DHH’s new way of writing code
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—
David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH) is the creator of Ruby on Rails and Omarchy, co-founder and CTO of 37signals (maker of Basecamp and HEY), and the author of several books including the best-seller, Remote: Office Not Required, co-written with Jason Fried.
Six months ago, in an episode of the Lex Fridman podcast, David shared how he doesn’t use AI tools to write code: he types out all his code. But things have changed a lot since then.
In this episode, we discuss his approach to building software, how it’s changed in the last six months, and why he now takes an agent-first approach, and how he barely writes any code by hand. We go into how he uses AI agents: which alter how he builds and explores ideas, but also how his standards of quality and craft remain the same.
We also discuss how 37signals thinks about product development, from the role of designers to the importance of aesthetics and taste. David gets into how he sees beauty and functionality as closely linked, and why strong opinions about design lead to better software.
Finally, we look into the uneven impact of AI which amplifies senior engineers while creating challenges for junior developers, and what this may mean for the role of the software engineer.
—
Timestamps
(00:00) Intro
(02:11) Omarchy and Ruby on Rails
(08:25) 37signals overview
(10:12) Launching HEY
(18:38) Building HEY
(22:47) Designers at 37signals
(28:08) The craft of design
(31:52) Why DHH now embraces AI workflows
(39:45) The AI inflection point
(44:23) DHH’s agent-first workflow
(55:09) AI’s impact on junior developers
(1:03:08) Developer experience with AI
(1:16:43) What does AI mean for developers?
(1:23:33) 37signals teams and hiring
(1:38:20) Work-life balance with AI
(1:41:41) Why DHH keeps building
(1:45:24) Closing
—
The Pragmatic Engineer deepdives relevant for this episode:
• Are AI agents actually slowing us down?
• How Claude Code is built
• The future of software engineering with AI: six predictions
• The AI Engineering Stack
• Mitchell Hashimoto’s new way of writing code
• How Linux is built with Greg Kroah-Hartman
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@pragmaticengineer.com.
Get full access to The Pragmatic Engineer at newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/subscribe
DHH: $100M+ Advice That'll Piss Off Every Business Guru
Get Sam's guide to run your life like a $100M biz: https://clickhubspot.com/kdmv
Episode 806: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk to David Heinemeier Hansson ( https://x.com/dhh ) about AI, being wrong in public, and taking on Apple.
—
Show Notes:
(0:00) How to stand out
(7:48) not giving a damn
(9:57) liquid vs crystalized intelligence
(12:03) constraints breed creativity
(18:18) being publicly wrong
(24:27) taste vs data
(33:25) Being in awe of Shopify
(41:05) how David uses AI
(47:49) What won't work today
(51:23) who David admires
(1:00:13) Longevity decisions
(1:07:09) Taking on the App Store and Google
—
Check Out Shaan's Stuff:
• Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com
• Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents.
• Mercury - Need a bank for your company? Go check out Mercury (mercury.com). Shaan uses it for all of his companies!
Mercury is a financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC
• I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out:
beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge
—
Check Out Sam's Stuff:
• Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/
• Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/
• Copy That - https://copythat.com
• Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth
• Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/
My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /
#474 – DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Ruby on Rails, Productivity & Parenting
David Heinemeier Hansson (aka DHH) is a legendary programmer, creator of Ruby on Rails, co-owner & CTO of 37signals that created Basecamp, HEY, & ONCE, and is a NYT-best-selling author (with Jason Fried) of 4 books: REWORK, REMOTE, Getting Real, and It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy At Work. He is also a race car driver, including a class-winning performance at the 24 hour Le Mans race.
Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep474-sc
See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.
Transcript:
https://lexfridman.com/dhh-david-heinemeier-hansson-transcript
CONTACT LEX:
Feedback – give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey
AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama
Hiring – join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring
Other – other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact
EPISODE LINKS:
DHH’s X: https://x.com/dhh
DHH’s Website: https://dhh.dk/
Ruby on Rails: https://rubyonrails.org/
37signals: https://37signals.com/
DHH’s books:
Rework: https://amzn.to/44rSKob
Remote: https://amzn.to/44GFJ91
It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work: https://amzn.to/46bzuwx
Getting Real: https://amzn.to/4kzoMDg
SPONSORS:
To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts:
UPLIFT Desk: Standing desks and office ergonomics.
