REWORK

Comfort and joy were in short supply this year, but we're doing our best to end 2020 on a cozy note. Merissa of Basecamp support talks about surprising customers with gifts throughout the year, whether it's to thank them for their fandom or apologize for a disappointing experience. Then Wailin shares a few items from her 2020 gift guide, and Joan of Basecamp customer support reviews a scented candle. Wishing all of our listeners a restful holiday season, and we'll see you in 2021!Show NotesFabric in Flames - 00:35love languages - 3:15Basecamp merch store - 6:15Elami - 10:42Voluspa - 14:29Packed With Purpose - 15:32Gift Boss - 15:58Greetabl - 16:15Barefoot Dreams blankets - 17:13Minky Couture blankets - 17:19Oprah's Favorite Things - 17:35Barefoot Dreams CozyChic Lite Circle Cardigan - 19:05Glerups slippers - 19:28Solo Stove - 20:06Corksicle Classic stemless wine tumbler - 20:25Parks Project x Rumpl sherpa blanket - 20:46Spindrift subscription - 21:25Mason Cash cane mixing bowls - 21:46Neogen A-Clear Soothing Clear Spot Patch - 23:06Ello Tidal 20-ounce Glass Tumbler with Lid - 23:58Joan Stewart on Twitter - 24:35Shaun reviewed the Boy Smells "Polyamberous" candle in our previous episode - 24:48Kacey Musgraves "Slow Burn" collection - 25:53IKEA's special edition candles - 26:18"Amber" by 311 - 27:45

HEY launch, App Store, we can’t take it anymoreAntitrust, masks a must, let’s go eat the upper crustComfy pants, TikTok dance, POTUS rants, protest chantsCOVID cruise can't disembark, David's back in DenmarkWe didn’t start the fire—well, in this case we did.Show NotesAndy Didorosi on Twitter - 00:09"Meet Andy," our episode about Andy joining Basecamp - 00:18Signal v. Noise - 00:33Adam Stoddard on Twitter - 1:36HEY - 2:22H.E.R.L. - 2:50The dumpster fire livestream - 4:38Detroit Bus Company - 5:59Nathan on Twitter - 6:48Raspberry Pi - 9:10Recycle Here (Facebook) - 12:30Ben Wolf of Ferrous Wolf Fabrication (Instagram) - 14:42Monica Dubray - 14:51Eric Froh (Instagram) - 14:53Josh Bacon on Twitter - 15:03"The Making of a Dumpster Fire" (SvN) - 25:31Polyamberous candle from Boy Smells - 29:08Kacey Musgraves collab with Boy Smells - 29:33

Basecamp is winding down a busy year with one more thing: the rollout of its HEY email service for the workplace. Co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson talk about privacy, marketing, onboarding, and the other considerations that went into making HEY for Work. They also reflect on the roller coaster ride of the last year.Show NotesHEY - 00:41HEY for Work - 00:46Jason Fried on Twitter - 00:56DHH on Twitter - 00:57HEY's spy pixel blocker - 14:12"The Spy Who Emailed Me," one of our episodes about tracking pixels - 14:35"Two Weeks," our episode about the chaotic launch of HEY - 17:05"Winston Sat At His Computer," one of our episodes about worker surveillance - 19:24"Don't Promise" (Signal v. Noise) - 27:16DHH did not write this copy about hygge for the Danish tourism board - 32:48

In the last several years, a group of Basecamp customer support representatives has developed an expertise around "on-call support," or tackling some of the thornier technical issues that require diving into the code base of our applications. This team of self-taught specialists grew out of curiosity, creativity, and an approach to programming that emphasizes fixing over building. Show NotesBasecamp's customer support team - 00:13Jim Mackenzie on Twitter - 00:55Jamis Buck on Twitter - 3:18Jamis adapted his original Basil & Fabian on-call notes into a series that teaches newbies about algorithms and computer science. You can read Basil & Fabian on Jamis' website or on Kindle - 3:27Dan Kim is now a programmer on Basecamp's Android team - 5:57how to make templates in Basecamp 2 - 6:30Wikipedia's explanation of traceroutes - 13:54Kibana is another technical tool used at Basecamp - 14:55our episode about holding office hours - 16:05Rosa on Twitter - 16:07

Since releasing Shape Up, the book by Basecamp's Ryan Singer about our approach to product development, we've heard from other companies who've also adopted this methodology. David Nichols is the co-founder and CEO of Loupe, a company that helps design machines for clients in sectors from aerospace to packaging. He comes on Rework to talk about using Shape Up principles with clients who come from a world of complex contracts and project overruns. Show NotesOur previous episode, "Shape Up: The Print Edition" - 00:11Shape Up - 00:16David Nichols on Twitter - 00:45Loupe - 00:49Six-week cycles - 7:56Circuit breaker - 13:50Loupe's explanation of how they "Ship in Six" - 17:30Our episode introducing Shape Up - 24:52We featured Hearth & Hammer on the episode "Bubble Wrap & Prayers" - 28:02

