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Jakob Lodwick took a moment away from running the video site he founded, Vimeo, to blog some of the advice he'd been giving a "younger person named Chris about web development." Younger? This from a guy Wallstrip's Lindsay Campbell described as "just a normal, twentysomething boy millionaire." Share with us, oh wise and aged one, your precious pearls. No, not those. Eww. Save those for Julia Allison. Your pearls of wisdom, Jakob.

It all started when Chris asked whether Web properties should develop through frequent small iterations or through big Version X.0 relaunches. Lodwick favors gradual, cautious adaptation, and says so in no uncertain terms.

In biology, species that attempt to evolve drastically die, because their offspring are hideous mutants that don't develop past zygotes. The purpose of evolution is to survive by adapting cautiously to the environment. Our policy at Vimeo, when considering a new project, is to ask, "Can this project be broken down any smaller?" If the answer is "Yes," then we break it into chunks. There is always time to revise it, later, if you aren't preoccupied with "getting it right."

"Hideous mutants that don't develop past zygotes," eh? Sure, it's easy to hate, but given Lodwick's success with the attention-grabbing Allison, maybe we could all stand for a biology lesson. Mmmm, pearls.