Go to https://upliftdesk.com/lex
Lindy: No-code AI agent builder.
Go to https://go.lindy.ai/lex
LMNT: Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix.
Go to https://drinkLMNT.com/lex
Shopify: Sell stuff online.
Go to https://shopify.com/lex
NetSuite: Business management software.
Go to http://netsuite.com/lex
OUTLINE:
(00:00) – Introduction
(00:58) – Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections
(08:48) – Programming – early days
(26:13) – JavaScript
(36:32) – Google Chrome and DOJ
(44:19) – Ruby programming language
(51:30) – Beautiful code
(1:09:31) – Metaprogramming
(1:12:52) – Dynamic typing
(1:20:10) – Scaling
(1:33:03) – Future of programming
(1:50:34) – Future of AI
(1:56:29) – Vibe coding
(2:05:01) – Rails manifesto: Principles of a great programming language
(2:29:27) – Why managers are useless
(2:38:48) – Small teams
(2:44:55) – Jeff Bezos
(3:00:13) – Why meetings are toxic
(3:07:58) – Case against retirement
(3:15:15) – Hard work
(3:20:53) – Why we left the cloud
(3:24:04) – AWS
(3:33:22) – Owning your own servers
(3:39:35) – Elon Musk
(3:49:17) – Apple
(4:01:03) – Tim Sweeney
(4:12:37) – Fatherhood
(4:38:19) – Racing
(5:05:23) – Cars
(5:10:41) – Programming setup
(5:25:51) – Programming language for beginners
(5:39:09) – Open source
(5:48:01) – WordPress drama
(5:59:18) – Money and happiness
(6:08:11) – Hope
#224 CTO & Co-Owner 37signals, David Heinemeier Hansson: Perfect Flow
Guest: David Heinemeier Hansson, CTO & co-owner of 37signals and creator of Ruby on Rails
37signals CTO David Heinemeier Hansson has organized his life around his passions: Writing, racing sports cars, and coding. “ Why aren't we all doing that?” he wonders. “Why aren't we all trying to optimize our life in such a way that much of it is enjoyable?”
Part of the problem, David argues, is that it’s impossible to find a creative or productive flow inside of mainstream work culture. Open offices, managerial over-hiring, and sloppy scheduling prevents people from reaching a flow state.
“40 hours a week is plenty than most people,” he says. “... So many people today are focused on just adding more and more hours. They're not thinking about how those hours are spent.”
Chapters:
(01:19) - 24 Hours of Le Mans
(06:48) - Amateurs in sports car racing
(10:54) - Flow and meditation
(15:25) - Mundane bulls**t
(18:14) - Optimizing for flow
(21:09) - Calendars and open offices
(24:30) - Full-time managers
(29:06) - Small companies
(32:20) - Selfishness and work
(40:21) - Taking other people’s money
(45:43) - Temptation
(49:49) - Moderately rich
(55:19) - “The day I became a millionaire”
(58:56) - The hassle
(01:03:58) - Achieving the dream
(01:08:34) - Shopify and Tobias Lütke
(01:14:50) - Trade-offs and downsides
(01:18:43) - The impact of Ruby on Rails
(01:22:02) - “I love being wrong”
(01:25:37) - DEI and illegal drugs
(01:29:49) - Not hiring
(01:30:35) - What “grit” means to David
Mentioned in this episode: TikTok, Minecraft, Mario Kart, Formula One, NASCAR, Lewis Hamilton, the NBA, Tesla Model S, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Steve McQueen, Jason Fried, Tetris, Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber, Elon Musk and Twitter, the Dunbar number, Zappos, Google, Adam Smith, Stripe, Meta, Jeff Bezos, Basecamp, Zapier, 1Password, GitHub, SpaceX, private jets, Aesop, the Pagani Zonda, the Porsche Boxster, Lamborghini, Coco Chanel, LeBron James, Hey, Steve Jobs, Michael Arrington and TechCrunch, Y Combinator, Dr. Thomas Sowell,Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn, Grit by Angela Duckworth, and LEGO.
Links:
Connect with David
Twitter
LinkedIn
Connect with Joubin
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm
Rails is having a moment (again) (Interview)
(Includes expletives) David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH), creator of Ruby on Rails and co-owner of 37signals, joined the show to discuss this Rails moment and renewed excitement for Rails. We discuss hard opinions, developers being cooked too long in the JavaScript soup, finding developer joy, the pros and cons of the BDFL, the ongoing WordPress drama with WP Engine, and what’s to come in Rails 8.
