Happy Links
September 6, 2005 in Happy Links- Seth Godin just released a free eBook today about blogs and the "New Web." I've mirrored a copy of the book here. (This one looks better than his last ebook which was really weak. Yes I know it was "Incomplete" and it's more than I've done, so I'll shut up now.)
- 10 Steps to a Hugely Successful Web 2.0 Company offers some great advice for anyone trying to build a web-based application.
- The definitive collection of idea generation methods provides a rash of sometimes absurd, but sometimes helpful methods for coming up with new ideas.
- Malcom Gladwell on why focus groups suck.
Interview with Jason Fried of 37Signals
September 6, 2005 in An interview
Jason Fried heads 37Signals, a web services firm turned product firm (mostly). They offer the insanely successful Basecamp, followed recently by the sharply concieved and executed Ta-Da lists and Backpack services. 37Signals is now working on 3 new products (details below) and a new self-published book.
Jason himself has gained a fair amount of visibility due to the success of his company. His last interview was with super guru Tom Peters. Today he sits down with me to offer some insights about what makes him and 37Signals work.
Before we get
started, can you settle some bets and tell us how to pronounce your last
name?
Ha! FrEEd. Spelled like "fried chicken" pronounced like "freed" as in we've freed people from bloated software.
1. Now you, and 37Signals, over the past couple years have become a new standard of sorts for Internet-centric entrepreneurs. Particularly for those that aspire to move from a service model to a product model. How did you make the leap successfully? There have been thousands who have tried, but you guys pulled it off. You've got a profitable company. That's no small feat. What do you think it is about what/how you guys are doing it that made it fly where so many others haven't?
Well, like most good things, this happened by accident. When we set
out, we didn't plan on shifting from a service model to a product
model. In fact, we originally built Basecamp to help us manage our
client projects. We wanted to make our service model business easier to
manage. It wasn't until a few months in that we realized this could be
something other than just a tool we could use for our own projects.
Then we decided to make it an actual product. We generally don't deal
with projections or estimates (why waste time guessing?), but we did
take a stab at the projected monthly revenues after 12 months. Turned
out that we beat that estimate after the first 6 weeks. It was at that
point that we had a feeling we were on to something.
I think our focus on simple tools really helped us succeed. There's too much bloatware out there. It's everywhere you look. I mean, we all use Microsoft Word, but have you ever heard someone say a single good thing about it? Software shouldn't be something you feel like you are forced to use, it should be something you want to use. You should be passionate about the tools you use to get your job done. Our anti-bloat stance can be summed up in our "Less Software" approach.
In the end, we wanted to build a product that we were passionate about. If we weren't passionate about it, we wouldn't use it and if we wouldn't use it then we wouldn't care about it. And if we don't care about it how can we expect our customers to care about it?
So, I think the only way to build a great product is to build something for yourself. If you're happy with it chances are there are thousands of other folks who think like you and want exactly what you want. So, deciding up front not to try to please everyone is the best way to build a great product.
Of course you need to build something good -- building a crappy product for yourself won't work for anyone.
2. To date you've got 3 awesome products, and a book. All seemed to be marketed to, and aimed at a fairly targeted and limited niche audience (your professional peers essentially). But now you're starting to make inroads into all sorts of industries, especially with Basecamp. Reading about you in Business 2.0 where they profiled the maker of KidRobot and he sang your praises I thought "man, these guys are going to conquer the world." What do you feel has been the key in helping you move into the broader market?
The key is less software, or I should say more general software.
Sure, we've targeted niches, but only through marketing -- there is nothing in any of our products specifically targeted at our peers. There's no exclusive web-designer features in Basecamp. Basecamp is just messages, to-dos, and milestones (and now time tracking for those who want it). Anyone with a client or anyone with a project can find value in messages, to-dos, and milestones. So, by keeping our products simple and general we're able to reach a much larger market.
So my advice to people trying to build products is this: Give people just enough to solve their own problems their own way and then get out of their way. Basecamp and Backpack are all about simple useful little "tool nuggets" -- messages, to-dos, reminders, milestones, notes -- that give people the basic tools to do what they want their own way.
3. You're obviously a brilliant marketer. You're very generous in sharing your ideas, you have a popular blog, and you've got great products, including a sort of "shareware" now with Ta-Da lists and the free versions and trials of Backpack and Basecamp. What have been your most successful marketing efforts?
