I think this depends on if you're hiring someone new primarily to take the coding pressure of the current team / founders or if you're hiring someone that will

I think this depends on if you're hiring someone new primarily to take the coding pressure of the current team / founders or if you're hiring someone that will grow into leading a group later on and have to wear a lot of hats along the way. But I don't think Joel is really talking about startups, he's talking about Fog Creek. Fog Creek isn't a startup, it's an established, profitable, small business, and for small businesses, he's right.