David Heinemeier Hansson (aka DHH) is a legendary programmer, creator of Ruby on Rails, co-owner & CTO of 37signals that created Basecamp, HEY, & ONCE, and is a NYT-best-selling author (with Jason Fried) of 4 books: REWORK, REMOTE, Getting Real, and It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy At Work. He is also a race car driver, including a class-winning performance at the 24 hour Le Mans race.
Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep474-sc
See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.

Transcript:
https://lexfridman.com/dhh-david-heinemeier-hansson-transcript

CONTACT LEX:
Feedback – give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey
AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama
Hiring – join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring
Other – other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact

EPISODE LINKS:
DHH’s X: https://x.com/dhh
DHH’s Website: https://dhh.dk/
Ruby on Rails: https://rubyonrails.org/
37signals: https://37signals.com/

DHH’s books:
Rework: https://amzn.to/44rSKob
Remote: https://amzn.to/44GFJ91
It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work: https://amzn.to/46bzuwx
Getting Real: https://amzn.to/4kzoMDg

SPONSORS:
To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts:
UPLIFT Desk: Standing desks and office ergonomics.
Go to https://upliftdesk.com/lex
Lindy: No-code AI agent builder.
Go to https://go.lindy.ai/lex
LMNT: Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix.
Go to https://drinkLMNT.com/lex
Shopify: Sell stuff online.
Go to https://shopify.com/lex
NetSuite: Business management software.
Go to http://netsuite.com/lex

OUTLINE:
(00:00) – Introduction
(00:58) – Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections
(08:48) – Programming – early days
(26:13) – JavaScript
(36:32) – Google Chrome and DOJ
(44:19) – Ruby programming language
(51:30) – Beautiful code
(1:09:31) – Metaprogramming
(1:12:52) – Dynamic typing
(1:20:10) – Scaling
(1:33:03) – Future of programming
(1:50:34) – Future of AI
(1:56:29) – Vibe coding
(2:05:01) – Rails manifesto: Principles of a great programming language
(2:29:27) – Why managers are useless
(2:38:48) – Small teams
(2:44:55) – Jeff Bezos
(3:00:13) – Why meetings are toxic
(3:07:58) – Case against retirement
(3:15:15) – Hard work
(3:20:53) – Why we left the cloud
(3:24:04) – AWS
(3:33:22) – Owning your own servers
(3:39:35) – Elon Musk
(3:49:17) – Apple
(4:01:03) – Tim Sweeney
(4:12:37) – Fatherhood
(4:38:19) – Racing
(5:05:23) – Cars
(5:10:41) – Programming setup
(5:25:51) – Programming language for beginners
(5:39:09) – Open source
(5:48:01) – WordPress drama
(5:59:18) – Money and happiness
(6:08:11) – Hope

The 'Seditious Six' + AI Amnesty

The Charlie Kirk Show

Ad break

The AI-powered Podcast Player