Rework

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&a

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 -

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

Imagine a corporate privacy policy on a website that was actually comprehensible and written by and for human beings. We talk to companies who have done just this, and what it means to build a business that has respect for privacy baked in from the outset. We also talk to a researcher who's witnessed the difficulty of navigating online privacy settings.Show NotesMark Asquith's website | Twitter | Instagram - 00:21Captivate.fm, part of Rebel Base Media - 00:28Captivate’s privacy policy - 1:25Hana Habib's website - 2:57GDPR -  3:16CCPA - 3:18The study on privacy usability that Hana and her team published (PDF) - 3:46Kaitlin Maud on Twitter | Instagram - 6:13Rain or Shine Recruiting - 6:14Rain or Shine Recruiting’s privacy policy - 11:50Ryan Jones on Twitter - 13:16Flighty - 13:18Flighty’s privacy policy - 17:15“A Hosty Retreat,” our episode about switching podcast hosts over privacy concerns -23:00"Overcast's latest beta update tells listeners which podcasts are tracking them" (The

We do a quick check-in with Basecamp CEO Jason Fried about what he's been up to since launching HEY in June. He talks about running the company as the pandemic stretches on, the importance of not making promises, and learning to swim.Show Notes"Greetings from Mojito Island," our check-in episode with DHH - 00:14"Hey, What's Going On?", our episode launching HEY - 00:43HEY for Work - 2:47“Don’t Promise” (Signal v. Noise) - 3:51“Something’s Broken,” our episode on recent downtime - 4:58Coalition for App Fairness - 12:43Learn more about our conflict with Apple in our episode “Two Weeks” - 14:51Vox explainer on Apple, Epic Games, and Fortnite - 15:19 

Basecamp co-founder and CTO David Heinemeier Hansson has been on a not-totally-intended sabbatical from both work and Twitter, and on an entirely intended break from living in the U.S. He checks in from Europe to talk about how he's managing his time off as the boss, and what developments back at Basecamp briefly pulled him back into work. Show Notes“Two Weeks,“ our episode about the launch of HEY - 5:00Basecamp’s sabbatical policy - 5:23HEY for Work - 8:23HEY'S Paper Trail feature - 8:38The School of Life - 9:27It Doesn’t Have to be Crazy At Work by Jason Fried and DHH - 13:45"Take A Break," our episode on sabbaticals - 15:05“Something’s Broken,” our episode about recent outages - 15:58"All Bugs are Not Created Equal" from Getting Real - 21:04

Culture writer Anne Helen Petersen, author of the new book Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation, comes on the show to talk about how the real estate agents of the reality show Selling Sunset embody toxic ideas around work, passion, and career success. Along the way, Anne and Wailin discuss Christine's outfits, how they can't tell Brett and Jason apart, that $40 million listing, and more! Show NotesAnne Helen Petersen on Twitter - 0:39Anne's newsletter, Culture Study - 0:43The original BuzzFeed News piece, "How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation" - 0:47Anne's book, Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation - 0:52Selling Sunset - 1:53Wailin mentioned Selling Sunset in our episode "Apps Without Code" - 2:00A BuzzFeed News profile of reality show producer Adam DiVello - 3:23Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County - 3:25The Hills - 3:28Oppenheim Group - 3:42Jason Oppenheim on Instagram | Brett Oppenheim on Instagram - 5:36Mary Fitzger

Basecamp recently suffered three outages in a week. Programming lead Jeremy Daer and director of operations Troy Toman come on the show to discuss their approach to customer communication around these kinds of incidents. They talk about public accountability, mental health, and why the human side of incident response is just as critical as the technical details. (Read Jeremy's post and Troy's post on Signal v. Noise.)Show NotesTroy Toman on Twitter - 00:04Basecamp's policy on summer hours - 00:15Jeremy's Signal v. Noise post - 1:35Troy's Signal v. Noise post - 1:38Jeremy Daer on Twitter - 2:58Basecamp's status page showing its uptime percentages - 3:55The Big Integer incident was covered on Rework | in this Signal v. Noise post  - 4:36

Basecamp has closed its physical office after a 10-year run in Chicago's West Loop area. In this episode, we say good-bye to the neighborhood and two of its businesses. J.P. Graziano and un-cooked are small, family-owned restaurants on either side of the longevity spectrum: Jim Graziano is the fourth-generation owner of an Italian food importer-turned-sandwich shop, and Jeremy Jones opened his vegan grab-and-go place with his mother and wife in July. Jim and Jeremy talk about weathering the pandemic as independent restaurant owners.Show NotesOur previous episode about closing the Chicago office - 00:21J.P. Graziano Grocery Company website | Instagram | Twitter - 2:15un-cooked website | Instagram - 7:29Collective Resource Compost - 12:27Strength in the City | fundraising campaign for their mentorship program with SRV - 20:17Taste Real Chicago - 34:03

A group of startup founders, investors, and thinkers are reimagining corporate ownership to take into account all of the people who help build the business—not just executives and investors, but customers, users, and suppliers. Their vision for Exit to Community is outlined in this zine, and two of its authors come on Rework to talk about their vision for a more equitable and inclusive end game for tech startups.Show NotesZebras Unite website | Twitter - 1:18"Exit to Community: A Community Primer" zine - 1:24Mara Zepeda on Twitter | Mara's previous interview on Rework - 1:52Hearken and Switchboard's merger - 1:56Nathan Schneider's website | Nathan on Twitter - 2:11Media Enterprise Design Lab - 2:17"Meetup to the People: How a Zebra could Rise from a Unicorn's Fall" (Medium) - 4:41"Meetup was a darling of the tech industry. But can it survive WeWork?" (NBC News) - 4:45ESOP - 10:49The #WeAreTwitter #Buy Twitter campaign - 20:17Exit to Community peer learning coh

