages to reply to all tweets I send his way.

"Only programmers, customer service reps, and accounting staff work at craigslist. There is no business development, no human resources, no sales. As a result, there are no meetings."

Wow.

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

AgeOfSophizm — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:23:42 -0000

Gary, I love the disintermediation model. Long live disintermediation!!

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

Prokofy — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:57:57 -0000

Huh? Craiglist isn't a mess, it's dirt simple. The interface looks like a 90s interface so that means it's user-friend and not geekified with slow-loading junk and loads of white space and tiny olive-green ink like a contest for who can design the best Islamic country's flag -- which is what every other fashionable website looks like these days

I don't care for Craigslist lately because @craignewmark is so politicized, adopting all the hard left geeky freaky causes and applying the escort ad dough to those causes, which is something I don't wish to assist him in doing, coming or going. Still, I recognize that for ride-sharers and job-seekers, it's great.

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

brooksjordan — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:06:32 -0000

It grows because their aim isn't to make money, it's to serve people without getting in their way, and that goal is good in of itself.

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

fredwilson — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 10:16:02 -0000

Its not all luck

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

fredwilson — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:09:03 -0000

Friendster?

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

David Semeria — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:19:45 -0000

At the end of the day what counts is the user experience. Boiling everything down, you could say the user experience is basically a function of the user interface combined with the underlying functionality of the system.

Craiglist has prospered in part because it offers a very simple interface to control very simple functionality.

One point that has not so far come up in this thread is that most people would rarely use Craiglist for an extended period of time. It's not like MS Word, for example. In other words, there's no point learning to use a complex product if you don't plan on using it regularly. This means that for the casual user anything other than a totally obvious interface represents a barrier to to entry.

That said, the user experience can still be improved whilst maintaining a practically flat UI learning curve. I'm talking about automated spam reduction, implied reference checking etc.

If more functionality can be added without compromising the interface then all the better. When is the last time you were required to modify the air/fuel mix in your car engine, or manually specify the bit rate for your DVD player?

That's the kind of innovation I'm talking about.

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

Mark Essel — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:56:25 -0000

Long term business strategies is something our economy needs a lot more of.

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

Mark Essel — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:51:55 -0000

I think you've identified an area on CL that can use additional framework help. Maybe real estate should have an offshoot with verification of some type? Are there serial renters that would be willing to organize this?

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

Mark Essel — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:49:26 -0000

Groovy thoughts Egoboss (especially the psychology norm of disruption and upsetting many folks). I'm trying to find common threads of success with ultra streamlined businesses (engineers, and eventually a person that answers the phones/emails).

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

Mark Essel — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:47:20 -0000

I've been preaching contextually matching personalized (two-way) search and advertising. My Sixth Sense has taken a swing at the search portion, but they haven't allowed for us to control all the dials (something I can't stress enough). Users need to be able to tweak their preferences on how information sorting is done, not just the inputs.

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

Mark Essel — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:43:47 -0000

I gotta say, Iron Man had a more compelling story and noticeably superior special effects to Super Man (Christopher Reeves) and it's sequels. I realize this isn't a fair comparison but it does show that evolutionary technology doesn't inhibit the essence or ability to convey a great story. The value is in the complete package, and it's a moving target based on human interests and needs.

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

Mark Essel — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:42:35 -0000

Great article on Plenty of Fish and what Marcus has done with it back in January in Fast Company

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

Cyrus — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:34:42 -0000

David, I see a problem with your Model T analogy.

Your logic stated that iff simple "super basic" is the only interface that can stand the test of time, we would all be driving Model T's. Cars became more powerful and more fuel efficient as innovations were made in transportation. People were able to get places faster, drive for longer ranges, and be safer. Cars have arguably become easier to drive and operate (thus, "simpler") since Ford's automobile.

That said, craigslist's design, and other super-minimalist designs can maintain power and usefulness amidst innovations that happen in websites around them.

Point being, do you then believe that craigslist can be made any simpler through a redesign or a new approach, knowing that technological innovation or new webwide standards do not necessarily simplify usability?

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

Bee — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:19:14 -0000

Sorry for the double comment.

Re: What We Can Learn From Mess

Bee — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:18:33 -0000

The first time I used Craigslist will also remain the last time. Craigslist has done that by doing very little indeed.