I don't think we're brilliant, we're just getting back to basics. The best marketing in the world is to give people products they love. Give them things they want to tell others about. Make your customers your salespeople. And be honest with them -- if there's a problem, let them know about it. If someone asks you a question, give them a straight answer. People can see right through the bullshit. Be direct, honest, and clear and you'll build trust which builds great customers.
Now, of course the toughest part is getting the initial word out. You can't have word of mouth until you've captured a few ears. So we think the best way to do that is to give away your knowledge and experience so others can benefit. Use education to educate and promote. For example, when we developed the Yellow Fade Technique we wrote a post about it on Signal vs. Noise. That post made the rounds -- thousands and thousands of page views (even today it's doing huge traffic). That was an educational post as well as a promotional post.
So share. Share your ideas, share your designs, share your insight, share your experiences, and above all, share your mistakes -- it shows you're human. People like people.
4. What marketing efforts have been stinkers?
I don't know, really. We don't track these things. I sorta see marketing as a side effect of loving what you do. If you love what you do, provide value for your customers, share your experiences and ideas, marketing just happens. Honesty is great marketing too because honesty is free.
We have spend some money on Google ads which have done all right. Is it worth it? I'm not entirely sure. We don't spend a lot on them so the cost of analyzing their success would cost more than just tossing a few bucks in a month to see what happens.
We haven't done any print advertising, but we will be running our first print ad shortly so we'll keep an eye on that.
5. All of your applications cover a similar area. You've previously argued for the opportunity facing companies who can cater to the "Fortune 5,000,000." Are there other specific areas you see opportunities? Anything in particular that you've got your sights on?
We are eyeing a few categories and working on three new products right now. One deals with writing, one deals with conversations, and one aims to redefine the stale "CRM" market, although we'd never call what we're building a CRM tool. We're aiming to have all three out by January of 2006, but who knows if we'll hit that mark. They'll be released when they're ready.
6. As a successful entrepreneur and businessman, you've got many important demands on your time, yet you still manage to get stuff done. What's your secret to time management? What methods/tools do you employ to manage your time well?
I'm really not that great at time management. I forget to do a lot of things (especially writing thank you notes which is a horrible thing to forget to do). Backpack reminders have definitely helped, but I'm still not great at remembering the little things. It's something I need to get better at (and that's not a software thing, it' a personal thing). Software doesn't solve problems unless you make the software solve problems. Software is dead unless you breathe life into it.
The other thing is to make things easy on you. It's a lot like our Less Software approach -- the less features and the less code, the less can go wrong and the less you have to manage. It's the same with time. Make things easier on you -- make quick, simple decisions and then go back and change that decision if it doesn't work. If you make a mistake it's no big deal if you can correct that mistake quickly. Don't burden yourself with stuff that really doesn't matter. It's a bit of an art to figure out what really doesn't matter, but it's more than you probably think. Most things we all spend our time on don't really matter.
We have no red tape at 37signals and I try to keep red tape out of every aspect of my life. Red tape makes people afraid to make decisions because they know they'll have to go through the red tape process again if they need to make a new decision. Keeping that cruft out of your life make it easier to manage your time.
7. Are there any books/magazines/etc that you enjoy that you would recommend?
Hmm... Best book I've ever read on interface design is Designing Visual Interfaces by Mullet and Sano. HIGHLY recommended. I also recommend Against the Odds: An Autobiography by James Dyson the Dyson vacuum guy.
For inspiration I like to thumb through magazines that have nothing to do with my industry. I look in car mags a lot, home renovation and furniture mags, and science magazines. I'm completely inspired by simple creative solutions wherever I see them and the best place to look for these is nature. Go get out your camera, flip on the macro setting, and take pictures of flowers, leaves, tree bark, stones, etc. You'll see genius.
8. Besides WorkHappy.net *cough* and SvN what blogs should every entrepreneur be reading?
Why thank you! The only entrepreneurial blog I read frequently is: Creating Passionate Users Everyone should read this every day. She's so right on the money.
9. Any parting advice for other entrepreneurs trying to get a foothold and become the (next) "37Signals" of their industry?
#1: Don't try to be 37signals, try to be yourself. We didn't try to be anyone else. Nike didn't try to be anyone else. Apple didn't try to be anyone else. You have to have your own vision -- that's the only thing that will ever keep you happy, passionate, and delivering the best you can possibly deliver.
