Growth plan to make Craigslist's revenue three times larger within five years
Company: DoorDash
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
Craigslist wants its annual revenue to be three times today's level within five years. What plan would you put forward?
```hint Begin with who pays today
Work out how Craigslist earns money now and which posters pay. Then ask which of them, and which people who pay nothing today, could pay more without moving to rival marketplaces.
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### Clarifying Questions
- Are there lines leadership will not cross, such as keeping posts by individuals free or keeping display ads off the site?
- Does the target cover only the United States, or every city where Craigslist runs?
- Are acquisitions allowed, or must the growth come from Craigslist's own products?
- Must the plan also hold traffic and posting volume steady, or is revenue the only goal?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- How Craigslist makes money today, and the yearly growth rate that tripling in five years requires.
- A revenue equation that splits payers into segments, such as businesses versus individuals and jobs, housing, vehicles and goods for sale.
- Several prioritized revenue levers, each sized with labeled assumptions, that together reach the target.
- How the plan protects marketplace liquidity and Craigslist's simple, mostly free character against general and specialized rival marketplaces.
- Sequencing across the five years, with milestones, guardrails and risks.
### Follow-up Questions
- Charging business sellers pushes a visible share of them to other marketplaces. How would you detect that early, and what would you change?
- Would you add display advertising to reach the target? Defend your answer.
- Which lever would you test first, and how would you test it without damaging the marketplace in the test cities?
Overview: A growth strategy question asking how Craigslist could make three times its current revenue within five years. It tests understanding of the site's fee-based model and who pays, sizing several revenue levers with labeled assumptions, and protecting marketplace liquidity and the brand's simple, mostly free character.