Episode 500!!! And it has been a journey! Nearly 13 years ago we started this podcast and as of today (this episode) we’ve officially shipped our 500th episode. As a companion to this episode, Jerod and Adam shipped a special Backstage episode where they reflect on 500 episodes. And…not only has it been a journey for us, but it’s also been a journey for our good friend Chris Coyier and CSS-Tricks — which he grew from his personal blog to a massively popular contributor driven model, complete with an editor-in-chief, a wide array of influential contributors, and advertisers to help fund the way. The news, of course, is that CSS-Tricks was recently acquired by DigitalOcean in March of 2022. We get into all the details of this deal, his journey, and the legacy of CSS-Tricks.

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Sponsors:

• Square – Develop on the platform that sellers trust. There is a massive opportunity for developers to support Square sellers by building apps for today’s business needs. Learn more at changelog.com/square to dive into the docs, APIs, SDKs and to create your Square Developer account — tell them Changelog sent you.
• FireHydrant – The reliability platform for every developer. Incidents impact everyone, not just SREs. FireHydrant gives teams the tools to maintain service catalogs, respond to incidents, communicate through status pages, and learn with retrospectives. Small teams up to 10 people can get started for free with all FireHydrant features included. No credit card required to sign up. Learn more at firehydrant.io
• Sentry – Working code means happy customers. That’s exactly why teams choose Sentry. From error tracking to performance monitoring, Sentry helps teams see what actually matters, resolve problems quicker, and learn continuously about their applications - from the frontend to the backend. Use the code CHANGLOG and get the team plan free for three months.
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Featuring:

• Chris Coyier – Twitter, GitHub, Website
• Adam Stacoviak – Mastodon, Twitter, GitHub, LinkedIn, Website
• Jerod Santo – Mastodon, Twitter, GitHub, LinkedIn

Show Notes:

• Backstage #24: Reflecting on 500 episodes
• tricks.com/css-tricks-is-joining-digitalocean/">CSS-Tricks is joining DigitalOcean!
• CSS-Tricks joins DigitalOcean, expanding our commitment to community
• tricks.com/design-history/">CSS-Tricks Design History
• Geoff Graham
• ShopTalk Show.com/
• Codepen Challenges

Something missing or broken? interviews-500.md">PRs welcome!

Timestamps:

(00:00) - Welcome to 500!(01:27) - Sponsor: Square(02:50) - Hello, friends(03:49) - Starting ShopTalk(04:44) - People give up too early(07:01) - Are interview podcasts played out?(08:42) - Is 500 episodes social proof?(13:51) - When Jerod discovered Chris(20:13) - When Adam discovered Chris(26:00) - Wufoo happened because of CSS-Tricks(28:31) - How many years of CSS-Tricks?(30:30) - Sponsor: FireHydrant(32:08) - Was there ever burnout?(38:27) - It was time to walk away(39:52) - Chris holds grudges (forever)(42:23) - Seeking counsel and valuing CSS-Tricks(44:00) - The big announcement(46:13) - Concerns about selling?(51:21) - Where will Chris write now?(52:27) - Transferring assets like @css on Twitter(56:18) - Regrets and second-guessing(1:03:47) - The next big thing at Codepen(1:06:44) - Sponsor: Sentry(1:07:32) - Sponsor: Retool(1:08:36) - What is Codepen?(1:15:34) - The revenue drivers of Codepen(1:20:26) - Front-end and CSS Chris is excited about(1:25:21) - Does :has make Chris rethink everything?(1:26:17) - CSS-Tricks design history(1:28:41) - The process to re-design CSS-Tricks