Joel Spolsky warns BOS2010 audience to be careful about change

One of the most profound talks at #Bos2010 was by Joel Spolsky. As well as discussing VCs, he also talked about change. We live in an almost perpetual state of change and generally it is a very good thing. But change can also mean destruction.

Craigslist has revolutionised the classified advertising industry and decimated the Newspaper industry which used it as a solid source of revenue. The money has effectively been taken away from Newspapers and put back into the pockets of the advertisers. Newspapers are not charities, but a proportion of that money paid for expensive investigation teams who reinforced our democracies, held people to account and exposed wrong. Who is going to do that now?

There is no simple answer but maybe we need to think very carefully if we are the instigators of change and consider all the implications. The law of unintended consequences is always waiting to trap us…

The UK is a great place to be at this time of year. The leaves are turning, and having partied last weekend for Halloween, we get lots of bonfires and fireworks on friday night in honour of Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators, who tried unsuccessfully to blow up parliament 400 years ago. They tried to bring in their own set of changes and failed miserably but had a profound effect on history. If they had thought through all the consequences, maybe the world would be a very different place now…