Join the discussion
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Featuring:
David Heinemeier Hansson – GitHub, X
Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Jerod Santo – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Show Notes:
Rails World 2024 Keynote - David Heinemeier Hansson
What’s New in Ruby on Rails 8
Rails is leaning hard into SQLite right now
The Empowered Programmer (Justin Searls) - Rails World 2024
Kamal - Deploy web apps anywhere
LiteFS - Distributed SQLite
Turso - libsql
RubyGems.org
Automattic is doing open source dirty
Matt’s “Response to DHH”
Capture less than you create
My Freedom of Speech
Open Source and Power with Matt Mullenweg (Rework podcast)
Breaking Camp
Our cloud-exit savings will now top ten million over five years
Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!
David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH) on the ‘Post-SaaS era' | E1856
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The Equinix Startup program offers a hybrid infrastructure solution for startups, including up to $100K in credits and personalized consultations and guidance from the Equinix team. Go to https://equinixstartups.com to apply today.
Today’s show:
DHH joins Jason to discuss a post-SaaS world and Once.com (2:29), the evolving landscape of remote work (21:31), navigating internal culture struggles at Basecamp (32:53), and much more!
*
Timestamps:
(0:00) DHH joins Jason
(2:29) David discusses his new SaaS alternative Once.com, which charges a one-time fee rather than a recurring subscription
(10:44) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://vanta.com/twist
(11:50) David's philosophy on copyrighting
(20:17) Embroker - Use code TWIST to get an extra 10% off insurance at https://Embroker.com/twist
(21:31) The evolving landscape of remote work
(31:46) Equinix - Join the Equinix Startup Program for up to $100K in credits and much more at https://equinixstartups.com
(32:53) The state of fundraising and DHH recounts Basecamp's internal culture struggles
(49:03) Should AI progress should be accelerated or slowed down?
(1:08:08) How willful exposure to hardship can build grit and resilience.
*
Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp
*
Check out Once: https://once.com
*
Follow David:
https://twitter.com/dhh
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-heinemeier-hansson-374b18221/
*
Follow Jason:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jason
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jason
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis
*
Great 2023 interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
*
Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis
*
Follow TWiST:
Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin
*
Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.founder.university/podcast
108 - I Was Wrong, We Need Crypto | DHH
David Heinemeir Hansson is the Co-Founder of Basecamp & HEY. DHH is a best-selling author, technologist—responsible for creating Ruby on Rails—and a recent crypto skeptic, turned crypto-curious experimenter.
DHH recently wrote a viral blog post titled, “I Was Wrong, We Need Crypto” in which he explains why he’s skeptical of crypto, what ultimately changed his mind, and how he’s thinking about the future of the space going forward.
It’s not every day Bankless brings on a crypto skeptic, but DHH is different. He provides a balanced—well thought out perspective on what the current state of crypto is and what needs to change to make it go mainstream.
------ ✨ DEBRIEF ✨ | Ryan & David's Unfiltered Thoughts on the Episode https://shows.banklesshq.com/p/debrief-i-was-wrong-we-need-crypto
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------ Topics Covered:
0:00 Intro 6:20 Who is DHH 14:02 Crypto Observations 17:00 DHH’s Top Crypto Skepticisms 29:55 How to be Wrong About Things 37:00 What Changed DHH’s Mind 45:50 Pushback on DHH’s Post 52:50 The Release Valves 1:02:00 New Skills Needed 1:11:20 Other Crypto Rabbit Holes 1:17:44 Russian Sanctions 1:24:50 What Crypto Can Do Better 1:29:50 What’s Next in Crypto For DHH 1:33:50 Closing & Disclaimers
------ Resources:
DHH on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dhh
DHH’s Website: https://dhh.dk
Episode #55: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpzFU7MW5y4
DHH Books: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/23587.David_Heinemeier_Hansson?from_search=true&from_srp=true
I Was Wrong We Need Crypto: https://world.hey.com/dhh/i-was-wrong-we-need-crypto-587ccb03
----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures
DHH on Basecamp's painful evolution, Bitcoin, Revitalizing internet discourse + Lumanu CEO Tony Tran | E1394
Jason chats with David Heinemeier Hansson (2:03) about global governments reacting to COVID, Basecamp’s Twitter cycle blowup last spring when more than 1/3 of the company left, the shift from debating in the public square (Twitter) to debating in private with friends on group chats. We also talk about why David now sees a case for Bitcoin after Canada leans toward authoritarianism.
