REWORK

There's a lot of talk in the tech world about getting bigger, growing as fast as you can, and getting investor money so you can scale quickly. 

But that's not the only path. And recently, we've seen that being bigger only sometimes works well for companies. 

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the Co-founders of 37signals, discuss the bigger is better culture in tech and why the human connection inherently built into small businesses can actually be an advantage. Plus, their invitation to small businesses to think differently through their open letter called, Come small, come all. 

Show Notes: 

[00:44] - Jason shares why it's important to note that Basecamp is interested in helping the Fortune 5 million and the small shop down the street. 

[01:49] - David shares why it's important to him to be honest about the company's target audience. 

[03:29] - The key to finding the right dance partner that's your bread and butter. 

[05:30] - David shares the funny anecdote about when Twitter was a customer of Campfire and how they tried to "scare them away." 

[08:50] - "We found our space. Can we just stay here?"

[09:59] - Jason shares why leaning into the space you are uniquely suited for and being closer to the work is an advantage. 

[12:08] - Why it's essential to cultivate confidence in the human connection built into small businesses.

[13:36] - The unsustainable quest for a big market share.  

[15:10] - How starting out during the original .com boom and bust cycle taught Jason and David to make sure the company has margin times three.

[18:28] - How to look like both an idiot and an oracle without changing a thing about the way you do business. 

[21:10] - Where business breakthroughs come from. 

[23:45] - How large companies devour innovation.

[24:16] - A special offer to help make Basecamp affordable for new customers that sign up by December 31st. 

Links and Resources:

Basecamp Open Letter to Small Businesses

On Company Size

Sign Up for 30-day FREE trial at Basecamp.com

37signals on YouTube
The REWORK podcast

The 37signals Dev Blog

@reworkpodcast on Twitter

@37signals on Twitter

Throughout its tenure, 37signals has consistently grown without spending much on marketing.

How'd the company do this? By out-teaching their competition. 

Recently, they've begun sharing their thoughts on company decisions and even doing product walkthroughs on their YouTube channel. 

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the Co-founders of 37signals, discuss the true value of sharing the behind-the-scenes of how they work and what they've learned in over 20 years in business.

Show Notes: 

• [00:40] - The transparency in sharing the winding road of building your business.
• [01:17] - Why we share the behind-the-scenes of our work.
• [02:40] - David shares that the philosophy of out-teaching the competition is in their DNA. 
• [03:04] - Building the company without overspending on advertising by sharing what we do through various mediums. 
• [03:33] - Jason shares why the go big or go home tropes for building businesses fails to show all the options.
• [04:38] - How we built Basecamp.
• [05:25] - It doesn't have to be all or nothing: how sharing makes things more approachable for more people.  
• [06:16] - The key to sharing what people need to hear when starting out.
• [07:13] - The value of practical and pragmatic lessons for small to medium-sized businesses.
• [09:01] - David shares why the lessons from mega companies might be detrimental to your company. 
• [12:33] - Sharing the behind-the-scenes, how we work, and what we've learned in our over 20 years of business through our Discussing Decisions! Videos on YouTube. 
• [13:49] - Why you won’t normally find the 'good stuff' in content marketing. 
• [16:54] - Why Jason and David are not afraid of sharing their 'chef's' secrets. 
• [18:21] - The "secret ingredient" lesson from Kung Fu Panda.
• [19:08] - Why most businesses succeed (or fail).
• [19:26] - The topics Jason and David don't feel are worth sharing.
• [21:32] - Jason shares why they don’t discuss revenue.
• [22:48] - Changing your lens of view to discover the value of the truth vs. a vanity metric.
• company. 
• [23:41] - The immense value of sharing the 'true gold.'

Links and Resources:

Discussing Decisions! A Basecamp Pricing Experiment
Discussing Decisions! Card Tables and To-Dos
Sign Up for 30-day FREE trial at Basecamp.com
37signals on YouTube
The 37signals Guide to Making Decisions
Rework book
The REWORK podcast

The 37signals Dev Blog

@reworkpodcast on Twitter

@37signals on Twitter

Meetups offer remote companies an opportunity to gather away from the day-to-day for more in-depth conversations that foster deeper relationships for the team and bigger leaps for the company. 

At the beginning of October, sixty 37signals employees met up in Amsterdam for the first company-wide meetup outside the U.S.

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the Co-founders of 37signals, discuss the importance of in-person meetups for remote companies, the structure they use for their twice-yearly team gathering, and tips and insight for other companies on planning their own offsite meetings. 

Show Notes: 

• [00:34] - The essential value of gathering the entire team together. 
• [02:05] - Why the company decided to gather outside the U.S. for their latest meetup.
• [02:29] - The changing rhythm of a global company working across several time zones. 
• [04:12] - How moving the event to Amsterdam turned it into a social experience.
• [04:51] - The priceless value of extravagant experiences and live connections to stay strong and connected as a remote company.
• [06:39] - Post COVID-19: Why the company-wide meetup experience is an expense not to be cut. 
• [07:26] - How the scarcity of the experience adds to its value.
• [07:54] - The structure 37signals uses for their meetups.
• [09:41] - How getting together as a group fosters bigger, more crystallized discussions for bigger leaps as a company.  
• [11:22] - From the intimacy of the small group dinners to the peer appreciation event, how the meetup fosters deeper relationships for the team. 
• [13:33] - Unifying the unique human experience through sharing cultural diversity.
• [15:10] - The challenges of transporting such a large and diverse group to the meetup location.  
• [15:52] - Introducing the Amsterdam meetup lessons into future events. 
• [17:04] - Jason and David share their tips and advice for other remote companies looking to host their own company meetup.

