I guess I'm not sure why you'd want to try to compete with Craigslist directly. Besides the network effect, there is also the fact that Craigslist isn't really making that much money (at least compared to how much they could be).
This means that anything competing with it with a goal of making money is going to have an even harder time competing with CL, which is mostly free and completely free of advertising. Look at eBay, which arguably could have been improved on quite a bit and charged users fairly high fees - nobody (that I know of) ever managed to compete with them on a large scale in the auction space.
Like others have said, I think the value is in competing on very specific areas. A few that would be possible and profitable:
- Jobs/contract work. Given the technology we have, I think the internet has done a poor job of changing the way we find and apply for employment and short-term work. I've been working on some prototypes for tech-oriented job sites, and I think there are a lot of other industries that could benefit from smarter job sites. Plus, there is a considerable amount of money in this area.
- Housing, especially in places like SF and NYC.
- Local services.
Lower-end stuff like people selling used couches and Xbox 360 games is probably not an area worth getting into.
This means that anything competing with it with a goal of making money is going to have an even harder time competing with CL, which is mostly free and completely free of advertising. Look at eBay, which arguably could have been improved on quite a bit and charged users fairly high fees - nobody (that I know of) ever managed to compete with them on a large scale in the auction space.
Like others have said, I think the value is in competing on very specific areas. A few that would be possible and profitable:
- Jobs/contract work. Given the technology we have, I think the internet has done a poor job of changing the way we find and apply for employment and short-term work. I've been working on some prototypes for tech-oriented job sites, and I think there are a lot of other industries that could benefit from smarter job sites. Plus, there is a considerable amount of money in this area.
- Housing, especially in places like SF and NYC.
- Local services.
Lower-end stuff like people selling used couches and Xbox 360 games is probably not an area worth getting into.