I believe Fog Creek had (at the time of writing this) already been in both situations at various points. Joel wasn't famous at the start. But the context of th

I believe Fog Creek had (at the time of writing this) already been in both situations at various points. Joel wasn't famous at the start. But the context of this statement isn't really related to fresh startups. it's aimed at software companies... presumably with existing customers and revenue. And yes, it's true that there are lots of exceptions at any level... a big press score or whatnot. The underlying point is solid though, imo. Most software companies best strategy is to make more/better software for their customers to buy/use. Shiny, big, spiky "tactical wins" are neither necessary nor sufficient. They just loom large in our narration of events.