David Sax is the author of the new book The Soul of an Entrepreneur: Work and Life Beyond the Startup Myth. He comes on the show to debunk the Silicon Valley narrative that only a rarefied subset of people can succeed as founders, and shares examples from his book of business owners whose complex...
Small BusinessGoing Remote is a series of bonus episodes where different Basecampers answer questions about how they do their work remotely. In this episode, Merissa Dawson and Chase Clemons answer questions about providing customer support, including how they talk to angry customers and how they onboard new team...
Fitness studios, like many other businesses, had to scramble to change over from in-person to virtual operations almost overnight. In this episode, three business owners in the fitness and wellness industry share their stories of how they’ve pivoted and how they’re continuing to look after their...
Small BusinessWe’re starting a new series of bonus episodes called Going Remote. We’ll have different Basecampers answer questions about how they do their work remotely. In this first episode, design lead Jonas Downey talks about how he and his team collaborate with each other, give feedback, and communicate with...
Remote WorkWe’re back from hiatus! In this episode, we sit down with Quaker theologian and small business owner Wess Daniels, the author of the book Resisting Empire: The Book of Revelation as Resistance. He talks about the value of silence; reshaping systems of money and power; and building community during a...
Greatest HitsThis is the second part of a two-hour live Q&A on remote work that Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson held last week. Part 2 covers questions about interruptions, mental health, hardware and software tools, and building culture as a remote company. You can find Part 1 on our feed in your...
Remote WorkEarlier this week, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson held a live Q&A about remote work. We’re splitting the session into two episodes. Part 1 covers questions about video calls, brainstorming, setting priorities, and good management during a time of stressful transition. If you’d like to...
Remote WorkBasecamp is a remote company, so we’re less disrupted by the current pandemic than many other businesses, but we’re still taking steps to keep folks safe. Jason Fried talks about canceling the company’s April meetup and closing the Chicago office. REWORK will be taking a few weeks off so we can get...
Basecamp Behind the Scenes, Remote WorkWe at Basecamp love to preach the virtues of the 8-hour work day, but where did it come from? (Hint: Not from Henry Ford!) Labor historian Emily Twarog explains the origins of the 8-hour work day and why it was so short-lived in the U.S.
Running a Calm CompanyJarred Lustgarten left a Wall Street career to start a rug-cleaning business with $600 in borrowed money and a stack of flyers. A decade later, J.L. Carpet & Upholstery is profitable and Jarred has a very visible reminder on his hands of his commitment to his vocation.
Small BusinessBasecamp the app is over 15 years old, which means Basecamp the company is responsible for safeguarding more than a decade’s worth of customer data—including 370 terabytes of data stored in non-active accounts. In this episode, Basecamp data analyst Jane Yang talks about a big, ongoing project at...
PrivacyBasecamp co-founder and CTO David Heinemeier Hansson sits down with entrepreneur and angel investor Jason Calacanis to debate the gig economy, democratic socialism, and whether the American dream is dead. The conversation in this episode is adapted from a longer interview that can be found in full...
DHH and Jason FriedSome of our most famous poets had day jobs: Robert Burns was a tax collector; William Carlos Williams was a doctor; Audre Lorde was a librarian and professor. Poetry has a lot to say about work and can serve as a meeting place, a provocative memo, or a break from the daily grind. In this episode, we...
Just For FunEvery year for the past decade, Mert Iseri has chosen a new skill to learn. This annual challenge has taken him from a magicians’ club to chess tournaments where he’s competed against eight-year-olds. In this episode, Mert talks about chasing the joy of being challenged just the right amount and...
Just For FunSahil Lavingia once believed his startup was headed for unicorn status, but his journey through Silicon Valley—the viral launch on Hacker News, $8 million in venture capital, the glowing press—led to a very different outcome. In this episode, Sahil reflects on life outside the literal and figurative...
Running a Calm CompanyBasecamp co-founder and Chief Technology Officer David Heinemeier Hansson has been ranting on Twitter about monopolistic practices in Big Tech for a while, and he recently got an unexpected opportunity to air his grievances about Google, Apple, and Facebook in front of a congressional subcommittee....
