Actually, I'm a big fan. There's no denying his personal work ethic, leadership, and marketing skills. Several of our clients actually use FogBuzz. If all i

Actually, I'm a big fan. There's no denying his personal work ethic, leadership, and marketing skills. Several of our clients actually use FogBuzz. If all it took was money, everyone could be just as successful. Anyone remember Magnet Interactive? It was a consulting shrink-wrap product start-up bootstrapped by blue-bloods which was started post dot-com-crash. It died a quick death. Joel and his partner built Fog Creek into a success post-dot-com bust and switched business models from consulting to products on-the-fly. They also do a great deal with a very small staff. Analogies to Craigslist come to mind. There's a lot to admire. It's just a poor subject and analogy choice for Joel. I got the same feeling recently when reading an article on how to "fix" America's public school system--written by Jack (ex GE-CEO) and Suzi Welch. Mr. Welch may know "leadership" and how to run a large business conglomerate, but he has zero "line" experience with the day-to-day challenges of teachers in the modern classroom. Unfortunately, there's no way to avoid some ad hominem in my refutation since the article's thesis is itself purportedly supported by ad hominem experiences. The article quotes specific examples from Joel's conscripted Isreali Army experience. My comments include examples provided by Joel himself on his personal website and essays on building Fog Creek over the years.