Rework

Basecamp has a long history of experimenting with "freemium" models and recently launched its most generous free plan yet: Basecamp Personal. Co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson talk about the debate and data analysis that went into the launch, what makes this a little scary, and why it's healthy for a business to experiment.Show Notes"Launch: Basecamp Gets Personal" (Signal v. Noise) - 00:1337signals' 2004 announcement about the launch of Basecamp - 1:44Basecamp's announcement about closing Backpack to new signups - 2:18"Launch: Basecamp 3" (Signal v. Noise) - 2:31Our episode about finding an SEO consultant - 7:10Our episode introducing Basecamp's new head of marketing - 7:18Basecamp's ace Support team - 23:46Our episode about the Apple Card controversy and algorithmic bias - 25:06Basecamp Personal on Product Hunt - 26:10Basecamp's "Until the End of the Internet" policy - 26:53

Basecamp has cut back its reliance on Amazon and Google, but there's one area where it's tough to find alternatives to Big Tech: cloud services. Even so, there are ways to cut spending on this $3 million annual expense while keeping the company's apps running smoothly. In this episode, Blake Stoddard on Basecamp's Ops team talks about how he volunteered to look for savings on cloud services and really delivered—to the tune of over a half-million dollars.Show NotesBlake Stoddard on Twitter - 1:27AWS Lambda - 4:45The Reddit hug of death is also known as the Slashdot effect - 4:55Maybe Roxane Gay can save us from our cord-cutting dystopia - 15:49

Basecamp co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson sparked a national controversy this week when he posted a series of livid tweets about how his wife received a much lower credit limit than he did on their Apple Cards, despite applying with the same financial information. What began as a rant against opaque algorithms turned into a regulatory investigation and more. In this episode, Dr. Ruha Benjamin of Princeton University and entrepreneur Mara Zepeda, co-founder of the XXcelerate Fund and Zebras Unite, talk about how the tech and financial sectors perpetuate systemic inequalities and how to start repairing the damage—or building something more equitable and inclusive from the ground up.Show NotesApple Card - 1:31DHH's Twitter thread - 1:53Steve Wozniak's response - 1:58The New York Department of Financial Services' announcement of its investigation into Goldman Sachs - 2:11"About the Apple Card" (Jamie Heinemeier Hansson) - 2:28Ruha Benjamin's website | Twitter - 2:57Race After Tech

Jason Meller - 00:25"What is SSL?" - 1:13This is Outback Steakhouse's page for the Bloomin' Onion, which is categorized as an "Aussie-tizer." Yes, that's what Outback calls appetizers. I cannot un-know this fact and now I pass it to you. - 2:43"At an Outback Steakhouse Franchise, Surveillance Blooms" (Wired) - 2:51"Presto Launches Computer Vision Product for Real-Time Restaurant Operations Insights" (Presto press release) - 3:18"The Employer-Surveillance State" (The Atlantic) - 3:40Kolide - 5:45Basecamp's security overview with a mention of Shipshape (PDF) - 20:54"Introducing Netflix Stethoscope" (The Netflix Tech Blog) - 20:58

Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard - 2:57Max Temkin is a Chicagoan and a co-creator of Cards Against Humanity - 4:01Little Free Library - 4:04Maverick by Ricardo Semler - 4:48Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters by Warren Buffett - 5:27Amazon's 2018 shareholder letter by Jeff Bezos - 5:38Listen to our previous episodes about hiring a director of marketing, "In the Market for a Marketer" and "Meet Andy" - 13:02

Art19 - 1:02The Distance - 1:09Tweet from Kevin Finn to DHH / "Heal the Internet" - 1:15Buzzsprout - 1:21Video about Art19's new ad technology - 1:28DHH's tweet about leaving Art19 ASAP - 3:23Transistor - 3:52Lex Friedman - 4:16"Breaking: Two Top Stitcher Executives leave for Art19" (Hot Pod) - 10:58California Consumer Privacy Act (Wikipedia) - 23:20Justin Jackson - 40:24Jon Buda - 40:34The Good News Podcast, a show by Cards Against Humanity - 40:45"Crafting Radio's Driveway Moments" (NPR) - 42:26Sleep With Me podcast - 56:38Justin Jackson's post on getting to $30K - 58:21DHH's personal website - 1:02:27

