Friedisms
friedisms.tumblr.com
friedisms.tumblr.com
I read it because everyone is reading it, but I hate reading it. I always feel like he's sending poor new boot-strappers down the path of destruction and he doesn't seem to care - it's all about getting eyeballs on his blog and on his products.
He disagrees with just about every tried-and-true business strategy that ever existed, and he gets a lot of readers by just flipping the ideas upside down.
Please, if you're starting a business, write a basic plan (at least), set goals for your business, and launch when you feel the time is right, not just early because everyone says to launch early.
After all, everyone around the tech forums just want you to launch early because they want to see if you have a good idea that's not flushed out enough yet so they can copy it quickly and build it out faster and better than you. Only the competition are reading these threads - your customers are out in the world.
There's so much thing from 37signals that are applied blindly by "startups" : subdomains (mycompany.theapp.com), launching too early, having a name that is [random_number][random_word]. They have good ideas but sometimes, it may not be good for you...
that's hardly a 37signals "thing" and makes sense in a lot of products.
if i remember correctly, livejournal moved users from livejournal.com/user to user.livejournal.com many years ago for security reasons due to some cookie issue with a certain browser. moving to subdomains allowed them to set per-host cookies.
I read it because everyone is reading it, but I hate reading it.
then...
Please, if you're starting a business...
Why would I take startup advice from someone who admits to being a sheep, and worse, admits to hating it?
I really don't know a whole lot about JF or 37s, but most of what he has to say really resonates well with me.
He has succeeded with a formula based on cool technology, out-of-the-box thinking, and customer revenue. What's so bad about that?
Naturally, there's not a one-to-one correspondence between his success and his advice, he may have gotten lucky a few times, and some of his advice may not apply, but I still take it with a grain of salt and enjoy it. The self-promotion doesn't bother me a bit; there are probably a few good lessons in there for all of us.
Maybe this is mean, but if you have succeeded in something, please share. Otherwise, listen until you have.
Because he didn't admit being a sheep? It's useful (to the point of being necessary) to know and understand the arguments on the other side of the table, and it's extraordinarily important to have a common ground with the people you expect to talk to. If everyone is reading 37s, 37s is a much better starting point for an intelligent conversation than the recounting of a lesser known articulation for unfamiliar participants.
I see this attitude often, and I think it boils down to delusion of grandeur - people thing their ideas are so valuable that everyone will steal it or if things go wrong the whole internet will talk trash about it and their glorious future will be ruined forever. None of that ever happens of course, but what does happen is many engineers clinging to their ideas and half-finished products afraid to come out to light.
What? Really? You think people say to launch early because they want to copy you?
This guy is awesome!
sigh
The Sphinx: When you can balance a tack hammer on your head, you will head off your foes with a balanced attack.
The Sphinx: When you care what is outside, what is inside cares for you.