Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?
I&#x27;ve been blogging since 1998 and can trace every major step forward in my career to my blog.<p>In 2003 I started writing about social networking and education - the replies to that blog post helped me kickstart my first startup.<p>In 2009 my blog posts about technology ethics led to me giving a talk at Harvard, which led to my becoming the first employee at a media tech startup.<p>That in turn led to me learning more about media tech accelerators. I applied to one with a new startup idea, and got in, in part because my blogging on the open web was picked up by the New York Times as part of a story.<p>Blogging for that startup helped us find customers and a like-minded community.<p>When that startup was acquired, blogging both externally and internally at the acquirer helped me make friends and share ideas that wouldn&#x27;t have reached the right people otherwise.<p>And so on. Sharing ideas - not just tips, but thoughts about the <i>why</i> and <i>who</i> behind technology, as well as being vulnerable in public - has let me cut through from being a nobody in Edinburgh to someone with a pretty great technology career in SF.<p>And even if none of that had happened, writing is a wonderful way to structure your thoughts, consider what really matters, and reflect.<p>I recommend it. Start a blog - on your own domain, on webspace that you control.