(00:00) Jason and Molly intro today’s episode, David Heinemeier Hansson, OK Boomer with Tony Tran of Lumanu
(02:03) Jason catches up with David Heinemeier Hansson
(07:05) DHH on Living in Denmark during COVID
(10:31) Ourcrowd - Check out the deal of the week at https://ourcrowd.com/twist
(11:41) Social media: a weapon of mass disfunction
(20:08) Eight Sleep - Go to https://eightsleep.com/twist to check out the Pod Pro Cover and get $150 off at checkout!
(21:40) DHH on keeping politics out of the workplace and offering severance for company culture unity
(31:14) Marlow - Get 15% off your individual or team memberships at https://getmarlow.com/twist
(32:41) Jason and DHH on the joys of working at home
(39:41) Jason and DHH discuss the downsides of social media
(46:50) Why DHH changed his position on cryptocurrency and the Canadian trucker protests
(01:34:15) Jason, Molly, and Rachel intro this week’s OK Boomer
(01:36:02) Rachel speaks with Tony Tran, CEO of Lumanu
Read David's Blog: https://world.hey.com/dhh
FOLLOW David: https://twitter.com/dhh
Check out Lumanu: https://www.lumanu.com/
FOLLOW Tony: https://twitter.com/TonyTranNYC
FOLLOW Rachel: https://twitter.com/_rachelbraun
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood
Basecamp CTO David Heinemeier Hansson and Rep. David Cicilline on Apple's monopolistic app store fees
Apple is acting like a monopolist and a bully, according to the chairman of the House Antitrust Committee.
Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) joined The Vergecast along with Basecamp CTO David Heinemeier Hansson to discuss the plight of Hey, Basecamp’s new $99-a-year premium email service. Earlier this week, Heinemeier Hansson revealed that Apple had rejected the Hey iPhone app from the App Store because it didn’t offer any way to sign up and pay in the app itself — which would require giving Apple a 30 percent cut of the fee.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
20VC: Basecamp Founder David Heinemeier Hansson on Why It Is The Biggest BS To Chase Being A Unicorn, His Relationship to Wealth and Status and Why Now More Than Ever It Is A Myth Entrepreneurs Have To Raise VC
David "DHH" Heinemeier Hansson (@dhh) is the creator of Ruby on Rails, founder and CTO at Basecamp (formerly 37Signals), and the best-selling co-author of Rework and Remote: Office Not Required. If that was not enough, fun fact, he went from not having a driver's license at 25 to winning, at 34, the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world. It is often called the "Grand Prix of endurance and efficiency."
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How David made his way into the world of tech and startups from his childhood living in Copenhagen and how a cold email led to the founding of Basecamp with Jason Fried?
2.) What have been some of David's core observations as people move to remote work over the last few weeks? What is the #1 mistake that 90% of teams make? How does David advise founders to approach loneliness and depression in their team? What strategies have Basecamp used to unite the team and inspire collaboration and teamwork?
3.) Why have David and Jason always tried to keep the Basecamp team as small as possible? Why does David believe one of the biggest problems is that execs have too much time? How does that manifest itself? What does David's week look like? How does he approach meetings?
4.) Why does David hate the majority of "mission statements" today? What are the best composed of? What are the worst? What feelings does David believe your mission statement should inspire in the reader? What does David believe one needs to do to build a challenger brand today?
5.) Why has David and Basecamp always resisted the conventional path of raising VC funds? Why does David believe needs VC money is total BS? Why does David believe it is BS to chase being a unicorn? Why have founders got this so wrong today and what can they do to change?
6.) How would David describe his relationship to money? How has that relationship changed over time? What are the core challenges as one moves from a monetary to a deeper appreciation of what makes one happy? How did the transition occur for David? How does David advise others in terms of finding their moment for the transition?
Items Mentioned In Today's Show:
David's Fave Book: Erich Fromm: To Have Or To Be
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and David and on Twitter here!
Likewise, you can follow Harry on Instagram here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.
