Joel Spolsky's talk at Business of Software 2008 on being number one
How come you can recognise the tune of the number one song of 1968 as being Hey Jude by the Beatles, but not the number two song?
Why has the iPod had the success that the Zune has been denied?
Why are Herman Miller chairs cool, but their functionally equivalent competitors lame?
Why is Ruby hip but Java square?
Why are clean code, usability and basic marketing just hygiene factors? How come they can get you to the number two spot, but not to number one?
In this video from Business of Software 2008, Joel explains the three important factors behind getting to number one. Along the way, he talks about anthropology, psychology, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. And kittens.
This year's conference is in November 9th - 11th, in San Francisco. Joel will be speaking, as will Paul Graham, Geoffrey Moore, Don Norman, Dharmesh Shah and many, many other awesome people.
There are a few (under 20 - I haven't updated the web site in a while) tickets left at the special price of $1,845.
You can find out more at the Business of Software conference website. I reckon they'll sell out this week, so if you want to come then act fast.
Enjoyed this post? Then follow me on Twitter (I'm @neildavidson).
Subscribe to the RSS feed
Nice talk, but why does Joel contradicts himself every two sentences?
Posted by: Slartibartfast | September 02, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Nice video, but the important thing is the slides and the audio, not the audio and pictures of Joel
Posted by: diego | September 03, 2009 at 11:32 AM
This presentation is heavy on jokes and light on content. Unfortunately, the jokes don't really carry it.
Posted by: Brian Manahan | September 07, 2009 at 05:56 PM
Yes, I'd rather have an MP3 which I could listen to while working.
Posted by: Barry | September 10, 2009 at 06:25 PM
paylaşımı için thenks
Posted by: çiçekçi | September 19, 2009 at 08:37 PM
I don't understand what joel is trying to say it is so confusing man and there are some repetitive santances.
Posted by: game | October 06, 2009 at 11:47 AM
Glad I didn't pay for this crap. Joel says Firefox is #1, them lambastes Windows for asking you to update Windows when you first start it up. This is exactly what Firefox does Joel. He acts like its Windows fault that the user needs a USB cable to connect their camera to their PC and somehow Windows causes you to spill your coffee. Geez! Joel I know you've written some good things in the past, but comedy, and possibly analogies, are not your forte.
Posted by: Rick Jensen | October 07, 2009 at 01:34 AM
Hello I like this comment"Windows fault that the user needs a USB cable to connect their camera to their PC and somehow Windows causes you to spill your coffee"
Posted by: viagra online | March 30, 2010 at 04:35 PM
I pod got success due to its marketing and brand value. well its good to see this post
Posted by: Generic viagra Online | April 07, 2010 at 09:47 AM