Exploring the MVP Concept, Building for Themselves, and Dealing with a High-Resource-Consuming Customer

In their book REWORK, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson write about the benefits of building products and services that you use yourself. "The easiest, most straightforward way to create a great product or service is to make something you want to use." In this episode, originally aired November 2, 2021, Jason and David sit down with Shaun Hildner to discuss creating products that scratch your own itch.

Key Takeaways

• 00:43 – The origins of Basecamp and how it fulfilled an internal need
• 04:38 – Building to solve your own problems vs. someone else's
• 06:27 – The evolution of HEY and how it was created to solve their own frustrations with email
• 09:50 – How building for yourself leads to better quality control 
• 14:25 – The problem with creating MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) and building based on customer feedback alone

Links and Resources

• Books by 37signals
• Sign up for a 30-day free trial at Basecamp.com
• HEY World | HEY
• Once | Campfire
• The REWORK podcast
• The 37signals Dev Blog
• 37signals on YouTube
• @37signals on X