He's right on just about every account. For most web-based businesses, there are better ways to get users than blogging. (I say this as someone who built a pret

He's right on just about every account. For most web-based businesses, there are better ways to get users than blogging. (I say this as someone who built a pretty solid one off of a blog in the past as well.) There's too much competition. It takes too much effort to write high-quality content frequently enough to attract lots of attention. The conversion rate is low, and the price is high. Sure it works for some people. It worked for Joel and 37 Signals. It worked for me once upon a time. All of us started before the word "blog" had entered the popular lexicon, but it could probably work now with the right niche and enough effort. But if you're a small startup, you'd be better off programming some viral hooks, maybe doing some basic SEO, testing out Ad Words, a/b testing landing pages and every other point in your sales funnel, etc. Blogs, Facebook Pages, and Twitter just won't give you the ROI those will when developer hours are a big factor.