

Joel Spolsky to stop blogging; shares insights from JoelOnSoftware success - leelin

From the March issue of Inc. Magazine's "How Hard Could It Be?" column...<p><pre><code>  Let's Take This Offline
  A decade ago, I started Joel on Software, a blog
  that put my company on the map.  But as the
  business matures, I've come to realize that 
  blogging is holding me back.
</code></pre>
Later in the article:<p><pre><code>  So having become an Internet celebrity in the
  narrow, niche world of programming, I've decided
  that it's time to retire from blogging. March
  17, the 10th anniversary of Joel on Software,
  will mark my last major post.  This also will be
  my last column for Inc.  For the most part, I
  will also quit podcasting and public speaking.
</code></pre>
The article also has some good insights into why most startup blogs are awful and boring.  JoelOnSoftware, on the other hand, was by accident an effective blog for the niche of readers who might use Fog Creek products.  Short answer: blog about topics interesting to people who haven't yet heard of your startup, but who might be customers one day.<p>I haven't been able to find the text online, possibly because Inc wants the print edition to circulate first?
======
100k
Joel has mentioned a couple times in the past -- I think this started around
the time people like Jeff Atwood said he jumped the shark -- (the Wasabi
incident; sorry, I'd never be able to find links from Joel on this) that he's
written about everything he knows about software development and has run out
of things to say.

I'm a little surprised that he will stop speaking and podcasting as well, but
it make sense for similar reasons. Bands get tired of doing all their greatest
hits all the time, I'm sure it's the same for public speakers.

It will be interesting to see where he goes next. The hg init site is really
nice. Perhaps he will focus on larger projects like that. Or maybe he'll focus
on vacationing in the Hamptons.

I feel like I've learned a lot for Joel over the years, so bon voyage.

~~~
bootload
_"...jumped the shark..."_

If you suffer from literalism (inability to process idioms), _'jump the
shark'_ ~
[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jump%20the%20...](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jump%20the%20shark)
in this instance means Joel's creativity has reached it's maxima - as if.

~~~
dasil003
I _do_ suffer from literalism, and I'm having a hard time parsing the phrase
"Joel's creativity has reached it is maxima - as if".

Normally I just gloss over the many poorly written comments on the Internet
without being a grammar nazi, but since you specifically wrote this for us
literalism sufferers, I thought I'd point out that it was not in fact helpful.

~~~
bootload
_".. I do suffer from literalism .."_

So do I, that's why I paused to find it. What I should have said was _"I don't
think Joel's creativity is at it's maxima."_ You are absolutely right.

~~~
RyanMcGreal
I think dasil is making reference to the grocer's apostrophe you inserted into
"its".

* its - third person neutral possessive pronoun (see also: my, your, his, her, their)

* it's - contraction of "it is".

~~~
bootload
_"... think dasil is making reference to the grocer's apostrophe you inserted
into "its". .."_

Thanks RyanMcGreal.

~~~
cooperscreek
While we're nit-picking, maxima is the plural. Wouldn't someone's creativity
(singular) reach a maximum?

~~~
bootload
_"... While we're nit-picking ..."_

Good point, now enough trolling.

------
j_b_f
Joel's early writing really gave us a solid model for building our company 9
years ago (for better or for worse) and inspired us to start the thing in the
first place. For that I will always be grateful.

------
benatkin
Thanks for sharing. I'm surprised the StackOverflow podcast, with its current
hosts, lasted as long as it did. It takes a long time and a lot of effort to
produce a podcast like theirs.

It also takes a good chunk of time to listen to one, that could be used for
other things, even when driving, like listening to an audiobook or music. For
that reason, I tended to only listen to the podcast occasionally. I think the
one with Steve Yegge as a guest was worth my time, though.

<http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2008/10/podcast-25/>

~~~
mdg
Also on <http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2009/04/podcast-50/>

~~~
brown9-2
Steve Yegge's appearance in this episode cracked me up to no end.

~~~
mdg
His two and when the Reddit guys were on (32 I think?) are my favorites.

------
nkh
"But as the business matures, I've come to realize that blogging is holding me
back."

How so? Does he mean in terms of time commitment. It seems like this a great
marketing function, and would continue to be. I certainly would have never
heard of Fog Creek without it.

~~~
SamAtt
I haven't read the article but I think I can see where he's coming from. The
developer market is pretty much saturated as far as marketing is concerned. If
you're a developer you know who Joel is. So continuing to blog won't yield as
many customers as spending time on marketing to other segments.

I personally think it would be smarter to slow his posting frequency rather
than quit all together but anyone whose read Joel's blog knows he has a
certain love for the dramatic.

~~~
runevault
He can't slow down posting to his blog TOO much, it's a shock when new content
comes up as it is.

~~~
smackfu
I just looked and it actually seems like he picked up posting a bit more than
he used to. For most of 2009 and maybe earlier, it was just product
announcements and links to his column (which always seemed dumbed down.)

------
runevault
Quitting blogging he's mentioned in the past, so that's not a huge surprise.
Killing the podcast (which I assume they are, since Joel's got all the
equipment) makes sense as that's been going farther and farther downhill for a
while.

Quitting/cutting back on public speaking, however, kinda surprised me. Seems
like those are still an effective way to reach new people, though I may be
crazy.

------
retro
His Mercurial tutorial/promotion of Kiln was a great example of how to present
dense technical material in a colorful, expressive way. But between the
constant drive to squeeze every penny he can out of StackOverflow, first by
charging for Careers and now by looking for VC money, and the relentless
agenda-pushing of his own products, I feel like I need a shill filter for
anything he says.

------
barmstrong
Strange decision, his blog is a real asset that gave him tons of free
marketing when launching StackOverflow and would probably serve him well in
the future. Can't imagine how it would make sense for him to quit now, but
then again I'm not in his shoes.

~~~
nickelplate
The problem is that he didn't reach a _new_ audience with StackOverflow: the
people who hang out on SO are the same people who read his blog.

------
smackfu
I always found the posts about minor details of running a company to be the
most interesting. Like the one on leasing NYC office space. There are plenty
of programming blogs, but not a lot on those "starting a company" subjects.

------
jrockway
I always enjoy watching things like this. People love to say, "I'm quitting
$foo forever", but most of the time they come back. (Be it drinking, smoking,
programming, writing, whatever... most people always come back.)

I think it's funny because I know three people in the Perl community that
publicly said they were leaving Perl forever a few years ago, and now they are
all back on IRC just like old times. Forever indeed...

------
hackermom
_shrug_. i never quite liked his subtle tone of self-serving, nor was i happy
about many of his downright erroneous advices and zealous indoctrination in
programming.

~~~
cema
Even if self-serving, he offered a number of points to think about. One does
not have to always agree in order to learn a lesson. A wise man learns even
from fools, so much better from smart men who are also successful.