"In the Market for a Marketer," our previous episode - 00:22Andy Didorosi | Detroit Bus Co. - 00:50"How Detroit ended up with the worst public transit" (Detroit Metro Times, 2014) - 1:45"Baby Shark (doo doo do doo do doo), explained" (Vox) - 16:00Jalopnik - 17:15Andy's talk at the 2014 Adobe 99U Conference, "What Detroit Taught Me About Getting Things Done" - 19:04"Eminem Opens a 'Mom's Spaghetti' Pop-Up in Detroit" (Vice, 2017) - 19:50Small Giants - 20:24

"Hire When It Hurts," our previous episode about hiring - 00:57"Farewell, Happy Camper," our episode about rebranding Basecamp - 1:51A Signal v. Noise post by Jason about design challenges for job candidates - 4:26Detroit Bus Co. - 11:17

She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey (IndieBound.org) - 00:40Playing at the World: A History of Simulating Wars, People and Fantastic Adventures, from Chess to Role-Playing Games by Jon Peterson (IndieBound.org) - 1:14"Independent Women," our previous podcast's episode about Women & Children First bookstore - 1:31"Heal the Internet," our episode where David Heinemeier Hansson endorsed IndieBound - 2:00Danny Caine's website - 2:37The Raven Book Store's website | Twitter | Instagram - 2:40The Raven's viral Twitter thread from April 2019 - 6:46"Amazon will pay $0 in taxes on $11,200,000,000 in profit for 2018" (Yahoo Finance) - 10:10Books Are Magic - 11:00Caitlin Doughty - 13:17"Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale sequel escapes from tight secrecy" (The Guardian) - 14:46The Raven's Twitter thread about the embargo on The Testaments - 16:36The huge demand for Michell

DHH on Twitter - 00:53Matt Mullenweg's website | Twitter - 00:57The Twitter conversation that started the debate - 1:07WordPress.org - 1:40Automattic website - 1:45Automattic's Series D funding announcement - 1:54Matt Mullenweg's interview with TechCrunch - 3:30"Netflix CEO Reed Hastings: Sleep Is Our Competition" (Fast Company) - 9:19A 2005 demo by DHH on creating a blog engine in 15 minutes - 16:49"The deal Jeff Bezos got on Basecamp" (Signal v. Noise) - 24:16Benevolent dictator for life (Wikipedia) - 46:21DHH on the Django Chat podcast - 46:37"Richard Stallman resigns from MIT over Epstein comments" (The Verge) - 47:15Automattic Acquires Tumblr from Verizon - 56:17

Mike Davidson's blog post on Superhuman, "Superhuman is Spying on You" - 00:13Mike Davidson's tweet about Superhuman - 00:35"Marking the end of pixel trackers in Basecamp emails" and "Let's stop shaking people down for their email addresses" (Signal v. Noise) - 00:57"You can heal the internet" (Signal v. Noise) - 1:18The EU's official website about GDPR - 11:00"California Passes Sweeping Law to Protect Online Privacy" (New York Times) - 11:08Basecamp stopped reimbursing employees for Uber rides in 2017. DHH elaborates on that decision in our episode "Take A Stand" - 15:26IndieBound - 16:37DuckDuckGo - 17:45"Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the 'future is private'" (The Verge) - 21:46"Facebook Has Watched You Browse The Web For Years. And No, 'Clear History' Won't Really Stop It" (BuzzFeed News) - 22:15Our episode on becoming 100% Facebook Free - 22:28"Mister Gotcha," a four-p

A GQ profile of Japan's Kapital Denim - 1:26Pure Blue jeans - 1:44Meghan Markle - 2:39For a great peek into the denim industry and its environmental impact, we recommend this episode of the Articles of Interest podcast - 2:57David Hieatt - 3:18Hiut Denim | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter - 3:20A 2002 BBC story about the closure of the Dewhirst jeans plant in Cardigan - 3:58Howies - 4:20A selvedge denim explainer - 5:25A story in the Independent about Meghan Markle wearing Hiut's jeans - 13:56Denim Breaker Club - 17:52No Wash Club - 21:46Do Purpose: Why Brands With a Purpose Do Better and Matter More by David Hieatt - 24:35The DO Lectures - 24:42

