Les hippies au pouvoir

encore un article interressant trouvé dans Wired. Ce coup ci c'est la Craiglist qui y passe. Lisez le c'est entre en gros l'histoire d'un journaliste des échos qui tombe sur Forest Gump. L'incapacité du journaliste à saisir le personnage y est flagrante.(What kind of company declares itself uninterested in maximizing profit? :-)

Craigslist was very unlike Creditland. "It wasn't even really clear who decided to hire me," Buckmaster says. He looked around and began finding things to do. He wrote forum software to give users a chance to interact. When he realized that every post had to be reviewed and published by hand, he created the automated process that allowed craigslist to grow. He coded a search engine. A year after he arrived he was CEO. There was no competition for the job, no ritual transfer of power, and no instructions. "In the entire time I've been here, I don't think Craig has ever said to me, 'This is the way it has to be,'" Buckmaster says. The only topic he can remember their disagreeing about is the peace sign that adorns the craigslist Web address. "Craig thought it was associated with the hippies and that hippies were discredited," Buckmaster says. "Whereas I think peace is among the most desirable things you can have."

The long-running tech-industry war between engineers and marketers has been ended at craigslist by the simple expedient of having no marketers. 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. The staff communicates by email and IM. This is a nice environment for employees of a certain temperament. "Not that we're a Shangri-La or anything," Buckmaster says, "but no technical people have ever left the company of their own accord."

Si tu aimes les business model de hippie lis moi ça