REWORK

Come Small, Come All

Nov 30, 2022

24:51

Episode guests

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

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Highlights

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Focusing on smaller businesses and catering to their needs can be more advantageous than targeting larger conglomerates.

Maintaining control and sustainable growth is essential for running a successful business, rather than constantly striving for bigger market share at the expense of profitability.

Deep dives

Focus on Small Businesses: Fortune 5 Million, Not Fortune 500

The podcast episode discusses the idea of focusing on small businesses and catering to their needs rather than aiming for the Fortune 500. The hosts highlight their company's preference for serving smaller businesses and how they are more interested in helping small shops, design firms, and freelancers. They emphasize the relevance of this approach in the face of increasing competition and the importance of understanding who the target audience is when considering other tools or competitors. The hosts also address their decision to charge per seat and their commitment to staying in their desired market space.

I Don't Understand Why You're Losing Money

05:30

Are You Really the Target Audience?

03:12

How to Take Advantage of the Things That You Already Have

03:52

Introduction

2min

Are You Really the Target Audience?

3min

We're the More Appropriate Dance Partner

5min

How to Take Advantage of the Things That You Already Have

4min

I Don't Understand Why You're Losing Money

6min

The Resource Curse - You Don't Know What to Do With $20 Million

5min

There's a lot of talk in the tech world about getting bigger, growing as fast as you can, and getting investor money so you can scale quickly.

But that's not the only path. And recently, we've seen that being bigger only sometimes works well for companies.

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the Co-founders of 37signals, discuss the bigger is better culture in tech and why the human connection inherently built into small businesses can actually be an advantage. Plus, their invitation to small businesses to think differently through their open letter called, Come small, come all.

Show Notes:

[00:44] - Jason shares why it's important to note that Basecamp is interested in helping the Fortune 5 million and the small shop down the street.

[01:49] - David shares why it's important to him to be honest about the company's target audience.

[03:29] - The key to finding the right dance partner that's your bread and butter.

[05:30] - David shares the funny anecdote about when Twitter was a customer of Campfire and how they tried to "scare them away."

[08:50] - "We found our space. Can we just stay here?"

[09:59] - Jason shares why leaning into the space you are uniquely suited for and being closer to the work is an advantage.

[12:08] - Why it's essential to cultivate confidence in the human connection built into small businesses.

[13:36] - The unsustainable quest for a big market share.

[15:10] - How starting out during the original .com boom and bust cycle taught Jason and David to make sure the company has margin times three.

[18:28] - How to look like both an idiot and an oracle without changing a thing about the way you do business.

[21:10] - Where business breakthroughs come from.

[23:45] - How large companies devour innovation.

[24:16] - A special offer to help make Basecamp affordable for new customers that sign up by December 31st.

Links and Resources:

Basecamp Open Letter to Small Businesses

On Company Size

37signals on YouTube
The REWORK podcast

The 37signals Dev Blog

@reworkpodcast on Twitter

@37signals on Twitter

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REWORK

Come Small, Come All

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Focus on Small Businesses: Fortune 5 Million, Not Fortune 500

Advantages of Being Small

Downsides of Unsustainable Growth and the Importance of Profitability

I Don't Understand Why You're Losing Money

Are You Really the Target Audience?

How to Take Advantage of the Things That You Already Have

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts