Joel on Software

2000/05/12

Are you a Ben and Jerry's company or an Amazon company?

In Strategy Letter I, I talk about two different kinds of startups. If you don't know which one you are, you're going to make lots of mistakes and you won't even know why.

Sometimes, my kind readers resort to tricks to find out if I'm awake! Like this suggestion from Hanan. It sounds good at first, but after a minute you realize it might be a minefield.

College students: my company has paid summer internships in New York City, including free housing, free lunch, and the chance to develop software people will really use, with great mentors on interesting projects. Don't miss this chance of a lifetime. We only have a few spaces and they always go fast, so apply today.

Want to know more?

You’re reading Joel on Software, stuffed with years and years of completely raving mad articles about software development, managing software teams, designing user interfaces, running successful software companies, and rubber duckies.

About the author.

I’m Joel Spolsky, founder of Fog Creek Software, a New York company that proves that you can treat programmers well and still be highly profitable. Programmers get private offices, free lunch, and work 40 hours a week. Customers only pay for software if they’re delighted. We make FogBugz, an enlightened project management system designed to help great teams develop brilliant software, and Fog Creek Copilot, which makes remote desktop access easy.