We're back from our August hiatus! To kick things off, we have a conversation with Tara Reed, the CEO of Apps Without Code. She started an online art advising business without knowing how to code, and that early success led to an entire company and educational program that teaches others how to do the same. Tara talks about her career, the tools she uses, and why she hates the term "non-technical founder."Show NotesSelling Sunset on Netflix - 00:42The Hills - 00:54 A BuzzFeed News profile of the reality show producer behind Selling Sunset and The Hills - 1:04Columbo - 1:30IMDb TV - 1:40Wailin discusses her idea for an app to help you choose a streaming provider at the end of this episode - 1:56Tara Reed on Twitter | LinkedIn - 2:36Apps Without Code - 2:41Google Offers - 4:06"Sources: Groupon rejects Google's $5 billion offer" (story co-written by Wailin in the Chicago Tribune, 2010) - 4:10Kollecto - 5:05Strikingly - 6:57Kollecto on Product Hunt - 8:02Kollecto on BetaList - 8:03Su

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.

In the spring of 2019, Danny Caine, the owner of the Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas, overheard a customer saying she could buy a new hardcover online for $15. Danny took to Twitter to explain the economics of independent bookstores and the thread went viral, putting the 32-year-old small business in the national spotlight. Danny comes on Rework to talk about why his activism and outspoken stance against Amazon haven’t just felt right, but been good for business too.

Basecamp co-founder and Chief Technology Officer David Heinemeier Hansson has been ranting on Twitter about monopolistic practices in Big Tech for a while, and he recently got an unexpected opportunity to air his grievances about Google, Apple, and Facebook in front of a congressional subcommittee. In this episode, David debriefs on his experience and Basecamp’s data analyst, Jane Yang, talks about her work helping David prepare for his appearance.

Basecamp probably wouldn't exist today if not for an email that David Heinemeier Hansson sent Jason Fried in 2001. That correspondence was the beginning of a partnership that produced Basecamp, several books, and most recently HEY, the company's new email service. This episode is our love letter to email. Hear from David and Jason, as well as other artists, writers, and founders about the emails that changed their lives.Show NotesHEY - 00:11Our episodes on how HEY was...conceived - 00:15...designed - 00:16...branded - 00:17...launched - 00:18Jason Fried on Twitter | DHH on Twitter - 1:06The 37signals manifesto - 1:35Signal v. Noise - 1:58Saya Hillman on Twitter | Instagram - 4:53Saya's company, Mac & Cheese Productions - 4:57Rick Cosgrove - 8:50Agency EA - 8:54Samsung Developer Conference - 9:12Julie Wernau on Twitter - 11:41Mike McGee on Twitter - 16:26AnitaB.org - 16:32Neal Sáles-Griffin on Twitter - 16:37Mike recounted the story of founding Code Academy (later renamed The Starter League)

Basecamp released its new email service, HEY, on June 15. It was supposed to be a calm, controlled product launch, but what followed was a period that CEO Jason Fried described as "chaotic, enthralling, (and) horrible." Basecamp got into a public fight with Apple over the HEY iOS app and the customer support team made emergency hires to help with an unprecedented caseload—all during a turbulent time for the world at large. This is the story of those two weeks, in the voices of the people who fixed bugs, answered customer emails, fended off security threats, and pulled off one of the most audacious undertakings in company history.Show NotesHEY - 00:30David Heinemeier Hansson on Twitter - 00:50Jason Fried on Twitter - 1:22Kristin on Twitter - 3:21Javan on Twitter - 3:53Jason's HEY demo on YouTube - 4:21HEY's desktop apps - 5:26Dylan on Twitter - 7:09Zach on Twitter - 8:37David's "burn this house down" tweet - 12:03Protocol's coverage of Apple's rejection - 14:21Macin

Basecamp co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson held a recent livestream session where they answered questions about HEY, the company's new email service. You can listen to Part 1 or watch the entire livestream on YouTube.Show NotesQ1: What's the timeframe on new features? - 00:38HEY for Work - 00:50Shape Up - 1:13Apple vs. HEY - 4:33It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy At Work - 6:07Q2: How did you get HEY.com? - 7:12"How we acquired HEY.com" (Signal v. Noise) - 7:30Q3: When would you say you've taken on Gmail? - 9:53Q4: What's the environmental impact of HEY? - 14:14Data analyst Jane Yang's SvN post on carbon negativity - 15:45Q5: It's been crazy at work for the last couple weeks. How do you get back to normal? - 15:52Q6: Now that you have two products, are you concerned with context switching in the future? - 17:38Q7: What's the problem with "inbox zero?" - 20:04Q8: How could I possibly move to HEY with 16 years of emails in Gmail? - 24:10HEY

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson held a livestream session where they answered audience questions about Hey, Basecamp's new email service. In Part One, they discuss feature requests, customer support, and plans for hiring. The full Q&A can be viewed on YouTube.Show NotesHEY.com - 00:10Jason Fried on Twitter | DHH on Twitter - 00:24Jason and David's remote work Q&A, Part 1 and Part 2 - 1:03Q1: What's your suggestion for managing the Feed? - 1:29Q2: What are you going to do about signatures? - 5:03Q3: What's a feature you've gotten the most requests for that you won't bring to HEY? - 6:13Q4: Who led UI/UX for HEY, and do you do any user research? - 8:48Q5: What's the intended purpose of the Previously Seen section? - 9:57Q6: Having support with actual humans for an email service seems unique. Are you planning to lean into that with your marketing? - 11:33Q7: What's your vision for enterprise HEY adoption? - 13:49Q8: What about accessibility? - 16:11Q9: Wha