创业成功人士访谈录 第105期:我们不需要花哨的外观(1)

 　　So how did it happen that you created Craigslist?

　　是什么促使你创立Craigslist网站？

　　The effort started in 1994 when I was at Charles Schwab, working then on overall security architecture.

　　那是在1994年，那时我还在嘉信理财，负责总体安全架构。

　　But I also saw people using the Internet and figured it was going to be important eventually for anyone in the brokerage business.

　　但是我看到人们使用互联网，觉得互联网将在经纪人生意上大有作为，

　　So I started evangelizing that at Schwab.

　　于是我开始在嘉信理财宣讲这个观点。

　　While I was looking around at the Internet, I saw a lot of people helping¹ each other out

　　我在互联网上到处看到人们互相帮助，

　　and thought that I should do something, too.

　　于是我想我也可以做点事情。

　　So in 1995，I began to e-mail a bunch of friends about art and technical events in San Francisco.

　　因此，在1995年，我开始通过电子邮件向朋友们传达旧金山地区艺术展和科技活动的消息，

　　Over the months that followed, people kept asking if I could add the occasional job posting and listings for things to sell, too.

　　几个月后，人们问我可不可以加点临时职位发布，或者求购消息，

　　Then I said, “Let’s add apartment listings, too.”

　　于是我说，干脆连房屋租赁消息也加上算了，

　　It was all done through a very simple E-mail, a cc: list.

　　那些都是通过简单的电子邮件抄送列表进行的。

　　This is the sort of pattern we still have today

　　现在我们依然保持着这种形式

　　—people suggest stuff to us, we do what makes sense and then we ask for more feedback.

　　人们向我们提出建议，我们将一些行得通的付之于行动，然后寻求更多的反馈信息。

　　I left Schwab around the same time I began Craigslist.

　　我大约在创建Craigslist的同时离开了嘉信理财，

　　Soon I went freelance and had a lot of fun, while working on Craigslist as a hobby.

　　我成为自由职业者并享受到极大的乐趣，将Craigslist作为一种兴趣来做。

　　One milestone² was hit in the middle of 1995.

　　1995年中期是一个里程碑，

　　At that point, I was sending my e-mails to about 240 people,

　　那时我向大约240个人发送电子邮件，

　　but the list at that point had gotten around to friends of friends as well.

　　但那些列表也在朋友的朋友中传播。

　　At 240 addresses, though, the cc: list mechanism³ broke.

　　可是，240个地址的抄送列表机制崩溃了。

　　Then I had to use a listserve.

　　我不得不使用列表服务，

　　I was going to call it SF Events, since it was still mostly events,

　　我准备叫它SF事件，因为它毕竟还是一个事件，

　　but friends told me that they already called it Craigslist,

　　但朋友们说他们都称之为 Craigslist,

　　that I had created a brand unintentionally and that I should keep calling it that

　　我无意中创造了一个品牌。我应该一直用这个名字，

　　because it was personal and quirky.

　　因为它是私有且奇怪的。

　　The thing just kept growing.

　　一切都在继续发展。

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

3 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。