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E1029: Basecamp Co-Founder & Author David Heinemeier Hansson (@DHH) debates Jason on reining in capitalism, benefits of state-run education & healthcare, big-tech disappointments, work-from-home paradigm shift, wealth tax & more!
0:56 Jason intros David Heinemeier Hansson (@DHH) and asks about the work-from-home paradigm shift
5:28 Measuring programming success via budgets instead of estimates, quantifying creativity
9:57 Are incentive systems inherently bad?
13:01 How terrible commutes turned the tides for remote work in Silicon Valley, why do executives subject themselves to horrible working conditions?
17:59 What is the optimal amount of work hours per week?
19:58 Benefits of higher minimum wage
23:28 How can America "get to Denmark"? Should we rein in capitalism?
27:19 How do educational stipends work in Denmark? Benefits of state-sponsored education & healthcare
32:27 Is American bureaucracy able to change quickly?
35:52 Are gig workers being exploited? Why or why not?
45:57 Flexibility vs. Security in the gig-economy
51:20 Has the American Dream become false in America?
1:00:26 Are ISA schools (like Lambda School) an innovation or a bandaid on the failing capitalist system?
1:06:30 What do successful numbers look like for ISAs?
1:12:28 Starting Basecamp & raising from Jeff Bezos in the early days
1:19:43 Roasting Jeff Bezos on Twitter, socialism, progressivism in America
1:28:13 Amazon disappointments & how can Bezos save face?
1:36:31 Wealth tax debate
1:43:23 Which major tech companies should be broken up?
1:52:04 Will GDPR-like policies work in America?
1:55:59 What is David doing with Hey.com? Should there be two-sided consent in email read-receipt tracking?
2:03:29 Could there ever be an open-source Twitter or messaging app? Was WhatsApp it before being bought by Facebook?
2:09:34 Thoughts on tech journalism vs. big-tech
2:12:22 Can big-tech regulation fix the competitive landscape?
Why it doesn’t have to be crazy at work with David Heinemeier Hansson
On this episode Abadesi talks to David Heinemeier Hansson, co-founder and CTO of Basecamp, and creator of Ruby on Rails. He is also the author of several bestselling books, including It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy At Work, co-authored with his co-founder at Basecamp, Jason Fried.
In this episode they talk about...
Why you should think about your company as a product
“This idea that the company itself is changeable — the policies of the company, the values of the companies — are things you can tweak and you can iterate on in much the same way as you would iterate on a product. The process is quite similar to when you put a product into the market and you get feedback from customers.”
He tells the story of building Basecamp outside traditional tech hubs and how that influenced the culture at the company. He says that it’s important to build from first principles and to have control over the company you’re building. He talks about their values at Basecamp and how to think about and get feedback from employees on how the company needs to change and evolve. He also points out that you always need to be thinking about improving not just your product, but also your entire philosophy and way of doing business.
Why we need new role models in tech
“We've gone from everyone thinking the greatest thing in the world would be to be Mark Zuckerberg and to have Facebook to far more people now thinking, actually I don't want Facebook, I don't want Facebook's problems, I don't want to be Mark Zuckerberg. I think if we can start by having a takedown of the past idols, we can start building up some healthier models of what we should try to emulate instead.”
David says that we need a new vocabulary in the tech industry. He lists a number of different words, from unicorn to angel to battlefield, that inaccurately describe the actual function or intent of that entity. He says that it’s easy to excuse unethical actions if we believe that we are actually at war in a startup. He also talks about why “small is not a stepping stone” for your company and breaks down why the obsession with growth has led people astray.
How to break the cycle of overwork
“We can live such better fuller, richer lives if we just stopped believing that the most worthy thing we can do is to give every waking hour and moment to the business. That's actually not good for business. If you were just trying to create the most efficient business, you would not come up with this regime of chaining people to the office.”
He explains why you shouldn’t think about your co-workers as your family, and examines some of the current scourges of modern workplaces, like the open-plan setup. He also points out that Henry Ford realized a long time ago that people cannot work for more than forty hours a week without seeing a huge drop-off in efficiency, so it would make sense not to not push employees harder than that today.
A new way of working
“It doesn't work to constantly puncture and slice up the day [with meetings and standups]. So you should be extremely cautious about when you put things on many people's calendar. When we do instead is we encourage people to share where they are at [on a project] in an asynchronous way where someone can choose to digest that and respond to that on their time.”