So, find something you are passionate about and go for it. There's never been a better, cheaper, easier time to get started. There really is no excuse not to give it a shot today. Fixed costs are near zero. The only thing you need is an idea, passion, time, and skill.
We hope you succeed (and use Basecamp and Backpack, of course ;)
Thanks Jason, I really appreciate your time.
Thank you, sir. I really enjoyed it.
Jason has agreed to respond to a few reader questions in the comments of this post if you'd like to ask him something I missed.
Goovite
August 30, 2005 in 4 out of 5 stars, Hosted softwareGoovite: Goovite is a fast, easy way to send invites and track responses, with no registration required. Mark Hurst No registration is required. It does one thing and does it well, and is very simple to use. If you need to send an invitation for anything, Goovite hooks you up. Free Reviewed by Brian SweetingWhat is it?
Who makes it?
Why is it the killerest?
How much does it cost?
Rating?
Reader Question: Best Blogs for Entrepreneurs?
August 29, 2005 in Reader QuestionSo, as an entrepreneur (or an aspiring entrepreneur)...
If a rabid donkey were guarding your computer and you were only allowed to ever view three business-oriented blogs again, without getting bitten or kicked, what would they be?
My three would be:
- Creating Passionate Users This blog is brimming with brilliant business wisdom, commentary and well-developed (if a bit long winded) ideas.
- Duct Tape Marketing I like how he regularly dispatches great marketing ideas.
- Signal vs Noise Love him or hate him, (love him!) Jason and crew have something figured out. And they share. A lot. I dig.
(I wish Bnoopy would update more often, he'd be on the list. But if I'm restricted to just three, I don't want one that only updates quarterly.)
What three would you pick?
Feedburner
August 26, 2005 in 5 out of 5 stars, A service, FreeFeedburner: A free, super spiffy service that make sure everyone can read your RSS feed, and then gives you great stats on how many folks are subscribed to your blog/podcast/whatever. Burning Door Syndication Services, Inc. If you've got something with an RSS feed -- a blog, a podcast, a news feed, whatever -- you probably want to know how many folks are subscribed to it. As an entrepreneur, knowing this helps you gauge success.
The chaps (and chapettes) at Feedburner have done a sweet job of creating a service that takes over the job of managing your RSS feed and gives you killer, if simple, stats (charts, graphs tables) on your subscribers, click throughs, browsers, bots and more. If you pay for the premium service there are even more bells and whistles.
It also makes doing podcasts a snap, auto-links your Amazon links with your Amazon Assoc Id, serves up your Google AdSense feed ads and more.
It also makes sure that your feed can be read by the widest range of readers and aggregates.
Here's how it works: You show Feedburner where your RSS feed is. They consume it and generate a slick "let's all get along"' agnostic feed that any aggregater can latch onto. (Here's mine for WorkHappy.net). You then offer the Feedburner mediated feed to your visitors and the rest is magic. Performance monitoring on feed ads, but that's coming. Free for just about anything you really want. $4-16/mo for extra bells and whistles. Reviewed by Carson McComasWhat is it?
Who makes it?
Why is it the killerest?
What could be improved?
How much does it cost?
Rating?
The Little Red Book of Selling : 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness
August 25, 2005 in 4 out of 5 stars, A bookThe Little Red Book of Selling : 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness Jeffrey Gitomer I go to the bookstore as someone going to church, in search of some revelation that will save me. In search of a miracle I stroll around my local B&N and from time to time a book from the corner of my eye just seems to jump out at me and say "pick me up and read a page, this is what you need." Sometimes what happens next is a bit amazing, I flip the pages to get the gist of the contents and stop for a read. Almost always it speaks directly to me at that moment in my life.
Today was the day, I was in a slump, I had exhausted my personal contacts and needed to expand my horizons and hone my sales skills.
Mr. Jeffery Gitomer is my new hero. His book was what my slump needed. In his words, I need to "kick my own ass" to succeed. No excuses, you make the destiny and that "to make a sale is to make a commission, to make a relationship is to make fortune."
The book makes great use of humor, and layout to convey all the lessons and content in a memorable way. The book makes great use of typography and design.
I loved the book so much that I bought 5 to give to my clients in order to further my "relationship" building. I changed my voicemail to a more creative source of sales opportunities and found that my perspective in sales was completely off.
I have read many books 10x bigger, but it truly is refreshing to pick up a concise fun read in which each sentence has deep and meaningful impact. Why don't more authors cut out all the crap and give us a book that just works, in this regard. Size really did not matter.
