REWORK

Basecamp co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson talk about HEY World, a new feature of the HEY email service where customers can create a super simple blog. HEY World has no templates, no endless scroll, no ads, no trackers, and no JavaScript. It represents Basecamp's attempt to create a Web 1.0 typewriter for our current digital age. In this episode, we talk about the return of blogging, countering abuse, and the sunsetting of Basecamp's long-running Signal v. Noise blog. Stay tuned until the end for a chance to win some Basecamp bucks! And by Basecamp bucks, we mean actual American dollars.

Show Notes

HEY - 00:17

Jason's post announcing HEY World - 00:22

Signal v. Noise - 00:34

The dumpster fire project - 2:02

Jason on HEY World - 3:10

David on HEY World - 3:13

"Pick A Fight (on Twitter)," a vintage episode about David's relationship with Twitter - 3:28

"100% Facebook-Free," our episode about getting Basecamp off Facebook and Instagram - 4:40

"Two Weeks," our episode about launching HEY and running afoul of Apple - 5:21

Berkshire Hathaway's website - 18:23

The.Ink, Anand Giridharadas' newsletter - 18:45

The Lefsetz Letter - 20:21

HEY's Screener - 27:20

HEY's Shield - 27:44

Basecamp's "Until the end of the Internet" policy - 30:56

Greymatter - 31:34

David and Jason talk about how they met via email in this episode - 31:58

Equilibria, a company that makes CBD products for women, has a team of dedicated dosage specialists who do one-on-one consultations with customers. During the pandemic, this team has taken on an unprecedented amount of customer support—bearing witness to the heightened stress and anxiety that their customers are feeling around job security, caregiving, and family life. Equilibria's Marcy Capron Vermillion and Maia Reed come on Rework to talk about helping this team maintain their own stores of emotional energy.

Show Notes

"Women Tending to Their Basic Needs Is Not Self-Care" by Meredith Ethington - 00:12

"This Is A Primal Scream," the New York Times' special report on American mothers' mental health crisis - 1:02

Equilibria website | Instagram - 1:13

Marcy Capron-Vermillion - 2:20

Maia Reed - 3:39

Illinois Women in Cannabis - 4:25

Ellementa - 4:28

Laura van Dernoot Lipsky of The Trauma Stewardship Institute - 12:12

A career climbing the ladder in tech and software left Jesse Noller feeling disillusioned and isolated. He found connection, community, and purpose in a different kind of complex distributed system—mushrooms. Today he's the proprietor of a spore-to-table business called The Humble Fungus. (Content warning: This episode mentions suicide.)

For free and confidential emotional support, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

Show Notes

Jesse Noller on Twitter | Instagram - 1:02

The Humble Fungus website | YouTube | Facebook - 1:10

Community Food Share in Louisville, CO - 3:32

The Humble Fungus "About Us" page - 14:12

The Humble Fungus on Patreon - 20:50

Basecamp recently set out to do a carbon accounting, looking at the company's emissions, as well as meaningful ways to offset and mitigate those impacts. Jane Yang and Elizabeth Gramm, the two Basecampers who took on this daunting and nuanced project, come on the show to discuss not just the work itself, but how they've been processing the fear, skepticism, grief, and hope that come with trying to address the climate crisis.

Show Notes

The United Nations 2018 special report on global warming of 1.5ºC (PDF) - 1:52

"Why Air Quality Matters," David Heinemeier Hansson's presentation to the company about indoor air quality - 2:26

The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells - 4:01

Explainer on Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions - 5:46

Basecamp's former office in Chicago - 6:22

"Spending in the Clouds," our episode about looking for savings on Basecamp's cloud services - 6:59

Books by Basecamp - 10:18

"Towards carbon negativity," Jane's first post about the project on Signal v. Noise - 10:56

"Want to Do Something About Climate Change? Follow the Money" (NYT) - 13:05

"You Never Forget George Pappageorge," our episode about closing the Chicago office - 16:25

Microsoft's Sustainability Calculator for its cloud services - 17:59

"Basecamp has offset our cumulative emissions through 2019," Jane's follow-up post on SvN - 22:09

Cool Effect - 25:05

GoClimate - 25:06

ClimateAction.Tech - 26:08

Wholegrain Digital - 26:35

"The Chicago plant that sparked a hunger strike amid environmental racism claims" (The Guardian) - 27:04

350.org - 27:38

Elizabeth's Reading Recommendations

A January 2021 article by David Wallace-Wells about the pandemic and climate change

What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming, Per Espen Stoknes

Hope and Grief in the Anthropocene, Lesley Head

The Sixth Extinction, Elizabeth Kolbert

The Ecology of Wisdom, Arne Naess

The Mushroom at the End of the World, Anna Tsing

Comfort and joy were in short supply this year, but we're doing our best to end 2020 on a cozy note. Merissa of Basecamp support talks about surprising customers with gifts throughout the year, whether it's to thank them for their fandom or apologize for a disappointing experience. Then Wailin shares a few items from her 2020 gift guide, and Joan of Basecamp customer support reviews a scented candle. Wishing all of our listeners a restful holiday season, and we'll see you in 2021!