Links and Resources:

The REWORK podcast

@reworkpodcast on Twitter

@37signals on Twitter
Sign Up for 30-day FREE trial at Basecamp.com

Co-founders of 37signals, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson discuss decision making within an organization. Small businesses have the advantage of being nimble and able to change course quickly, so there's no reason to get caught up in the "what ifs." 

Show Notes:

• 0:47 – Avoiding overthinking and overcomplicating issues
• 1:47 – Getting rid of the "what ifs"
• 4:30 – Making decisions as small as possible
• 5:45 – The advantages small business have when it comes to being agile and nimble
• 8:30 – Getting comfortable with uncertainty
• 11:00 – Calculations and projections in decision making
• 13:50 – Deciding when to pivot on a decision
• 15:20 – The Tyranny of Metrics by Jerry Z. Muller
• 18:04 – The 37signals Guide to Making Decisions
• 19:05 – The 37signals Guide to Internal Communication
• 20:20 – Using instincts in decision making
• 22:01 – Maverick by Ricardo Semler
• 23:14 – 37signals upcoming technical blog

Sign Up for 30-day FREE trial at Basecamp.com

David Heinemeier Hansson, co-founder of 37signals, and Eron Nicholson, Director of Operations, discuss why 37signals is making the move away from the cloud.

Show Notes:

• David's piece, Why We're Leaving the Cloud
• 0:59 - 37signals history with on-premise and cloud storage
• 8:26 - How cloud solutions don't necessary reduce operations teams costs
• 10:58 - What types of companies are the best fit for cloud solutions
• 14:14 - 37signals costs for cloud solutions and potential savings with on-premise options
• 15:25 - Advantages of working with on-premise storage companies that are similar in size to 37signals
• 20:08 - What the transition might look like, including timing
• 26:02 - Advice for medium-sized companies that might be thinking about making the switch

Sign Up for 30-day FREE trial at Basecamp.com

You've been working on a thing for days, weeks, maybe months and you're still nowhere near finishing. Our natural instinct is to say, "I've already put this much time and energy into it, might as well finish." Well, most of the time this is wrong. You're not getting that time back either way and usually the better option is just to quit!

Building and maintaining momentum is one of the most underrated things you can do when building products. Keep moving forward by shipping work early and often. The longer something takes, the less likely it is you'll finish it. At 37signals, we work in six-week cycles, but even six weeks is a long time, so pepper in some easy, quick wins to keep that momentum going.

Show Notes

• 01:23 - The Six Week Cycle (Basecamp 3 Help)
• 02:50 - Jason Zimdars
• 06:57 - Sean Mitchell
• 06:59 - 37signals.com
• 07:12 - basecamp.com
• 10:18 - There's no speed limit - Derek Sivers
• 12:28 - Goldilocks Zone (NASA)
• 18:14 - Setting the appetite (Shape Up)

At 37signals, we tend to solve problems by finding a "judo solution." The simplest, easiest, cheapest solution that gets you 90% of the way there. It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be great. It just has to be good enough. Part of this is reframing and simplifying the problem itself. And, remember, you can always turn "good enough" into "great" later.

Show Notes

• 03:57 - Are Your Lights On?: How to Figure Out What the Problem Really Is - Donald C. Gause, Gerald M. Weinberg (Amazon)
• 05:26 - Six-week cycles (Shape Up)
• 08:47 - Team and project sizes (Shape Up)
• 09:31 - Principles of Shaping (Shape Up)
• 10:40 - Fat marker sketches (Shape Up)
• 11:32 - Just set it aside (HEY)
• 13:29 - Agile software development (Wikipedia)
• 15:56 - Kanban (Wikipedia)
• 20:34 - Shape Up

Meetings are the worst type of interruption. A one-hour meeting with five people is actually five hours of productivity lost. They're also horrible at conveying information. So, why do so many companies jump to meetings as the first option. Next time try writing something up, jumping on a a one-on-one call, or just skip the whole thing altogether!

Show Notes

• 00:37 - Why work doesn't happen at work - Jason Fried (TED)
• 10:56 - Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World - Cal Newport (Bookshop.org)
• 17:19 - Multi-core processor (Wikipedia)
• 20:53 - Apple's spaceship HQ valued as one of the world's most expensive buildings (The Guardian)
• 21:09 - Free Fortnite (Epic Games)
• 21:28 - Six-week cycles (Shape Up)
• 21:29 - Work is like a hill (Shape Up)
• 22:53 - Successful projects begin with a great kickoff message (Basecamp)
• 22:53 - What's in a Heartbeat? - Jason Fried (HEY World)

A close look at how we develop features at 37signals. Designer Michelle Harjani walks Shaun through the entire process of making the Bubble Up Feature in HEY.

Show Notes

• 00:42 - Michelle Harjani (Twitter)
• 00:59 - Bubble Up
• 01:28 - Six-week cycles (Shape Up)
• 01:38 - Set Aside
• 02:56 - Team and project sizes (Shape Up)
• 03:26 - Cool-down (Shape Up)
• 05:04 - Fat marker sketches (Shape Up)
• 05:32 - The Betting Table (Shape Up)