Rework

Basecamp co-founder and CTO David Heinemeier Hansson and entrepreneur and angel investor Jason Calacanis debate the gig economy, democratic socialism, and whether the American dream is dead. The conversation in this episode is adapted from a longer interview that can be found in full at This Week in Startups.

Some of our most famous poets had day jobs: Robert Burns was a tax collector; William Carlos Williams was a doctor; Audre Lorde was a librarian and professor. Poetry has a lot to say about work and can serve as a meeting place, a provocative memo, or a break from the daily grind. In this episode, we hear from the creator of Poetry At Work Day and the editor of Poetry magazine about the power of verse in the workplace. And some Basecamp colleagues share poems that are meaningful to them.Show NotesDays of the Year - 00:08The origins of "Be A Pineapple" - 00:55Poetry At Work Day 2020 - 2:00Take Your Poet to Work Day  - 2:18Laura Barkat's website | Twitter - 2:26"The African Chief" by William Cullen Bryant - 2:45Tweetspeak Poetry - 3:06"Wasp" by Tony Hoagland - 4:12Don Share | Poetry magazine - 5:04"The Instruction Manual" by John Ashbery - 5:22"Toads" by Philip Larkin - 6:22Our recent episode about moving out of Basecamp's current office - 6:57"My

Every year for the past decade, Mert Iseri has chosen a new skill to learn. This annual challenge has taken him from a magicians' club to chess tournaments where he's competed against eight-year-olds. In this episode, Mert talks about chasing the joy of being challenged just the right amount and what he's learned from being an enthusiastic beginner.Show NotesMert Iseri on Twitter - 2:49Basecamp's Continuing Education Allowance benefit - 3:22SwipeSense - 4:45The Game of the Century - 8:24Chess Grandmaster Maurice Ashley - 9:15Pioneers Palaces - 10:03Garry Kasparov's seminar on MasterClass - 10:14Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - 14:49Lillstreet Art Center - 21:44It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson - 24:33Chicago Magic Lounge - 28:59Chicago Magic Round Table - 30:00Free Solo - 32:56Max Maven performs B'Wave - 38:52

Sahil Lavingia once believed his startup was headed for unicorn status, but his journey through Silicon Valley—the viral launch on Hacker News, $8 million in venture capital, the glowing press—led to a very different outcome. In this episode, Sahil reflects on life outside the literal and figurative confines of Silicon Valley, and the satisfaction he gets from building a sustainable business.Show Notes"Is Venture Capital Worth the Risk?" (The New Yorker) - 00:51"The deal Jeff Bezos got on Basecamp" (Signal v. Noise) - 1:55Sahil Lavingia on Twitter | Gumroad - 2:05Vibram shoes - 6:00Jon Wheatley founded DailyBooth, a YCombinator company - 7:22"Pinterest Has Already Pinned Down $10M At A $40M Valuation" (TechCrunch) - 7:31Bebo is a now-defunct social networking company - 7:54"SoftBank's Vision Fund Is a Graveyard of Broken Tech Startups" (Vice) - 9:47"Gumroad Gets $7 Million Series A From Kleiner Perkins For Indie E-Payment Platform" (TechCrunch) - 11:43Bas

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.Show NotesJudiciary Committee page about the hearing, including a video of the event - 1:37"Pick A Fight," our episode about why David enjoys arguing on Twitter - 2:38"Open Source Beyond the Market," David's 2019 RailsConf keynote - 4:59"The Google Ads Shakedown," our episode about our displeasure with the way Google handles ads in search results - 5:51"100% Facebook-Free," our episode about pulling Basecamp from Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp - 6:42Previous subcommittee hearings on "Online Platforms and Mark

Basecamp CEO Jason Fried is back in the studio with an update on the company's Chicago headquarters. Basecamp will be leaving its office this summer after a 10-year run, and Jason is looking at a number of options—including a space that will bring him full circle with one of his original 37signals partners. Show Notes"Office Space," our last episode about the fate of the Chicago office - 00:45Brininstool+Lynch, the architects behind Basecamp's office - 6:54Carlos Segura, who co-founded 37signals with Jason and Ernest Kim - 13:13Coudal Partners is the Chicago design firm that makes Field Notes - 20:49Chicago artist Nate Otto has worked with Basecamp for many years - 21:17You never forget George Pappageorge - 21:33

Matthew Vincent, a member of Basecamp's Ops team, spoke at Nomad City 2019 about life as a remote worker. Close your eyes and pretend you're in the Canary Islands as you listen to this audio version of Matthew's talk.Show NotesMatthew Vincent's Nomad City speaker bio - 00:30Nomad City - 00:34d20 System (Wikipedia) - 1:23"Thirteen Months of Working, Sleeping, and Eating at the Googleplex" (Bloomberg Businessweek, July 2015) - 2:21"Which Googler holds the record for living at Google HQ?" (Quora) - 2:23Ben Discoe's LinkedIn - 3:06Entry in Basecamp's handbook about the Continuing Education Allowance - 7:18The tweet that Matthew references - 9:00Automatic Check-ins - 14:00Basecamp's Employee Handbook - 21:36Shape Up by Ryan Singer, Basecamp's guide to product development - 21:48All of Basecamp's books - 22:03Videos for Nomad City 2019 talks - 28:45

