My favorite quote from the article:
> Watching non-programmers trying to run software companies is like watching someone who doesn’t know how to surf trying to surf.
> Watching non-programmers trying to run software companies is like watching someone who doesn’t know how to surf trying to surf.
You mean everybody who runs software companies then?
Maybe you're just pointing out that if you're running a company (beyond a certain size) you are probably spending all your time running the company and therefore aren't really a programmer any more. But isn't it obvious that Spolsky doesn't mean "person whose main activity is writing software" but "person who knows how to write software and has done a substantial amount of that"? Gates, Zuckerberg and Ellison are all programmers in that sense.
Indeed, Google has hired a lot of people with business background lately to operate large parts of it's business. We should, though, acknowledge that Google operates in many now mature markets where innovation plays secondary role to focusing on existing customer needs.