# Joel Spolsky

> Joel Spolsky is a New York-based software engineer, author, and company founder. He co-founded Stack Overflow with Jeff Atwood, served as its CEO from 2010 to 2019, and co-founded Fog Creek Software with Michael Pryor, where Trello originated. His Joel on Software essays cover programming, product design, and management. He is now a co-founder of HASH with Dei Vilkinsons and has worked on the Block Protocol for interoperable, data-driven web components.

- **Role:** Co-founder at HASH
- **Organizations:** HASH, Block Protocol, Stack Overflow, Fog Creek Software, Trello, Glitch, Microsoft, Juno Online Services, Viacom
- **From:** Albuquerque, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS in Computer Science, summa cum laude, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania
- **Known for:** Co-founded Stack Overflow, which Prosus agreed to acquire for approximately $1.8 billion in June 2021., Co-founded Fog Creek Software, the company where FogBugz, Trello, and Glitch originated., Helped create Trello, acquired by Atlassian in a $425 million announced transaction in 2017.

## Career timeline

- **1965** — Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
- **Age 15** — Moved with his family to Israel at age 15; later served as a paratrooper and helped found Kibbutz Hanaton.
- **1991** — Graduated from Yale and joined Microsoft as an Excel program manager on June 17.
- **1995** — Moved to New York; worked at Viacom and later Juno Online Services.
- **2000** — Started Joel on Software and co-founded Fog Creek Software with Michael Pryor.
- **2008** — Co-founded Stack Overflow with Jeff Atwood; public launch was September 15.
- **2010-2019** — Served as Stack Overflow CEO, according to his current personal biography.
- **2011** — Trello launched from Fog Creek at TechCrunch Disrupt in September.
- **2014** — Trello became a separate company with Michael Pryor as CEO.
- **2017** — Atlassian announced the acquisition of Trello for $425 million.
- **2019** — Announced his move out of Stack Overflow’s daily management; Prashanth Chandrasekar succeeded him as CEO on October 1.
- **2020** — Publicly introduced HASH, co-founded with Dei Vilkinsons, as a platform for simulations.
- **2021** — Prosus announced a $1.8 billion acquisition of Stack Overflow.
- **2022** — Introduced the Block Protocol and later described progress on structured, machine-readable web content.
- **2023** — Co-authored the Block Protocol 0.3 and WordPress support announcement on February 28.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Stack Overflow, which Prosus agreed to acquire for approximately $1.8 billion in June 2021.
- Co-founded Fog Creek Software, the company where FogBugz, Trello, and Glitch originated.
- Helped create Trello, acquired by Atlassian in a $425 million announced transaction in 2017.
- Managed the launch of VBA in Excel 5.0 at Microsoft.
- Authored four books on software development, interface design, and technical hiring.
- Created the 12-question Joel Test and articulated the Law of Leaky Abstractions.

## Latest updates

- **2023-02** — Co-authored the February 28 announcement of Block Protocol 0.3 and a public-beta WordPress plugin with Ciaran Morinan and Dei Vilkinsons.
- **2022-12** — Published “Progress on the Block Protocol,” describing interfaces that make structured web publishing easier.
- **2022-01** — Introduced the Block Protocol as an open approach to sharing blocks across web applications.
- **2021-06** — Announced Stack Overflow’s move to Prosus and described his work with Dei Vilkinsons on HASH.

## Links

- Website: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelspolsky
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/spolsky
- GitHub: https://github.com/jspolsky
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spolsky

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/joel-spolsky
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-13