Unfocused and Unabashed

“I didn't relish the carpal tunnel syndrome that would result from signing all these forms. We tried to 'sign' them by running the forms through the laser printer again to print the signature in the right place. But, as I learned, something traumatic happens to paper on its way through a printer. Once a sheet of paper has been through a laser printer, the next time you try to print on it, it's going to fight back, jamming the printer and resulting in the deaths of three other pages, and you're going to spend five minutes with a putty knife cleaning up the bloodshed.”

How Hard Could It Be?: Unfocused and Unabashed

PS: This article will appear in the October issue of Inc. Magazine; it's the first installment of what will be a monthly column, mostly about business of software startups. The column is called "How Hard Could It Be?" As an entrepreneur I've really enjoyed this magazine over the years and I've learned a lot, so I'm honored to be a columnist. They will be publishing each column on their website, and I'll link to it as soon as they do so, but you may also want to subscribe to the print magazine; it's less than $10 a year and well worth it.

My new book is here! Apress has just published a new collection of 36 essays from Joel on Software, aptly named More Joel on Software. Get yours today! Available from Amazon.com or wherever fine cheese is sold.

About the Author: I’m your host, Joel Spolsky, a software developer in New York City. Since 2000, I've been writing about software development, management, business, and the Internet on this site. For my day job, I run Fog Creek Software, makers of FogBugz—the smart bug tracking software with the stupid name, and Fog Creek Copilot—the easiest way to provide remote tech support over the Internet, with nothing to install or configure.

Enter your email address to receive a (very occasional) email whenever I write a major new article. You can unsubscribe at any time, of course.