Big TechBasecamp CEO Jason Fried is back in the studio with an update on the company’s Chicago headquarters. Basecamp will be leaving its office this summer after a 10-year run, and Jason is looking at a number of options—including a space that will bring him full circle with one of his original 37signals...
Basecamp Behind the Scenes, Remote WorkMatthew Vincent, a member of Basecamp’s Ops team, spoke at Nomad City 2019 about life as a remote worker. Close your eyes and pretend you’re in the Canary Islands as you listen to this audio version of Matthew’s talk.
Remote WorkWelcome back! We’re kicking off the new year with an episode full of practical advice about onboarding new employees. Ashley Bowe from Basecamp’s customer support team talks about how they welcome and train new colleagues, and leadership coach Karen Catlin of Better Allies shares advice and examples...
Customer SupportIn this anxious era of bullying, teen depression, and school shootings, tech companies are selling software to schools and parents that make big promises about keeping kids secure by monitoring what they say and write online. But these apps demand disturbing trade-offs in the name of safety. In this...
PrivacyGet out your Bunsen burner! It’s time to do some experiments. In this episode, we talk to two businesses that aren’t afraid to try new things. First, the three founders of The Mad Optimist, a soap company in Indiana, talk about letting customers choose what they pay for their products. Then Natalie...
Small BusinessDave Teare is the co-founder and official “heart and soul” of 1Password, which recently raised $200 million in its first round of venture capital. Basecamp is a longtime happy customer of 1Password and also a longtime critic of venture capital, so the funding announcement led to some back-and-forth...
DHH and Jason FriedWorkplace cultures in politics and tech share many similarities: Overwork is glorified; long hours are the norm; employees are expected to respond to communication instantly, no matter the day or time; and those that opt out are seen as lacking hustle or ceding ground to competitors. Marty...
Running a Calm CompanyBasecamp has a long history of experimenting with “freemium” models and recently launched its most generous free plan yet: Basecamp Personal. Co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson talk about the debate and data analysis that went into the launch, what makes this a little scary, and...
Basecamp Behind the ScenesBasecamp has cut back its reliance on Amazon and Google, but there’s one area where it’s tough to find alternatives to Big Tech: cloud services. Even so, there are ways to cut spending on this $3 million annual expense while keeping the company’s apps running smoothly. In this episode, Blake...
Basecamp Behind the Scenes, Big TechBasecamp co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson sparked a national controversy this week when he posted a series of livid tweets about how his wife received a much lower credit limit than he did on their Apple Cards, despite applying with the same financial information. What began as a rant against...
Greatest HitsBetween cameras, sensor-equipped ID badges, and keystroke-logging software, employers are keeping an ever-watchful eye on their workers, all in the name of security or increased productivity. Jason Meller has spent his career in computer security and witnessed what can happen when a corporation’s...
PrivacyBasecamp co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson answer listener questions in this short but jam-packed mailbag episode. Among other topics, they discuss whether they prefer reading physical books or the Kindle; talk about providing feedback to rejected job candidates; and imagine a...
MailbagsBasecamp has taken a clear stance against tracking on the web, so when we learned that our podcast hosting provider had introduced listener-targeted advertising, we decided to decamp to a different company. On today’s episode, Wailin talks to Lex Friedman, chief revenue officer of REWORK’s old...
Basecamp Behind the Scenes, PrivacyBasecamp’s new head of marketing, Andy Didorosi, talks about starting a bus company in his hometown of Detroit to help fill a gap in public transit; what he learned about building a business with a “buy one, give one” social mission; and why he left the company he founded to join Basecamp.
As part of a mini hiring boom at Basecamp this year, CEO Jason Fried went looking for a position that had never existed before at the company: head of marketing. Over a thousand people applied for the role. In this episode, Jason explains how he narrowed a very competitive pool of candidates to find...
In the spring of 2019, Danny Caine, the owner of the Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas, overheard a customer saying she could buy a new hardcover online for $15. Danny took to Twitter to explain the economics of independent bookstores and the thread went viral, putting the 32-year-old small...
Big Tech, Small BusinessMatt Mullenweg, the founding developer of WordPress and the founder of Automattic, joins Basecamp co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson for a spirited debate about tech monopolies, power in open-source communities, and how to be good stewards of the modern web that they helped build.
