4 ms·

In recent months the quality of the posts on the SVN blog seems to have deteriorated quite dramatically. I can remember times when I enjoyed almost every singl

by prs 17y ago

In recent months the quality of the posts on the SVN blog seems to have deteriorated quite dramatically. I can remember times when I enjoyed almost every single blog post from the 37signals guys. This blog entry seems to have taken one of their mottos ('You can always do less') to new extremes. Too much fluff for my taste recently.

dhh 17y ago
Ponder the possibility that you might be the one who changed. Maybe you read too much blog advice and got tired of it. Too much of anything is bad. We have over a hundred thousand readers at SvN. Some just joined, some has been with us for a decade, everyone is different in some sense. I write about what I care about and what I think about without too much concern as to whether everyone will love it all.
- nonrecursive 17y ago
  It seems like the content on SVN is more earnest and perhaps less thoughtful. I loved the blog back in 2005/2006, and perhaps I did just get tired of reading variations on the same themes over and over. Maybe the content has the same degree of earnestness and thoughtfulness, and I'm just expecting more nuanced discussion on ideas after five years. I'm thinking in particular of this post: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2233-not-for-sale http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2233-not-for-sale . The language is over-the-top, especially in the first couple paragraphs. It feels appropriate for a pep rally, which I guess doesn't appeal to me any longer. Beyond the tone, I found the content lacking. Can you really not understand why someone would want to sell their company? I mean, here you are denigrating serial entrepreneurs because they exhibit no understanding for why someone would want to hold onto his company. And then you proceed to spell out why serial entrepreneurs have no good reason whatsoever for wanting to flip. You're using this hyped-up language to create this perception of a religious war - even using "worshipped", "non-believers", "holy grail". And for what? I just don't understand it. Why'd you write this article? If you have the time to respond, I really would like to know. I respect 37s immensely and you in particular, and I really do want to understand. So you have different values than an archetypal serial entrepreneur. Well, so what? Why are your values so much better that they're "servants" and you're not? I think the topic is interesting, but the way it comes across, it's like you're having a shouting match over whether blue or green is the best color in the world.
  - dhh 17y ago
    That particular post was born out of a frustration with the disbelief about not being for sale and what I consider an infatuation with flipping companies and serial entrepreneurs. I don't think the language is any more colorful than it's always been. I prefer to put my writing in strong terms with clearly marked boundaries. I'm usually just writing a handful of paragraphs, not a dissertation. So the "ifs, buts, and maybes" have to be read between the lines.
    - dhyasama 17y ago
      Upvoted for giving insight into your process. I criticized that post for being over the top. A friend uses a similar technique where he overstates almost everything and it is effective. People listen to his opinions. The danger is in overstating too far or too often as it can turn into a boy who cried wolf kind of thing. With that being said, I've thought a lot about my comment yesterday and have come to the conclusion that I need to work on finding the core spirit of posts and address that rather than the particulars. It's easy to pick apart blog posts because like you said, it isn't a dissertation and you can't address every edge case.
    - nonrecursive 17y ago
      Thank you for your response!

by prs 17y ago

dhh 17y ago

Ponder the possibility that you might be the one who changed. Maybe you read too much blog advice and got tired of it. Too much of anything is bad. We have over a hundred thousand readers at SvN. Some just joined, some has been with us for a decade, everyone is different in some sense. I write about what I care about and what I think about without too much concern as to whether everyone will love it all.

nonrecursive 17y ago
It seems like the content on SVN is more earnest and perhaps less thoughtful. I loved the blog back in 2005/2006, and perhaps I did just get tired of reading variations on the same themes over and over. Maybe the content has the same degree of earnestness and thoughtfulness, and I'm just expecting more nuanced discussion on ideas after five years. I'm thinking in particular of this post: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2233-not-for-sale http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2233-not-for-sale . The language is over-the-top, especially in the first couple paragraphs. It feels appropriate for a pep rally, which I guess doesn't appeal to me any longer. Beyond the tone, I found the content lacking. Can you really not understand why someone would want to sell their company? I mean, here you are denigrating serial entrepreneurs because they exhibit no understanding for why someone would want to hold onto his company. And then you proceed to spell out why serial entrepreneurs have no good reason whatsoever for wanting to flip. You're using this hyped-up language to create this perception of a religious war - even using "worshipped", "non-believers", "holy grail". And for what? I just don't understand it. Why'd you write this article? If you have the time to respond, I really would like to know. I respect 37s immensely and you in particular, and I really do want to understand. So you have different values than an archetypal serial entrepreneur. Well, so what? Why are your values so much better that they're "servants" and you're not? I think the topic is interesting, but the way it comes across, it's like you're having a shouting match over whether blue or green is the best color in the world.
- dhh 17y ago
  That particular post was born out of a frustration with the disbelief about not being for sale and what I consider an infatuation with flipping companies and serial entrepreneurs. I don't think the language is any more colorful than it's always been. I prefer to put my writing in strong terms with clearly marked boundaries. I'm usually just writing a handful of paragraphs, not a dissertation. So the "ifs, buts, and maybes" have to be read between the lines.
  - dhyasama 17y ago
    Upvoted for giving insight into your process. I criticized that post for being over the top. A friend uses a similar technique where he overstates almost everything and it is effective. People listen to his opinions. The danger is in overstating too far or too often as it can turn into a boy who cried wolf kind of thing. With that being said, I've thought a lot about my comment yesterday and have come to the conclusion that I need to work on finding the core spirit of posts and address that rather than the particulars. It's easy to pick apart blog posts because like you said, it isn't a dissertation and you can't address every edge case.
  - nonrecursive 17y ago
    Thank you for your response!