Some repetition in concepts but seemed to be used in order to reinforce. $12.57 at Amazon. Reviewed by Gianni D'AlertaWhat is it?
Who makes it?
Why is it the killerest?
What could be improved?
How much does it cost?
Rating?
Reveries Magazine: Cool News of the Day
August 24, 2005 in 5 out of 5 stars, A website, FreeReveries Magazine: Cool News of the Day: A brilliant daily email delivery of well written marketing insights and ideas. Tim Manners What's amazing about Reveries is that almost every single day, it's
a home run of ideas, thoughts and writing. If you aren't getting and
reading this every morning, you're really missing out. This is one bulk
email I can't live without. (Note they also have an RSS feed if you
prefer).
It has been recognized by Dow Jones, USA Today, Fast Company and The Harvard Business School,
among others. It is ranked #1 by Google on the search term "marketing
people," #3 for "marketing insights" and #6 for "marketing ideas." Free like samples at Costco Reviewed by Carson McComasWhat is it?
Who makes it?
Why is it the killerest?
How much does it cost?
Rating?
Happy Links
August 19, 2005 in Happy Links- Stanford offers free video snippets from uber-entrepreneurs Larry Page (Google), Guy Kawasaki (Art of the Start), and Fern Mandelbaum (Monitor Venture) on high-technology entrepreneurship. (Click the links at the bottom of each for more videos by each presenter).
- How I learned to stop worrying and love my schedule. This is a surprisingly easy concept, but doing this very thing is what I've found to be my path to greatest productivity. In short: schedule everything! It'll keep you from wondering what to do next, which is usually followed by checking blog feeds, deleting old email, reading news sites, playing games, IM chatting, etc.
- 37Signals offers an ecommerce search report, previously $79 now free because it has grown dated. Still loaded with great information.
- U.S. online marketing forecast: $26 billion by 2010. Forrester is famous for being full of crap, but this report (summary only here with links to other media coverage) makes a thought-provoking case for the growth and effectiveness of online marketing, something every entrepreneur ought to be thinking seriously about, it seems to me.
- 6 Don'ts for the End of Your Presentation. I'm not sure how much public speaking you do but these were some great tips and something I thought would be useful for anyone presenting anything (sales pitch, client presentation, etc).
- What would the implications be of free Wi-Fi for every American? Wow, Google = spooky.
My Protopage
August 18, 2005 in 4 out of 5 stars, Free, Hosted softwareProtopage.com: Customizable, AJAX driven webpage where you can add "sticky notes", web link lists, to-do lists, etc. Kind of like a 1-page, edit on the fly version of BackPack (although quite different from backpack). Great to use as a home page where you can leave yourself reminders, lists, important links, etc. You create the page when you first arrive, set it as your browser's home page and use it for whatever. Protopage With it's AJAX driven editing and clean interface, it makes for a great one-page organizer, and it's free. Amazing technology at work here. Perhaps more customization and pre-built "modules". Although, the current version is described as "Pre-release." It's somewhat confusing as to what it does when you first arrive. It's kind of busy looking. Unclear revenue model. Free, Nada Reviewed by Russ ThorntonWhat is it?
Who makes it?
Why is it the killerest?
What could be improved?
How much does it cost?
Rating?
XDrive
August 16, 2005 in 0 out of 5 stars, A service, Hosted softwareXDrive: An online hard-drive that you can use for file sharing, backups, and other goodness. XDrive, Inc. Because it allows me to backup my critical files online through an easy to use backup program, but it also just acts as a 'folder' that I can access from anywhere with an internet connection.
Even better, I can send out invitations to people and they can access my files, and even be given permissions to administer files/folders, etc and even invite other people.
The price is also great. $10/month for 5GB of space (and 2 months free if you sign up for a year). They've also done a great job of documenting how to use it. It took me about 2 minutes to set it up and get it going. The only thing that could make this cooler would be the ability (for a fee, obviously) to CNAME, or alias part of my domain over to them, so that I could do something like send clients to : http://clientfiles.mysite.com/clientx/ etc. That would make this thing unparalled. As it is, I can still send clients out to a folder created specifically for them (and them only), but the url is for a resource on xdrive.com $10/month or less for 5GB of space (unlimited transfer) Reviewed by Michael K. Campbell Editors note: See also StongSpace.What is it?
Who makes it?
Why is it the killerest?
What could be improved?
How much does it cost?
Rating?