Show Notes

Fabric in Flames - 00:35

love languages - 3:15

Basecamp merch store - 6:15

Elami - 10:42

Voluspa - 14:29

Packed With Purpose - 15:32

Gift Boss - 15:58

Greetabl - 16:15

Barefoot Dreams blankets - 17:13

Minky Couture blankets - 17:19

Oprah's Favorite Things - 17:35

Barefoot Dreams CozyChic Lite Circle Cardigan - 19:05

Glerups slippers - 19:28

Solo Stove - 20:06

Corksicle Classic stemless wine tumbler - 20:25

Parks Project x Rumpl sherpa blanket - 20:46

Spindrift subscription - 21:25

Mason Cash cane mixing bowls - 21:46

Neogen A-Clear Soothing Clear Spot Patch - 23:06

Ello Tidal 20-ounce Glass Tumbler with Lid - 23:58

Joan Stewart on Twitter - 24:35

Shaun reviewed the Boy Smells "Polyamberous" candle in our previous episode - 24:48

Kacey Musgraves "Slow Burn" collection - 25:53

IKEA's special edition candles - 26:18

"Amber" by 311 - 27:45

HEY launch, App Store, we can’t take it anymore
Antitrust, masks a must, let’s go eat the upper crust
Comfy pants, TikTok dance, POTUS rants, protest chants
COVID cruise can't disembark, David's back in Denmark

We didn’t start the fire—well, in this case we did.

Show Notes

Andy Didorosi on Twitter - 00:09

"Meet Andy," our episode about Andy joining Basecamp - 00:18

Signal v. Noise - 00:33

Adam Stoddard on Twitter - 1:36

HEY - 2:22

H.E.R.L. - 2:50

The dumpster fire livestream - 4:38

Detroit Bus Company - 5:59

Nathan on Twitter - 6:48

Raspberry Pi - 9:10

Recycle Here (Facebook) - 12:30

Ben Wolf of Ferrous Wolf Fabrication (Instagram) - 14:42

Monica Dubray - 14:51

Eric Froh (Instagram) - 14:53

Josh Bacon on Twitter - 15:03

"The Making of a Dumpster Fire" (SvN) - 25:31

Polyamberous candle from Boy Smells - 29:08

Kacey Musgraves collab with Boy Smells - 29:33

Basecamp is winding down a busy year with one more thing: the rollout of its HEY email service for the workplace. Co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson talk about privacy, marketing, onboarding, and the other considerations that went into making HEY for Work. They also reflect on the roller coaster ride of the last year.

Show Notes

HEY - 00:41

HEY for Work - 00:46

Jason Fried on Twitter - 00:56

DHH on Twitter - 00:57

HEY's spy pixel blocker - 14:12

"The Spy Who Emailed Me," one of our episodes about tracking pixels - 14:35

"Two Weeks," our episode about the chaotic launch of HEY - 17:05

"Winston Sat At His Computer," one of our episodes about worker surveillance - 19:24

"Don't Promise" (Signal v. Noise) - 27:16

DHH did not write this copy about hygge for the Danish tourism board - 32:48

In the last several years, a group of Basecamp customer support representatives has developed an expertise around "on-call support," or tackling some of the thornier technical issues that require diving into the code base of our applications. This team of self-taught specialists grew out of curiosity, creativity, and an approach to programming that emphasizes fixing over building.

Show Notes

Basecamp's customer support team - 00:13

Jim Mackenzie on Twitter - 00:55

Jamis Buck on Twitter - 3:18

Jamis adapted his original Basil & Fabian on-call notes into a series that teaches newbies about algorithms and computer science. You can read Basil & Fabian on Jamis' website or on Kindle - 3:27

Dan Kim is now a programmer on Basecamp's Android team - 5:57

how to make templates in Basecamp 2 - 6:30

Wikipedia's explanation of traceroutes - 13:54

Kibana is another technical tool used at Basecamp - 14:55

our episode about holding office hours - 16:05

Rosa on Twitter - 16:07

Since releasing Shape Up, the book by Basecamp's Ryan Singer about our approach to product development, we've heard from other companies who've also adopted this methodology. David Nichols is the co-founder and CEO of Loupe, a company that helps design machines for clients in sectors from aerospace to packaging. He comes on Rework to talk about using Shape Up principles with clients who come from a world of complex contracts and project overruns.

Show Notes

Our previous episode, "Shape Up: The Print Edition" - 00:11

Shape Up - 00:16

David Nichols on Twitter - 00:45

Loupe - 00:49

Six-week cycles - 7:56

Circuit breaker - 13:50

Loupe's explanation of how they "Ship in Six" - 17:30

Our episode introducing Shape Up - 24:52

We featured Hearth & Hammer on the episode "Bubble Wrap & Prayers" - 28:02

In 2019, Basecamp released Shape Up, a digital book by head of product strategy Ryan Singer about our approach to product development. Since then, Ryan has added sections in response to reader feedback and released a print edition. Ryan comes back on Rework to talk about connecting with other business owners using Shape Up, and how he approached the editing, design, and distribution of the physical book without going through traditional publishing channels.

Show Notes

Our episode introducing Shape Up - 00:10

Ryan Singer's Twitter | website | newsletter - 00:13

Shape Up: Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work that Matters - 00:16

Basecamp's other books - 00:43

Six-week cycles - 3:08

Setting the appetite - 3:36

Principles of shaping - 4:29

Hill charts - 5:20

What about bugs? - 9:48

HEY - 10:33

Making new products - 11:19

Basecamp merch store - 16:21

Notability - 16:57

Ryan's live sessions are on the Shape Up page - 17:24

Ryan's Shape Up Live session with Adam Wathan of Tailwind CSS - 19:34