In 2019, Basecamp released Shape Up, a digital book by head of product strategy Ryan Singer about our approach to product development. Since then, Ryan has added sections in response to reader feedback and released a print edition. Ryan comes back on Rework to talk about connecting with other business owners using Shape Up, and how he approached the editing, design, and distribution of the physical book without going through traditional publishing channels.Show NotesOur episode introducing Shape Up - 00:10Ryan Singer's Twitter | website | newsletter - 00:13Shape Up: Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work that Matters - 00:16Basecamp's other books - 00:43Six-week cycles - 3:08Setting the appetite - 3:36Principles of shaping - 4:29Hill charts - 5:20What about bugs? - 9:48HEY - 10:33Making new products - 11:19Basecamp merch store - 16:21Notability - 16:57Ryan's live sessions are on the Shape Up page - 17:24Ryan's Shape Up Live session with Adam Wathan of Tailwind CSS - 19:34

Unlimited paid time off is a common perk in the tech industry, but as one company discovered, an open-ended vacation policy led to confusion and even burnout. Dan Jimenez of Chatbooks comes on Rework to talk about how they shifted from unlimited to mandatory PTO, and how they're recalibrating expectations for work, productivity, and rest during a turbulent time.Show Notes"How the 'Knives Out' Costume Designer Chose Chris Evans' Perfect Sweater" (The Hollywood Reporter) - 1:50"27 Days in Tokyo Bay: What Happened on the Diamond Princess" (Wired) - 2:16Wailin and Shaun discussed how they spent their sabbaticals in "The Bean Machine" - 2:51Basecamp's PTO policy - 3:11We addressed our PTO policy change in "It Doesn't Have to be Crazy at Work - Part 1" and "Rework Mailbag 1 - Part 2" - 3:25Dan Jimenez on LinkedIn | Twitter - 3:42Chatbooks - 3:45Nate Quigley, CEO of Chatbooks - 5:49Rachel Hofstetter, CMO at Chatbooks - 18:37Dan Jimenez's Twitter thread about changing Chatbooks' PTO policy - 19:36"What is Hygge?" - 23:35John Wick - 24:18Boy Smells - 24:35literary candles from Hearth & Hammer - 24:39We featured Hearth & Hammer on the episode "Bubble Wrap and Prayers" - 24:42A24 x Joya film genre candles - 24:47Bath & Body Works white pumpkin candle - 26:42Shaun gets his togarashi from Third Street Market in Whitefish, Montana - 27:07

More than ever, the tech industry is re-thinking how work gets done and how great ideas come to light when people are no longer linked by their physical location. In this episode, we have frank but hopeful conversations with Deldelp Medina of Black & Brown Founders and Michael Berhane of People Of Color In Tech. They talk about the ongoing work of building intentional communities in tech and modeling what it means to truly trust and support each other.Show Notes"Duty Calls," the famous XKCD comic - 00:18"How Remote Work Could Destroy Silicon Valley" (Marker) — 00:40"'Rich people leave, artists and queerdos return': is San Francisco's tech exodus real or a fantasy?" (The Guardian) - 1:09Deldelp Medina on LinkedIn | Twitter - 2:07Black & Brown Founders website | Twitter | Instagram - 2:10History Channel article on the 1978 murders of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk - 2:41PBS article on Jim Jones and The Peoples Temple in Guyana - 2:46Ruth Asawa - 5:15BMUG (Berkeley Macintosh Users Group) - 6:34Michael Berhane on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram - 11:26POCIT (People Of Color In Tech) website | Twitter | Instagram - 11:29POCIT newsletter - 17:39Techish podcast - 17:50Techish co-host Abadesi Osunsade - 17:58The Lean Startup - 20:20Aniyia Williams - 25:51

Better Product is a podcast by Innovatemap, a digital product agency. We are playing their episode featuring Basecamp's marketing designer, Adam Stoddard, who joins them to talk about Basecamp's design philosophy and the thought process behind the look of HEY.com. Show NotesAdam Stoddard on Twitter - 1:04Basecamp co-founder and CTO David Heinemeier Hansson discussed Superhuman in a previous Rework episode - 12:20"Superhuman is Spying on You" by Mike Davidson - 13:23HEY's pixel tracker blocking feature - 13:33

We talk to two very different small businesses about their Babies at Work programs, where new parents can have their infants with them at the office. With COVID sending so many office workers home—and pushing women out of the workforce altogether—acknowledging employees' whole selves is more important than ever. The companies in today's episode talk about how they've adapted their programs for a work-from-home-during-a-pandemic reality.Show NotesLeah Silber on Twitter - 00:05Tilde - 00:58Leah's 2017 essay, "Babies at Work: It's Weird that it's Weird" - 1:06Our episode where Basecamp employees answered questions about working from home with kids - 2:36"865,000 women left the workforce in September" (The 19th) - 2:48“We’re just beginning to understand the extent of Covid-19’s feminist nightmare” (MSNBC) - 3:05W.S. Badger Company - 3:43Badger’s Babies at Work program - 4:09"Parents Got More Time Off. Then the Backlash Started." (NYT) - 18:47Parenting in the Workplace Institute - 24:03