REWORK

Latest Episodes:

Mission Statement Impossible Nov 30, 2021

Show notes

Last episode we discussed how important it is to stand for something and you'd think writing your values down in a mission statement would be a great way to let people know exactly what you stand for. Well, you'd be wrong. Mission statements are almost always vapid, boring, platitudes that end up saying nothing at all. Even worse, they often turn people away entirely!

Show Notes

00:11 - Lex Fridman (YouTube)
02:38 - The Soup Nazi - Seinfeld (Wikipedia)
04:18 - 37signals manifesto
05:08 - 1981 FedEx commercial (YouTube)
05:17 - About Us (FedEx)
05:45 - Values (Basecamp Employee Handbook)
10:04 - Elevator pitch (Wikipedia)
12:17 - About Us (Enterprise)
15:41 - Nudge Nudge Wink Wink - Monty Python (YouTube)
19:56 - What's the point of a Reservation - Seinfeld (YouTube)

Draw a Line in the Sand Nov 23, 2021

Show notes

Whenever you start something, especially a business it's important to know why you're doing what you're doing. Having strong opinions, standing for something, can help tremendously when it comes to making crucial decisions and creating super-fans.

Show Notes

03:27 - Embrace Constraints (Getting Real)
04:09 - Signal v. Noise
04:18 - It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work
04:44 - Signal v. Noise is closed.
08:24 - Citizens United v. FEC (Wikipedia)
09:31 - Oracle
11:07 - Pinkberry
11:35 - Pinkberry sold to Cold Stone owner (CNBC)
12:38 - Basecamp Launches (Signal v. Noise)
14:38 - r/faxmachines (reddit)
22:07 - Badass: Making Users Awesome - Kathy Sierra (Bookshop.org)
25:53 - Tesla Model S Plaid

No Time is No Excuse Nov 16, 2021

Show notes

"There're just not enough hours in the day!" This is probably the most common excuse people give for not starting something. Well, guess what. There most definitely are a few hours you could probably squeeze in here and there. And, we're not saying you have to quit your day job to do it!

Show Notes

02:10 - Fortnite
02:21 - Tetris Effect
07:57 - Set Boundaries (Shape Up)
09:37 - Jerry Maguire "Who's Coming With Me?" (YouTube)
15:13 - How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation - Anne Helen Peterson (BuzzFeed News)
19:40 - Gary Vaynerchuk
23:43 - Stripe

Start Making Something (Season 2) Nov 09, 2021

Show notes

This week Jason and David discuss the essay titled "Start Making Something." It's only when you start building something the real insights come. Until then, all you have is just an idea. We also talk about Stanley Kubrick films and Jason introduces groundbreaking concepts like perforated pizza and "The Mysterious Cat."

Show Notes

06:04 - Getting Real
17:22 - Collections
20:44 - Stanley Kubrick (IMDb)
20:57 - 2001: A Space Odyssey (IMDb)
21:10 - Music Box Theater
22:10 - The Shining (IMDb)
22:24 - The reason why Stephen King hated Stanley Kubrick film 'The Shining' (Far Out)

Scratch Your Own Itch Nov 02, 2021

Show notes

Basecamp was originally designed as a way to manage 37signals' client work and its success can be credited to the fact that it was designed to scratch a very specific itch by the people with that were itching. Now, we're not saying that building something for others is necessarily a bad way to go about things, but building for your own needs has huge advantages.

Show Notes

06:15 - "The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste. And I don't mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way, in the sense that they don't think of original ideas, and they don't bring much culture into their products." - Steve Jobs in Triumph of the Nerds (PBS)
12:53 - Hotwire
13:57 - Not invented here (Wikipedia)
14:26 - Mary Kay Ash (Wikipedia)
18:12 - Second-system effect (Wikipedia)
21:35 - Minimum viable product (Wikipedia)
21:42 - Making sense of MVP - Henrik Kniberg
23:55 - The Homer (Simpsons Wiki)

Make a Dent in the Universe Oct 26, 2021

Show notes

This week we discuss the importance of doing meaningful work. At least meaningful to you. What you do is your legacy, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to change the world. You just need to be doing something that changes YOUR world.

Show Notes

03:28 - Bullshit Jobs: A Theory - David Graeber (Bookshop.org)
04:37 - Drudge Report
04:38 - craigslist
05:01 - Flip Video (Wikipedia)
05:29 - iPod touch
07:46 - Rails
08:55 - Ta-da List
11:45 - Stoicism (Wikipedia)
13:47 - Aol.
16:44 - stripe
17:31 - Braintree
18:07 - shopify
19:01 - Paul Graham
19:36 - Viaweb (Wikipedia)
20:34 - Squarespace
21:21 - Stratechery

Enough with "Entrepreneurs" Oct 19, 2021

Show notes

"Entrepreneur" sounds really fancy. Like a member of some exclusive club. But, what we're really talking about is just someone who starts something. Is it time to retire this word? Is there a better word to replace it? Can a business podcast go 30 minutes without talking about Steve Jobs, luxury cars, and watches?

Show Notes

09:42 - Andon (Wikipedia)
11:23 - Nürburgring 24 Hours (Wikipedia)
17:14 - The E Myth Revisited - Micahael E. Gerber (Bookshop.org)
20:51 - Monolith Titan Conical Espresso Grinder
23:19 - Saddleback Leather
23:34 - How to Knock Off a Saddleback Leather Co. Briefcase (YouTube)

Workaholism Oct 12, 2021

Show notes

Working long hours, putting in overtime, logging on on the weekends, have become badges of honor, but there's a big difference between work and getting stuff done. This week Jason and David push back against this idea of workaholism.

Show Notes

01:37 - Six-week cycles (Shape Up)
02:46 - On Apple's monopoly power to destroy HEY (Signal v. Noise)
09:10 - Oura Ring
10:47 - Test-driven development (Wikipedia)
12:50 - An Inside Look at Google's Best Employee Perks (Inc.)
17:12 - Paid Time Off (Basecamp Employee Handbook)
24:19 - Summer Hours (Basecamp Employee Handbook)

Why Grow? Oct 05, 2021

Show notes

Basecamp has always prided itself on staying small and lean. But, with two major products, we're going to change that. The question when looking to grow, however, is "why?"

Show Notes

03:08 - Highrise
03:09 - Campfire
03:10 - Backpack
07:18 - Software as a service (SaaS)
09:41 - Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency - Tom DeMarco
13:33 - Hill Charts
14:23 - Ryan Singer
17:52 - Citizen Kane
18:15 - "Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell." - Edward Abbey

Planning is Guessing (Season 2) Sep 28, 2021

Show notes

People put too much stock in making long-term plans, but let's call them what they really are: guesses. On this episode we discuss deadlines, business plans, world domination, and Dungeons & Dragons.

Show Notes