Jason Fried

Started & runs 37signals (makers of Basecamp, HEY, and ONCE). Non-serial entrepreneur, serial author. DM or email me at [email protected].

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

What do they got?

A big team, lots of money, a strong brand, seemingly unlimited resources, panache, reputation, all that. They’re established.

They’re your competitors.

You want to look away, but you see them everywhere. Their ads on your social, their name in the media, your dream clients on their website.

But you know what else they got?

Bigger company bloat. Overflowing obligations. Narratives to uphold. Appearances to maintain. Entitlement. Too much overhead.

They’re slow. They’re conservative. They talk too much. They’ve stopped taking risks. They’re resting on their laurels, gliding on their reputation. They’re on defense.

What they’ve really got is a lot to lose.

What do you got?

Hunger. Drive. Grit. Scrappiness. Independence. You’re on offense.

You don’t have enough, which is why you’re dangerous. You have no choice but to be clever and creative. To make up for what you don’t have with something they can’t have: The underdog spirit.

You can move. You can adjust. You can adapt. You can get it done while they’re still stuck deciding what to do.

Small is not a stepping stone. Small is not less than. It’s greater than. It’s faster than. It’s better than.

Savor your position. You don’t get to be the underdog forever. The baton will be passed. But for now, it’s your magic wand. Use it.

We stand with the underdogs.

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

@alexjvasquez @joshpuckett I’m guessing?

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

Clever! Super fun.

[Evan Kirstel #B2B #TechFluencer @EvanKirstel]

Ok that’s cool

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

@hectorserrranoo Teams are made of pieces, not wholes.

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

@ThreeAcres Easy peasy. Welcome aboard Amos!

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

Fábio entendeu tudo.

[Fábio Moreira @ufabiomoreira]

O @bot e @basecamp trabalham tão bem juntos, é uma ferramenta bem mais simples que o @clickup ou o @NotionHQ , mas que funciona melhor para aquilo quer realmente tem de ser feito... trabalho 🔥

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

@ThreeAcres Today’s the day. Just give your agent an email address and invite them like you would a human.

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

@arthurcd @poteto @dhh @elonmusk @bot You can today. Just give one an email address and invite one as a user.

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

@arthurcd @poteto @dhh @elonmusk

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

@davidsenra Love Mackey.

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

Peter gets it. Thanks for being a customer for TWO DECADES!

[Peter Kaizer @pdkaizer]

I have been an @basecamp user for over 20 years. The addition of the CLI & MCP functionality is a game changer. Now I just ask Claude to look at activity in a repo and make to dos and complete them. It will also analyze my agent conversations and make updates. Awesome.

[Sam Vecenie @Sam_Vecenie]

I mean, just an all-time TV segment. Making Chuck do Who He Play For multiple times in a row with the same players is a brilliant idea and I was legit crying laughing by the end, my god.

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

@thebeautyofsaas Nothing yet, focused on other things for a bit here.

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

For years, maybe a decade, I've wanted to build a writing tool that just did a few things I couldn't find anywhere else.

A system that mimicked how I think when I write. A system that provided clear affordances, features, and places to do the things I wanted to do. A way to play with my writing as I'm writing it. A way to settle into just the right way to say something.

It never made sense to make it a 37signals product because it's not commercially viable, nor would it be worth pulling people off their other work to hack on this. Plus, it would have taken months the old way.

So this weekend I just made it myself, with Claude's help.

It's called Write_On and the short video walks you through it.

Essentially it's "alternative control" at the word, sentence, and paragraph level, plus a way to dim stuff back, and stash stuff near by. Not version control, but alternative control. You'll see what I mean when you watch the video below.

So here it is. Write_On.

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

@interplato When Basecamp what?

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

Michael gets it.

[Michael Heredia @michaelheredia]

Moved ops from Telegram notifications to @Basecamp Chats. Much better experience/control.

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

Happy with all of it except I'd rewrite those two paragraphs under "We see people". Feels clunky and a bit corporate/fancy, trying too hard. Not terrible, but could be better for sure. The "We want to" section remains spot on. Very proud of sticking to our guns there.

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

While going through some really old legal files, we came across this old 37signals marketing flier (FAX!) from 2000. I remember making this in InDesign!

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

What a round trip! Customer on day one in 2004, then wandered a bit, and now back home with Basecamp 5. Welcome home Dave!

[Dave Foy @MrDaveFoy]

I was a @basecamp customer on day 1 back in 2004. But more recently I've used Notion.

Switched back to Basecamp today:

1. Simple structure: my agents simply cannot invent crazy Notion configurations that we humans can't actually follow.

2. Live filtering (thank you!)

3. Markdown support.

My chief of staff agent had my account all set back up again in no time.

Feels like coming home. Basecamp 5 is great!

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

@MrDaveFoy @TheAaronAM @basecamp And https://t.co/1hfMcCuUbx. Connectors available in Claude and ChatGPT today.

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

@anthonyroose 1.0

[Jason Fried @jasonfried]

@nayrbgo You are classy.