Basecamp.com - 00:19Adam Stoddard on Twitter - 00:29"Connecting the dots: How we put a smile on the Basecamp logo" (Signal v. Noise, October 2015) - 1:22You can see the 37signals logo in the upper right corner of this website - 3:4837signals changed its name to Basecamp in 2014 - 4:20 Jonathan Van Ness - 5:23Garmin's BaseCamp - 6:51The original 37signals manifesto - 8:40Pentagram - 11:35UnderConsideration's review of the new logo - 14:40

Jason's tweet - 00:18"Six Hours of Phone Calls," our episode about hiring an SEO consultant - 00:44Adam Stoddard, Basecamp's marketing designer - 2:17CNBC's story on Jason's tweet - 3:35CNN story on Burger King's mobile app promotion that trolled McDonald's - 10:18

Ty Fujimura on Twitter - 00:52Ty's Medium essay, "The Cult of Overwork (And How to Avoid It)" - 00:54Cantilever website - 1:10Cal Newport's website - 8:47"The Cult of Overwork," James Surowiecki's New Yorker piece - 22:56Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken - 25:54 (Wailin would like to say that she describes the circus trick incorrectly: The rider actually mounts a moving horse before diving off the platform. Wailin would also like to say that she corrected herself on mic but Shaun cut that part.)

We're taking off the month of August! During our hiatus, we'll be playing some vintage episodes of the 37signals Podcast, a show that Basecamp ran from 2009-2011 (and then forgot all about until Wailin came across the show during an unrelated Google search). In this episode, Basecamp (then 37signals) co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson answer questions from Signal v. Noise readers about the company's affiliate program, staying motivated, playing the stock market, and more.We'll be back with new episodes of Rework next week!

We're taking off the month of August! During our hiatus, we'll be playing some vintage episodes of the 37signals Podcast, a show that Basecamp ran from 2009-2011 (and then forgot all about until Wailin came across the show during an unrelated Google search). In this episode, Basecamp (then 37signals) co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson talk about when to give something away and when to charge.

We're taking off the month of August! During our hiatus, we'll be playing some vintage episodes of the 37signals Podcast, a show that Basecamp ran from 2009-2011 (and then forgot all about until Wailin came across the show during an unrelated Google search). In this episode, Basecamp (then 37signals) co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson discuss a satirical press release they wrote to skewer overblown tech company valuations. That leads to a broader discussion about investment, exits, and serial entrepreneurship.

Our previous two episodes, Shape Up and Shape Up Roundtable - 00:37Welcome Industries website | Twitter | Instagram - 1:16Pam's bio at Northwestern University - 1:31Brandon Williams' website - 3:31Umbra - 3:39Brandon's original idea for Float | Umbra product page - 3:54Kickstarter for the cork bag - 5:23Kickstarter for the photo frame - 5:56Kickstarter for the measuring cups - 6:52Most funded Kickstarter campaigns - 7:31Yanko Design's Instagram - 13:01International Home + Housewares Show - 13:53Janler Corporation - 14:41The cups are made of a plastic called Tritan - 18:58Crazing is cracking on the surface of an object - 19:07MoMA Design Store - 22:35Welcome Industries page to purchase the cups - 23:48Drink those claws - 27:19Wailin's explanation of "Hot Girl Summer" is mortifyingly inaccurate, so read this explainer instead - 27:28

Last week's episode, an introduction to Shape Up - 00:11Shape Up: Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work that Matters by Ryan Singer - 00:18Ryan Singer on Twitter - 1:18Conor Muirhead on Twitter - 1:22Jeff Hardy on Twitter - 1:27"Get One Piece Done" - 5:08"Affordances before pixel-perfect screens" - 10:02"Work is like a hill" - 12:44"The circuit breaker" - 21:16"Risks and Rabbit Holes" - 22:15"Watch out for grab-bags" - 23:43"Decide When to Stop" - 25:50"Bets, Not Backlogs" - 28:26