Jason Fried

37signals · Basecamp

Jason Fried co-founded 37signals in 1999 as a web design firm. Its move into software began with a problem inside the business: work and client feedback were getting lost across scattered tools. The team built a system for its own projects, then saw clients wanted the same thing. Basecamp launched in 2004. About a year later, Fried says, its revenue passed the design business and the company stopped taking web design work. Fried made that experience the basis of a wider argument about building companies. With David Heinemeier Hansson, he wrote Rework, Remote: Office Not Required, and It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work. Their subjects include small teams, remote work, and reducing the waste and strain of a busy workplace. Fried describes profit as a way to buy time to keep running a business. His approach starts with useful products and costs the company can support. The company took the Basecamp name in 2014 to show its focus on one product. It launched the email service HEY in 2020 and returned to the 37signals name in 2022 as it again made more than one product. Its work culture has also faced a serious test: in May 2021, Fried apologized for the effects of new company policies and acknowledged colleagues leaving. He said the policies would stand with further clarification. Fried continues to serve as co-founder and CEO of 37signals.

Covered 2× ↓

Which books are linked to Jason Fried?

These are examples from the documented shelf. Each label describes the connection; a book on the shelf is not always a recommendation.

Maverick by Ricardo Semler — Reading influence. Source
Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne — Joint recommendation reported by co-founder. Source

See the full shelf and source notes

Contents

Career highlights

1999Co-founds 37signals as a web design business.
2004Launches Basecamp; about a year later, its revenue exceeds the web design business and the company shifts to software.
200637signals self-publishes Getting Real, its guide to building web applications.
2010Publishes Rework with David Heinemeier Hansson.
2013Publishes Remote: Office Not Required with Hansson.
2014Renames the company Basecamp to reflect its focus on that product.
2018Publishes It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work with Hansson.
2020The company launches HEY, a paid email service.
2022Returns the company to the 37signals name as it again makes several products.

Lessons for founders

Start with a problem you face in real work. Basecamp began as a way to keep the design firm’s projects and client feedback in order. Use your own work to find a clear need, then check whether other people share it.
Use profit to keep time on your side. Fried says profit lets a business buy time. Check what it costs to keep serving customers, and leave enough room to keep making useful products.
Cut scope before you extend the deadline. Getting Real argues for keeping time and budget fixed while reducing the work promised. Choose a smaller complete release when the original plan does not fit.
Make the screens clear before you build the system. Getting Real starts with what the customer sees and does. Use sketches and real screens to test the flow while changes are still cheap.
Give a new idea time before you reject it. Fried’s essay recounts learning to pause before pushing back. Ask a question and let the proposal become clear before deciding what is wrong with it.
Protect a workday that has an end. In the REWORK interview, Fried describes working mainly nine to five and keeping most notifications off. Set clear work limits and remove avoidable interruptions before adding more hours.

Podcast coverage

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Read about them

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

Ryan Singer

Fried wrote the foreword to Singer’s book on Basecamp’s software work. Singer remains the author; this is recorded as a contribution. source ↗

In their own words

Defensive Design for the Web: How to Improve Error Messages, Help, Forms, and Other Crisis Points

37signals

An early company book about preventing website errors and helping people recover when something goes wrong. Fried confirms his part in the original Tom Peters interview. source ↗

Getting Real: The Smarter, Faster, Easier Way to Build a Successful Web Application

37signals

The company’s practical guide to building web software. The current free edition credits Basecamp; Penguin Random House’s author biography names Fried as a co-author. source ↗