Big Things with Small Teams Podcast from eTech 2005 23 Sep 2005

15 comments Latest by Joe

IT Conversations just put up my 45-minute Big Things with Small Teams talk from eTech 2005 in San Diego earlier this year (the session was really called “Lessons learned from Building Basecamp” but it’s really more about big things with small teams). If you want to hear me rant on a lot of the things I’ve been posting here on this blog, grab your headphones and listen in.

The talk focuses on the four main tenets of reducing mass, embracing constraints, getting real in the process of development and managing debt. Jason explains how he learned that less is more when it comes to features and emphasizes the importance of building “half a product, not a half assed product”. The success of Basecamp has shown that the lessons 37signals learned in building it are of enormous value.

…is how IT Conversations describes it.

15 comments (comments are closed)

Doug 23 Sep 05

It is because of this podcast that I’m reading this blog. As I’m currently working on a project that is focused on producing a functional spec (for what seems like the sake of producing a functional spec) it was refreshing to hear your take on their irrelevance.

Darrel 23 Sep 05

Really nice talk, Jason.

JF 23 Sep 05

Thanks Darrel. I’m glad you enjoyed listening to it. I can’t listen to my own voice but I’m glad someone else can ;)

John Y. 23 Sep 05

Jason, was this talk appreciably different from your session at SXSW (which I was at)?

JF 23 Sep 05

It was 15 minutes or so shorter, but it was very similar.

Jeevan 23 Sep 05

Great speech Jason. It was a very informative / enlightening 45 minutes.

Mark 23 Sep 05

What a great clip. I liked the comments about inserting little features that get the right people talking. I’m curious if that is something you guys intentionally planned in the beginning, or something you’ve took notice of after the fact.

Reading this blog is a double-edged sword. It gets one excited about side projects and starting a business, but can also enhance frustration if you have the misfortune of being part of poorly run teams on occassion.

Keep up the good work…

Felix 23 Sep 05

I’ve been following this blog for the last 2.5 years and actively use backpack for my own consulting business. The speech is a good snapshot of all the Getting Real posts. It’s also a great teaser to the Getting Real book. I can’t wait till it comes out so I can refer to it as much as I have referred to my dog-earred copy of Defensive Designs sitting on my desktop. Great job, Jason.

Tom 23 Sep 05

Excellent little podcast,

Joe 23 Sep 05

Best. talk. ever.
I can’t count the number of mistakes my colleagues and I have made over and over, that you pointed out and suggested a better way. You’ve given our project new direction and motivation.

And I’m never not using Rails again.

Thanks so much, Jason =]

Jim Jeffers 23 Sep 05

If I could afford to come out and see you in person I would but I’m just a broke college student so podcasts will have to do.

Will you guys ever be out in the Phoenix area? Also, do you guys have any talks / workshops happening in November? I will actually be visiting the Chicago area again to visit family.. maybe I can start saving for a 37s workshop too.

Kien 23 Sep 05

Nice talk.. I’m going to forward this on to two dev teams that i’ve been working with that have been working on releases that are so intense with features, take too much time, scope changes and they end up losing focus… Any other good podcasts out there that cover similar topics?

Dude 23 Sep 05

I think it’s time for Jason and company to have their own podcast. That was freekin awesome!