I think there's something in the idea of putting people in roles where they balance out other people's strengths and weaknesses. Fog Creek probably doesn't lac

I think there's something in the idea of putting people in roles where they balance out other people's strengths and weaknesses. Fog Creek probably doesn't lack for smart engineering people, but might benefit from someone who has a wider view on media and society in general - as well as enterprise sales, which Spolsky calls out specifically. Tech people and engineers, on the whole, loathe enterprise sales. Dharmesh Shah and Brian Halligan at HubSpot spring to mind two guys who you might not ordinarily put together but they've both got a big role, and it's the same kind of deal. Shah is an engineer and a hacker, Halligan is more of an old-school sales guy. The reason why this is a smart move is the same reason why it is counterintuitive.