Great advice. I wish I had some of this prior to going in on a business venture with a good friend of mine. The biggest problem we faced was that my partner had just gotten into a relationship which requires almost as much time as a new venture. So while I was envisioning 10 hour work days, he was envisioning days filled with several breaks to catch up with his girlfriend and/or his work hours were based around her schedule. This made it extremely hard for me to focus and set time for us to work together.
With that said, I would add to the list of questions - What other outside relationships will you need to spend significant time on and how will this affect our work days/schedule?
> The biggest problem we faced was that my partner had just gotten into a relationship which requires almost as much time as a new venture.
This is when you start giving people ultimatums. Sounds dramatic, but it isn't. It's what's required to run a successful business - having a girlfriend isn't business, it's charity.
I'll second this post in that Sam (and his friend) are really great guys (and yes, they won't rape you). If I had a couch, or a place for that matter, I'd let you guys crash. Maybe we can just get coffee instead :)
I want to feel involved. Plus, if I'm using a website to the extent that I'm going to want a username and password I pretty much expect that I may have to fill out more information upon registration so it is not as bothersome.
It also depends on what your website offers. If you are selling products (like ebay), instant gratification also comes into the picture. Whenever I'm shopping online and go to "checkout" I'm much more satisfied when I my information is already in the system and I can checkout with a few clicks, rather than having to enter all the information, etc. before I can actually purchase my product.
Re: your reference to Craiglist, sometimes I wish I did have an account with Craigslist so I could see my selling/buying history or have my email address or phone number stored.
Again though, depends on what your website is offering...
What I found most interesting there is that, if the 100% annual growth continues, Ruby will overtake Java in a little over a year, and become the most popular language (based on books sold) shortly after that.
Of course, it looks like ruby is slowing down, so that might not ever happen.
Also, since Groovy came from nowhere, it's growth rate is basically infinite. If that trend continues, by next month every atom in the universe will have bought a Groovy book...
