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Joel Spolsky to stop blogging; shares insights from JoelOnSoftware success
From the March issue of Inc. Magazine's "How Hard Could It Be?" column...
Let's Take This Offline
A decade ago, I started Joel on Software, a blog
that put my company on the map. But as the
business matures, I've come to realize that
blogging is holding me back.
Later in the article:
So having become an Internet celebrity in the
narrow, niche world of programming, I've decided
that it's time to retire from blogging. March
17, the 10th anniversary of Joel on Software,
will mark my last major post. This also will be
my last column for Inc. For the most part, I
will also quit podcasting and public speaking.
The article also has some good insights into why most startup blogs are awful and boring. JoelOnSoftware, on the other hand, was by accident an effective blog for the niche of readers who might use Fog Creek products. Short answer: blog about topics interesting to people who haven't yet heard of your startup, but who might be customers one day.
I haven't been able to find the text online, possibly because Inc wants the print edition to circulate first?
- 100k 17y agoJoel has mentioned a couple times in the past -- I think this started around the time people like Jeff Atwood said he jumped the shark -- (the Wasabi incident; sorry, I'd never be able to find links from Joel on this) that he's written about everything he knows about software development and has run out of things to say. I'm a little surprised that he will stop speaking and podcasting as well, but it make sense for similar reasons. Bands get tired of doing all their greatest hits all the time, I'm sure it's the same for public speakers. It will be interesting to see where he goes next. The hg init site is really nice. Perhaps he will focus on larger projects like that. Or maybe he'll focus on vacationing in the Hamptons. I feel like I've learned a lot for Joel over the years, so bon voyage.
- bootload 17y ago"...jumped the shark..." If you suffer from literalism (inability to process idioms), 'jump the shark' ~ http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jump%20the%20shark http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jump%20the%20... in this instance means Joel's creativity has reached it's maxima - as if.
- 100k 17y agoI'm confused. Are you suggesting that Joel has long since jumped the shark, or that he has not come close to reaching his full potential? The shark jumping incident I am referring to occurred in 2006 so it's not like this is a recent idea. http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2006/09/has-joel-spolsky-jumped-the-shark.html http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2006/09/has-joel-spolsky-ju...
- dasil003 17y agoI do suffer from literalism, and I'm having a hard time parsing the phrase "Joel's creativity has reached it is maxima - as if". Normally I just gloss over the many poorly written comments on the Internet without being a grammar nazi, but since you specifically wrote this for us literalism sufferers, I thought I'd point out that it was not in fact helpful.
- bootload 17y ago".. I do suffer from literalism .." So do I, that's why I paused to find it. What I should have said was "I don't think Joel's creativity is at it's maxima." You are absolutely right.
- RyanMcGreal 17y agoI think dasil is making reference to the grocer's apostrophe you inserted into "its". * its - third person neutral possessive pronoun (see also: my, your, his, her, their) * it's - contraction of "it is".
- bootload 17y ago"... think dasil is making reference to the grocer's apostrophe you inserted into "its". .." Thanks RyanMcGreal.
- cooperscreek 17y agoWhile we're nit-picking, maxima is the plural. Wouldn't someone's creativity (singular) reach a maximum?
- benatkin 17y agoThanks for sharing. I'm surprised the StackOverflow podcast, with its current hosts, lasted as long as it did. It takes a long time and a lot of effort to produce a podcast like theirs. It also takes a good chunk of time to listen to one, that could be used for other things, even when driving, like listening to an audiobook or music. For that reason, I tended to only listen to the podcast occasionally. I think the one with Steve Yegge as a guest was worth my time, though. http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2008/10/podcast-25/ http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2008/10/podcast-25/
- mdg 17y agoAlso on http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2009/04/podcast-50/ http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2009/04/podcast-50/
- 100k 17y agoThe SO podcast is one of the few I occasionally listen to but it suffers from the same problem that nearly every podcast does: it is extremely boring to listen to people ramble on for an hour. IMHO, podcasts as they exist today need to be more like radio programs: sharply edited, with a narrative progression. I have very little interest in listening to you and your buddy talk about how great XYZ is.
