Why Startups Are So Hard, The Future of Buffer and My Biggest Mistake (So Far!): Tweets From My Airplane AMA

Feb 24, 2016 1 min readOpen
Photo of Joel Gascoigne
Joel Gascoigne

Founder CEO @ Buffer

On a recent flight to Hawaii, I tried a little experiment and did an “AMA in the Sky.”

It was incredibly fun and kept me busy for about 2.5 hours, nicely passing some of the flight time.

I think I ended up answering over 50 questions or thereabouts, about topics including why startups are so challenging, the pros and cons of working remotely and what’s next for Buffer. (Hint: Instagram!)

Here is a sample of the questions and answers. If you’re interested in more, you can see the full thread on Twitter.



[View the story “Airplane AMA with Joel Gascoigne of Buffer” on Storify]

Do you have other questions I didn’t address here? Share them in the comments and I’ll do my best to get you an answer!

Brought to you by

Try Buffer for free

140,000+ small businesses like yours use Buffer to build their brand on social media every month

Get started now

Related Articles

OpenApr 18, 2025
We Updated Our Dependent Stipend For The First Time In 8 Years, Here’s What Changed

If you’ve followed Buffer for a while, then you know we have a few uncommon approaches to teammate benefits and compensation. The example I’ll dig into today is our “Dependent Grant,” which we launched in 2016.  Our Dependent Grant is separate benefit, outside of salary, that we grant teammates who are taking care of and supporting family members. It’s an extra $3,000 USD per year per child, up to four dependents total. This has been one of our most unusual (and at times controversial) benefits

OpenApr 4, 2025
We Paid A Candidate To Spend A Day Working With Us, Here’s How It Went

It can feel incredibly challenging to hire, and hire well. For one thing, hiring is usually a significant time investment for our small team — we once had 1,500 applications in just over a week for a content role (!!) — but beyond that, we are so intentional about the ways that we collaborate. Buffer is a fully remote, global, and culturally diverse company operating with a four-day work week. Finding someone who will thrive in our work environment, and is also highly skilled in the areas we’r

35 Side Projects From the Buffer Team

We’ve always had teammates who have side projects in addition to working at Buffer. Working on new projects, building, experimenting, and self-improvement are built into our DNA as a company. So it's quite common to be speaking with someone only to find out they own a small business outside of Buffer that started as a side project. We also have several published authors and many apps built by Buffer teammates. We believe this entrepreneurial spirit and creative drive not only enhances our indiv

140,000+ people like you use Buffer to build their brand on social media every month