DHH and Jason FriedIn August, Basecamp ended its practice of using pixel trackers in emails. Co-founder and CTO David Heinemeier Hansson shares what prompted that decision, which is part of a larger discussion about how to push back against Big Tech anti-privacy policies and the impact of individual action on big...
Privacy“Dreams shouldn’t be sensible.” In 2011, David and Clare Hieatt launched Hiut Denim in a small Welsh town that had been home to a jeans factory for 40 years. The Hieatts saw an opportunity to restore those lost jobs—and to do it in a way that fit with their ideas about building a sustainable...
Small BusinessBasecamp has a new website and a new logo. If this is the first you’re hearing about it, it’s because CEO Jason Fried opted out of the big rebranding announcement that many companies undertake. On this episode, Jason and marketing designer Adam Stoddard talk about what prompted the new look and the...
Basecamp Behind the ScenesOn Tuesday, Basecamp CEO Jason Fried tweeted about some shady business involving Google Ads and search results. The tweet got a lot of attention, so we brought Jason on the show to talk about what got him so riled up over Google. No punches were pulled in the making of this episode!
Basecamp Behind the Scenes, Big TechWe’re back from summer break! It’s time to get back to work, but it’s important not to overdo it. In this episode, Ty Fujimura, president of web design firm Cantilever, talks about how he escaped the Cult of Overwork; why it’s important to rethink the relationship between hours “worked” and actual...
Running a Calm CompanyPam Daniels had an idea to make an everyday household item more useful and fun. When her first plan to get her product into the world fell through, she found a different path.
Small BusinessBasecamp’s new book, Shape Up by Ryan Singer, explores the way designers and programmers at the company build and ship software. In this episode, Ryan, designer Conor Muirhead, and programmer Jeff Hardy go deep into Shape Up principles, talking about the parts of the process they find most useful...
Shape UpBasecamp’s head of strategy, Ryan Singer, sits down to discuss his new book, Shape Up: Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work that Matters. The book is a culmination of Ryan’s 15+ years working at Basecamp and explains how small teams of designers and programmers can ship great work in six-week...
Shape UpBasecamp is known for hiring infrequently, but it’s in the midst of adding five new employees to its roster—including the company’s first-ever director of marketing. Over 4,000 applications have come in for the open positions. In this episode, we go deep into how we knew it was time to hire, why we...
Basecamp Behind the Scenes, Running a Calm CompanyIn this episode, Basecamp marketing designer Adam Stoddard joins Jason Fried to talk about a marathon session of interviewing Search Engine Optimization consultants. Hear why they squeezed all the interviews into a six-hour block and what it’s like to shop for something you don’t really know...
Basecamp Behind the ScenesThe open office has gone from the dominant workplace layout to cultural pariah, with these environments seeming to produce more interruptions than collaboration. But the open office itself isn’t entirely to blame for the distractions that plague office workers. In this episode, two tech workers...
A curious snack food aficionado calls the home of Mr. Peanut.
In 2004, fast food company Quiznos launched a national advertising campaign featuring animated rodent-like creatures screech-singing an ode to the chain’s toasted sub sandwiches. The TV commercials were instantly polarizing and lodged themselves in many viewers’ brains like a recurring fever dream....
Just For FunThis is a lightly edited version of a keynote address Basecamp co-founder and CTO David Heinemeier Hansson delivered at RailsConf 2019 about “open source, markets, debts, purpose, and no less than the meaning of life.” David also sits down with Shaun to talk briefly about how he approached this...
DHH and Jason FriedEven remote companies need actual face time every once in a while. That’s why Basecamp holds companywide, weeklong meet-ups in Chicago twice a year. Fellow remote tech company Buffer has 85 employees across the globe that get together once a year for an annual retreat, and they’ve visited countries...
Remote WorkIn April, Basecamp Support team member James Glazebrook gave a talk at Support Driven Expo Europe about Everyone On Support. It’s an all-hands program where Basecamp employees rotate through a day of working in customer service. James noticed the system—while well-intentioned—wasn’t working...
Customer SupportBasecamp co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson are back in the studio to answer your questions. This edition of Mailbag includes topics like why big companies don’t use Basecamp; how they managed the transition from a web design agency to a product company; and what their business...
Mailbags