- nkh 17y ago"But as the business matures, I've come to realize that blogging is holding me back." How so? Does he mean in terms of time commitment. It seems like this a great marketing function, and would continue to be. I certainly would have never heard of Fog Creek without it.
- SamAtt 17y agoI haven't read the article but I think I can see where he's coming from. The developer market is pretty much saturated as far as marketing is concerned. If you're a developer you know who Joel is. So continuing to blog won't yield as many customers as spending time on marketing to other segments. I personally think it would be smarter to slow his posting frequency rather than quit all together but anyone whose read Joel's blog knows he has a certain love for the dramatic.
- runevault 17y agoHe can't slow down posting to his blog TOO much, it's a shock when new content comes up as it is.
- smackfu 17y agoI just looked and it actually seems like he picked up posting a bit more than he used to. For most of 2009 and maybe earlier, it was just product announcements and links to his column (which always seemed dumbed down.)
- 9oliYQjP 17y agoI went to one of his StackOverflow Dev Days. While I didn't speak to him, I caught glimpses of him every so often standing by himself amongst a sea of developers that made me think that he's getting a bit bored with... things... for lack of a better term. I'm not sure whether "things" would be his business, software development, or a combination of things in his life. The problem with being Joel from JoelOnSoftware is that you have to always be on. You can't ever have an opinion about anything without getting into a discussion with someone about it. Like you, I hope he just goes on sabbatical. Blogging/writing on a regular basis is a lot like polling vs event-driven programming. Joel's been polling himself way too often trying to come up with something to write so that he can publish something. When you poll for something, 90% of the time you'll find the thing you're precisely NOT interested in. I'm sure he'll be back when there's something good to talk about.
- retro 17y agoHis Mercurial tutorial/promotion of Kiln was a great example of how to present dense technical material in a colorful, expressive way. But between the constant drive to squeeze every penny he can out of StackOverflow, first by charging for Careers and now by looking for VC money, and the relentless agenda-pushing of his own products, I feel like I need a shill filter for anything he says.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- runevault 17y agoQuitting blogging he's mentioned in the past, so that's not a huge surprise. Killing the podcast (which I assume they are, since Joel's got all the equipment) makes sense as that's been going farther and farther downhill for a while. Quitting/cutting back on public speaking, however, kinda surprised me. Seems like those are still an effective way to reach new people, though I may be crazy.
- j_b_f 17y agoJoel's early writing really gave us a solid model for building our company 9 years ago (for better or for worse) and inspired us to start the thing in the first place. For that I will always be grateful.
- lbolognini 17y agoJoel changed my life! But now his role is over he educated a whole generation of developers, even those who prefer to bash him than give him credit!
- smackfu 17y agoI always found the posts about minor details of running a company to be the most interesting. Like the one on leasing NYC office space. There are plenty of programming blogs, but not a lot on those "starting a company" subjects.
- hackermom 17y agoshrug. i never quite liked his subtle tone of self-serving, nor was i happy about many of his downright erroneous advices and zealous indoctrination in programming.
- cema 17y agoEven if self-serving, he offered a number of points to think about. One does not have to always agree in order to learn a lesson. A wise man learns even from fools, so much better from smart men who are also successful.
- jrockway 17y agoI always enjoy watching things like this. People love to say, "I'm quitting $foo forever", but most of the time they come back. (Be it drinking, smoking, programming, writing, whatever... most people always come back.) I think it's funny because I know three people in the Perl community that publicly said they were leaving Perl forever a few years ago, and now they are all back on IRC just like old times. Forever indeed...
- barmstrong 17y agoStrange decision, his blog is a real asset that gave him tons of free marketing when launching StackOverflow and would probably serve him well in the future. Can't imagine how it would make sense for him to quit now, but then again I'm not in his shoes.
- nickelplate 17y agoThe problem is that he didn't reach a new audience with StackOverflow: the people who hang out on SO are the same people who read his blog.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]