David talks about the current practices prevalent at most workplaces that result in people not getting things done, and how they can be improved on. He talks about the unique approach to meetings, standups, deadlines, and presentations that they have at Basecamp and how they have increased retention. He says that it’s a misconception that people are born superstars and says that high-quality talent is more akin to a tree, that you cultivate, rather than a “diamond” that you find.
Of course, they also talk about some of his favorite products as well.
We’ll be back next week so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Breaker, Overcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. 😸
Companies, Books, and Products Mentioned In This Episode
BreatheSmart Air Purifier — Stylish and effective air purifier.
It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy At Work by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
Oura Ring — Advanced sleep and fitness tracker.
Why We Sleep: Unlocking The Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker
JavaScript sprinkles in Basecamp turned Stimulus (Interview)
David Heinemeier Hansson joined the show to share the story of how JavaScript sprinkles in Basecamp evolved into a full-fledged framework called Stimulus. We talked about ins and outs of Basecamp as it is today, Ruby, JavaScript and David’s somewhat new found love for that language. How they open source because they can. And David’s new YouTube series called “On Writing Software Well”.
Join the discussion
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Featuring:
David Heinemeier Hansson – GitHub, X
Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Jerod Santo – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Show Notes:
Stimulus homepage and the source on GitHub
Stimulus 1.0
Turbolinks
Watch the proposition of Turbolinks if you haven’t yet
David’s thoughts on the majestic monolith
Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!
#203: David Heinemeier Hansson on Digital Security, Company Culture, and the Value of Schooling
David "DHH" Heinemeier Hansson (@dhh) is the creator of Ruby on Rails, founder and CTO at Basecamp (formerly 37signals), and the best-selling co-author of Rework and Remote: Office Not Required. Oh, and he went from not having a driver's license at 25 to winning, at 34, the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world. It is often called the "Grand Prix of endurance and efficiency." Listeners had a million questions we didn't get to last time, so he's back for round two because his episode is about to cross a million downloads -- and that's in barely two weeks! In this episode, DHH discusses: Digital security The value of schooling Three questions you should be able to answer Company culture How bladder relief happens in a 24-hour race And much, much more! Please enjoy my round 2 conversation with DHH! Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast. This podcast is brought to you by 99Designs, the world's largest marketplace of graphic designers. I have used them for years to create some amazing designs. When your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99Designs. I used them to rapid prototype the cover for The 4-Hour Body, and I've also had them help with display advertising and illustrations. If you want a more personalized approach, I recommend their 1-on-1 service. You get original designs from designers around the world. The best part? You provide your feedback, and then you end up with a product that you're happy with or your money back. Click this link and get a free $99 upgrade. Give it a test run. This podcast is also brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service led by technologists from places like Apple. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years and now has more than $2.5B under management. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it's all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams. Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they'll show you for free the exact portfolio they'd put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Well worth a few minutes to explore: wealthfront.com/tim.
***
If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading the reviews!
For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.
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Follow Tim:
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Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#195: David Heinemeier Hansson: The Power of Being Outspoken
David "DHH" Heinemeier Hansson (@dhh) is the creator of Ruby on Rails, founder and CTO at Basecamp (formerly 37signals), and the best-selling co-author of Rework and Remote: Office Not Required. Oh, and he went from not having a driver's license at 25 to winning, at 34, the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world. It is often called the "Grand Prix of endurance and efficiency." David is one of the most outspoken technologists out there. He is not one to hide his opinions or mince words. In this episode, we cover a lot, including... The power of being outspoken Running a profitable business without venture capital Stoic philosophy Flow space Parallels across disciplines DHH's rules for creating excellence And much, much more... Please enjoy my conversation with DHH! Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast. This podcast is brought to you by Four Sigmatic. I reached out to these Finnish entrepreneurs after a very talented acrobat introduced me to one of their products, which blew my mind (in the best way possible). It is mushroom coffee featuring chaga. It tastes like coffee, but there are only 40 milligrams of caffeine, so it has less than half of what you would find in a regular cup of coffee. I do not get any jitters, acid reflux, or any type of stomach burn. It put me on fire for an entire day, and I only had half of the packet. People are always asking me what I use for cognitive enhancement right now, this is the answer. You can try it right now by going to foursigmatic.com/tim and using the code Tim to get 20 percent off your first order. If you are in the experimental mindset, I do not think you'll be disappointed. This podcast is also brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service led by technologists from places like Apple. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years and now has more than $2.5B under management. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it's all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams. Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they'll show you for free the exact portfolio they'd put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Well worth a few minutes to explore: wealthfront.com/tim.