Welcome back! We're kicking off the new year with an episode full of practical advice about onboarding new employees. Ashley Bowe from Basecamp's customer support team talks about how they welcome and train new colleagues, and leadership coach Karen Catlin of Better Allies shares advice and examples of what companies can do to build more inclusive cultures.Show NotesBasecamp's Support team - 00:47The Better Allies Approach to Hiring by Karen Catlin - 1:03"Hire When It Hurts," our episode about hiring - 2:51Entry in Basecamp's handbook about summer hours - 6:44"I've never had a goal" (Signal v. Noise) - 7:36Shaun talks about not eating lunch for a week in "Workaholics Aren't Heroes" - 9:03Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson write about the joy of missing out in this Quartz essay - 14:39Karen Catlin on Twitter | her website | Better Allies on Twitter | Better Allies website - 19:28The Uber leather jacket debacle was chronicled by Susan J. Fowler i

Listeners may remember that last year Wailin watched ALL of the holiday rom-coms and decided to share them with me on our ill-advised holiday bonus episode. Well, we're bringing it back! This year Wailin made Shaun watch The Knight Before Christmas. It's got magic, chivalry, time travel, wide-legged pants, and an inexplicable post-credit scene. Is the holiday bonus episode still ill-advised? Yes. But, is it fun? Also, yes! Happy Holidays to all of our listeners and we'll be back in 2020 with more stories.

In this anxious era of bullying, teen depression, and school shootings, tech companies are selling software to schools and parents that make big promises about keeping kids secure by monitoring what they say and write online. But these apps demand disturbing trade-offs in the name of safety. In this episode, we dive into the normative, privacy, and transparency implications of this software for both schools and families, and examine how the rush to fix societal problems with technology can amplify harm to young people while enriching companies that stand to profit from increased surveillance.Show NotesGennie Gebhart's bio | Twitter - 00:38Electronic Frontier Foundation - 1:02The EFF's 2017 report on student privacy (PDF) - 1:12"Facial Recognition Tech Comes to Schools and Summer Camps" (Wall Street Journal) - 1:32"Heal the Internet," our episode on removing tracking pixels from emails - 2:06"Big Brother at the Office," our episode on workplace surveillance - 2:10Previou

Get out your Bunsen burner! It's time to do some experiments. In this episode, we talk to two businesses that aren't afraid to try new things. First, the three founders of The Mad Optimist, a soap company in Indiana, talk about letting customers choose what they pay for their products. Then Natalie Nagele, the co-founder and CEO of software company Wildbit, talks about an ongoing experiment with four-day work weeks and what she's discovered about productivity, happiness, and deep work.Show NotesThe Mad Optimist website | Facebook | Instagram - 00:45You can find The Mad Optimist's live revenue number in their Humanifesto under "We practice radical transparency" - 9:43Natalie Nagele on Twitter - 16:51Wildbit website - 16:53Basecamp's entry on Summer Hours in the company handbook - 16:57Deep Work by Cal Newport - 18:54

Dave Teare is the co-founder and official "heart and soul" of 1Password, which recently raised $200 million in its first round of venture capital. Basecamp is a longtime happy customer of 1Password and also a longtime critic of venture capital, so the funding announcement led to some back-and-forth on Twitter between Basecamp co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson and Dave Teare. In this episode, DHH and Dave get on the phone to hash out their feelings about venture capital and what this funding round means for 1Password's future.Show Notes"Open Source and Power with Matt Mullenweg," our episode featuring a phone call between DHH and Automattic's Matt Mullenweg - 00:34DHH's tweet about Automattic's funding round - 00:49Dave Teare on Twitter | 1Password - 00:561Password's blog post announcing the funding round - 1:02DHH's tweet about 1Password's funding announcement - 1:04"A love letter to DHH and others concerned about our recent funding announcement&qu

Workplace cultures in politics and tech share many similarities: Overwork is glorified; long hours are the norm; employees are expected to respond to communication instantly, no matter the day or time; and those that opt out are seen as lacking hustle or ceding ground to competitors. Marty Santalucia, a political consultant in Pennsylvania, wanted to do things differently. In this episode, he talks about applying calm work principles to an industry that's known for the opposite dynamic.Show NotesNPR's Up First podcast - 00:51FiveThirtyEight's Politics podcast - 00:55Dan Sinker's website | Twitter - 1:15impeachment.fyi - 1:21Marty Santalucia on Twitter - 2:55MFStrategies website | Twitter - 2:58"Sanders Campaign, Workers Ratify Union Contract" (NPR) - 22:23Bonus link! The New York Times asked 2020 Democratic candidates how much sleep they get a night and filmed the responses.

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