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I can definitely relate with the feeling described. I too got the "prize" from Unix&Linux.SE. The hand signed letter by Spolsky definitely had a strong effect.

I can definitely relate with the feeling described. I too got the "prize" from Unix&Linux.SE. The hand signed letter by Spolsky definitely had a strong effect. I felt proud like a child receiving a gold star in kindergarden. A piece of advice for all the startup/business founders here on HN. When you send personalized communication to your users, be it a personal email, or something as superficial as putting your handwritten signature on a bunch of papers, you make us very happy. As a frequent user of the general WWW, I could not recommend enough you do this.

darxius 14y ago
Hi there, I'm the author of the post. I couldn't agree more with your comment. I liked the letter so much I put it in a frame I had lying around and I mounted it on my wall. I think a lot of startups should heed your advice and provide this same kind of "WOW" service. Letting your users know you respect them can go a long way for a company that really means it.
ashovlin 14y ago
The same goes for recruiting. I'm a student at Penn State which is a ranked CS school, but not necessarily Stanford or MIT. I noticed a stack of Fog Creek recruiting pamphlets in the lobby to our CS building. Inside each one was a signed letter from Joel. Students are inundated with literature at career fairs and events, but this was the only one I read entirely and then saved.
- georgemcbay 14y ago
  Based on various stories that popped up due to this blog post I'm starting to suspect either Joel has an Autopen or an intern that does nothing but sign his name on things. Could he really be signing letters sent out in "stacks"? One would assume that many more schools than just Penn State got such stacks. And then on top of that he's sending out hundreds of these hand-signed letters to top members of all the different new SE sites? Even if he isn't really signing each personally, there's still a good message here, but I'm now curious as to whether or not he's really signing all that stuff.
srik 14y ago
How did they go about doing this. Did they send you an email saying they needed your address in order to mail you a letter or did they already have your address? If they did send a request, it must have taken away the surprise factor a little bit.

darxius 14y ago

Hi there, I'm the author of the post. I couldn't agree more with your comment. I liked the letter so much I put it in a frame I had lying around and I mounted it on my wall. I think a lot of startups should heed your advice and provide this same kind of "WOW" service. Letting your users know you respect them can go a long way for a company that really means it.

ashovlin 14y ago

The same goes for recruiting. I'm a student at Penn State which is a ranked CS school, but not necessarily Stanford or MIT. I noticed a stack of Fog Creek recruiting pamphlets in the lobby to our CS building. Inside each one was a signed letter from Joel. Students are inundated with literature at career fairs and events, but this was the only one I read entirely and then saved.

georgemcbay 14y ago
Based on various stories that popped up due to this blog post I'm starting to suspect either Joel has an Autopen or an intern that does nothing but sign his name on things. Could he really be signing letters sent out in "stacks"? One would assume that many more schools than just Penn State got such stacks. And then on top of that he's sending out hundreds of these hand-signed letters to top members of all the different new SE sites? Even if he isn't really signing each personally, there's still a good message here, but I'm now curious as to whether or not he's really signing all that stuff.

srik 14y ago

How did they go about doing this. Did they send you an email saying they needed your address in order to mail you a letter or did they already have your address? If they did send a request, it must have taken away the surprise factor a little bit.