***
If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading the reviews!
For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.
Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.
For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.
Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Visit tim.blog/sponsor and fill out the form.
Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.
Follow Tim:
Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss
Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss
Facebook: facebook.com/timferriss
YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss
Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
10+ Years of Rails (Interview)
David Heinemeier Hansson, aka DHH joined the show to talk through the past, present, and future of Ruby on Rails — the most beloved web application framework in the Ruby community.
Join the discussion
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Featuring:
David Heinemeier Hansson – GitHub, X
Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Jerod Santo – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Show Notes:
Ruby on Rails has influenced many frameworks over the years, and David shares with us a candid look at 10+ Years of Ruby on Rails.
David shares stories about why he started Ruby on Rails, and explains why programmers should market their projects. He discussed his early work on Rails, some of the early early contributors to Rails, how the success of Basecamp helped Rails succeed (and vice versa), the io.js & Node.js complications, his thoughts on getting paid for working on open source, and so much more.
“If programming is going to be the thing I spend my time on, it damn well better be awesome. I need to have a good time.” - DHH @ 9:42
Ruby on Rails
The ORIGINAL Ruby on Rails demo – Building a blog in 15 minutes with DHH
REMOTE: The new book from 37signals
REWORK: The new business book from 37signals.
The Hottest Hacker on Earth | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
RailsConf
RubyConf
Riding Rails: Rails 1.0: Party like it’s one oh oh!
Riding Rails: Rails 2.0: It’s done!
Riding Rails: Rails 3.0: It’s ready!
Riding Rails: Rails 4.0: Final version released!
The Road to Merb 1.0 with Ezra Zygmuntowicz
DHH on Twitter: “More than 3800 people have contributed code to the core Rails framework”
DHH on Twitter: “@codesoda @steveklabnik I’d rather you spend the $$ on having your people contribute to Rails on company time, if you want.”
DHH on Twitter: “Rails is obligation-free software. See the MIT license. You can use it to make a trillion billion and not owe anyone royalties.”
DHH on Twitter: “Flip side: Do not contribute patches to Rails under the false notion that users of the framework will then be indebted to reward you.”
DHH on Twitter: “You don’t owe me anything to use Rails, and I don’t owe you anything for you using it.”
DHH on Twitter: “@steveklabnik What’s your time horizon of sustainability? Rails has been rocking that model for 10+ years.”
DHH on Twitter: “Congratulations to @shopify for deploying on Rails 4.1. Same app has been on Rails since 2005. 10 yrs later they’re an Ecommerce powerhouse.”
DHH on Twitter: “Rails 5 will target Ruby 2.2+ exclusively, so we can rely on symbol GC and kwargs to cleanup a bunch of cruft. Ruby on Rails keeps moving!”
DHH on Twitter: “After all these years, programming Ruby through TextMate to make Rails dance for the web remains one of my favorite activities in the world.”
Ruby on Rails on Twitter: “2014 has seen 708 contributors get their patches accepted into Rails: http://t.co/18k1hh0vd7 — what a spectacular community effort!”
DHH on Twitter: “@thomasfuchs @thijs Github is on 3.0 now. On the way to 4.x. 2.3 is five years old! Rails has lived as long again as it had at the time.”
DHH on Twitter: “The original reality-compressed 15 minute Rails demo — including WUPS!”
DHH on Twitter: “@gordo24 I think Rails has never been in a better position regarding code, community, and leadership. Broader and more engaged than ever.”
DHH on Twitter: “Staggering collaborative effort on Rails. Almost 12,000 pull requests processed. Just 419 still open. Incredible.”
DHH on Twitter: “Hard to comprehend how far Ruby and Rails have come since 2004 where I attended a 40-person RubyConf with just a few doing paid Ruby.”
[Book] Punished by Rewards - by Alfie Kohn
[Hero] Ward Cunningham
[Hero] Dave Thomas
[Hero] Martin Fowler
Ruby Mailing Lists
Kombucha
Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!