E
Evan Williams
evhead.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2007
Evan Williams, co-founder of Blogger, Twitter, and Medium, writes about startups, product ideas, domains, and online identity.
What HN saysCommenters cite his 2005 "Ten Rules for Web Startups" and his view that domains matter less, and one praises the site's readable layout.
66HN people shared it
19linked it in comments
56stories submitted
1.1Kstory points
5 years agolast shared
2007people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1Ten Rules for Web Startups (2005)20 people · 449 points · first shared 2007 · 42 comments on HN
- 2Evan Williams: Will it fly? How to Evaluate a New Product Idea8 people · 85 points · first shared 2007 · 23 comments on HN
- 3Five Reasons Domains Are Getting Less Important5 people · 27 points · first shared 2011 · 14 comments on HN
- 4The Birth of Obvious Corp.4 people · 9 points · first shared 2007 · 2 comments on HN
- 5Five Easy Pieces of Online Identity3 people · 41 points · first shared 2011 · 15 comments on HN
- 6Start with Kindling3 people · 26 points · first shared 2011 · 4 comments on HN
- 7Evan Williams on leaving Twitter2 people · 216 points · first shared 2011 · 64 comments on HN
- 8Why Retweet works the way it does2 people · 54 points · first shared 2009 · 25 comments on HN
- 9How About 30-use Free Trials Instead of 30-days?2 people · 33 points · first shared 2011 · 17 comments on HN
- 10Starting a company is like landing on the shore of a deserted island2 people · 32 points · first shared 2008 · 7 comments on HN
- 11Going west, as a young man2 people · 27 points · first shared 2007 · 12 comments on HN
- 12What Blogger Should Do2 people · 8 points · first shared 2008 · discussion on HN
- 13Marketplace wanted for websites2 people · 5 points · first shared 2007 · discussion on HN
- 14Evhead: The Processizer2 people · 3 points · first shared 2008 · discussion on HN
- 15The Future of Identity Belongs to Apple and Google1 people · 20 points · first shared 2011 · 1 comments on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
earplug · 2011-10-02
Yea those are great, sorta reminds me of this from 2005:
http://evhead.com/2005/11/ten-rules-for-web-startups.asp
*BTW, you should note that this list is circa 2004 in the title :)
betaPass · 2010-09-15
First and foremost,I admire the frankness with which you have written this article.
But I certainly did feel you were criticizing yourself a tad too much, and perhaps over-simplifying some of your real issues.
Here's a blog article of Evan Williams written in 2005, which rings very true, even today.
http://evhead.com/2005/11/ten-rules-for-web-startups.asp
I sincerely wish you the very best going forward.
Rise from the ashes,go for the riches! :-)
scorxn · 2010-01-06
Agreed. This layout felt so refreshing when it was on the frontpage earlier: http://evhead.com/
Body copy is 16px on the homepage, 17px on post pages.
as1ndu · 2015-09-19
No, it is not. may be in the 90's but this is 2015, we have search engine optimization, apps are not acessed on the domain, they run in the users device (case study http://vine.co ). Read advice from co-founder twitter, founder of blogger and medium http://evhead.com/2011/06/five-reasons-domains-are-less-important.html
edpichler · 2015-08-11
Regarding of company domain names, I respectably disagree with Paul,and I agree with Ev
http://evhead.com/2011/06/five-reasons-domains-are-less-important.html
Maybe I'm wrong, and it's most easy to "my mind" accept Ev idea.
pknerd · 2015-08-09
Evan Williams of Blogger/Twitter fame disagree with it.
http://evhead.com/2011/06/five-reasons-domains-are-less-important.html
gala8y · 2013-12-25
This is a very powerful idea - just unearthed an old post for you: http://evhead.com/2008/09/processizer.html
capex · 2012-11-14
The most attractive website, with a catchy name, and all the bells and whistles amounts to nothing if your product is nothing to be proud of.
Why not choose a simple name with a different TLD? Basecamp has been basecamphq all these years. Also, read Evan Williams' thoughts on this: http://evhead.com/2011/06/five-reasons-domains-are-less-important.html
citricsquid · 2011-03-29
Ah. Seems he didn't update this post then: http://evhead.com/2006/10/birth-of-obvious-corp_25.asp as it links to obviouscorp.com
darwinGod · 2010-10-08
I think a lot of points mentioned/not mentioned in this article are debatable...Security,Features,Target audience... But this article by Evan Williams is almost timeless( written in 2005, Pre Zynga, pre Facebook)
http://evhead.com/2005/11/ten-rules-for-web-startups.asp
SilianRail · 2010-09-28
"User experience is everything. It always has been, but it's still undervalued and under-invested in. If you don't know user-centered design, study it. Hire people who know it. Obsess over it. Live and breathe it. Get your whole company on board." - Evan Williams CEO of Twitter
http://evhead.com/2005/11/ten-rules-for-web-startups.asp
mrduncan · 2010-07-23
I've found myself referring back to Evan Williams "Ten Rules for Web Startups" (2005!) on many occasions.
http://evhead.com/2005/11/ten-rules-for-web-startups.asp
niallsmart · 2010-05-27
Anyone interested in this topic shouldn't miss this either: http://evhead.com/2007/12/how-to-evaluate-new-product-idea.asp.
mschaecher · 2010-02-28
What if Apple had called the iPod the 'Apple MP3 Player'? via Evan Williams http://evhead.com/2007/03/brandonomics.asp
terpua · 2009-08-25
Thanks for the library. Useful. However, I found a blog post cut-off.
Here's the post: http://evhead.com/2005/11/ten-rules-for-web-startups.asp
nostrademons · 2009-05-16
Would you believe Evan Williams when he writes about startups? He did his "10 rules for webstartups" (http://evhead.com/2005/11/ten-rules-for-web-startups.asp) and then broke all of them with Odeo, which, not surprisingly, failed.
bootload · 2007-05-31
A Niall Kennedy startup ( http://evhead.com/2007/05/startupsearch.asp ). I wonder about these metric collectors in startups. Hollywood also uses a setup like this ... a private cosy little web chat site for insiders that measures (and decides) the confidence of how a movie is progressing. One bad review there ... a bit of bad gossip, the group confidence drops and the bears start running.
gustaf · 2007-05-21
http://evhead.com/2006/10/birth-of-obvious-corp_25.asp
Until today it's funded by Evan Williams who bought Twitter and Odeo from it's previous investor last year.