The Founder-Led Marketing Show

Jason Fried: AI, Hiring, FOMO, Taste, Prioritizing, Writing & Growth

Jun 12, 2025
Jason Fried, co-founder of 37signals and creator of Basecamp, dives into a range of intriguing topics. He shares why Basecamp hasn't adopted AI yet, emphasizing usefulness over trends. Fried avoids FOMO in business decisions and discusses how 37signals efficiently launches products with small teams. He highlights the importance of 'product taste' in hiring and argues for the resilience of craftsmanship roles in a tech-dominated world. The conversation also touches on the role of writing in building trust and why he values organic community development.
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INSIGHT

Wait For Real Use Cases

  • Jason waits for genuinely useful AI features rather than adding trends for the sake of it.
  • He expects many writing helpers to become OS-level features rather than app-specific additions.
ADVICE

Ignore FOMO; Prioritize Essentials

  • Avoid chasing FOMO or trends and focus on what your product truly needs.
  • Prioritize reliability, pricing, support and usefulness over subjective features.
ANECDOTE

Two-Person Product Experiments

  • 37signals often builds new experiments as two-person teams to explore ideas quickly.
  • They launch small projects to test concepts before committing broader resources.
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