25 Years Of Founder WISDOM In 55 Minutes (ft. Jason Fried)
Episode 593: Sam Parr ( https://twitter.com/theSamParr ) and Jason Fried ( https://x.com/jasonfried ) open up about personal finances, raising kids around wealth and dealing with risk.
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Show Notes:
(0:00) Sam and Jason play Would You Rather...
(5:15) Loosening the grip on the stick
(12:35) The pale blue dot
(14:03) Why does the businessworld deserve our best lessons?
(18:30) Early days vs. vs. middle days vs later days
(24:47) "A founder's job is to inject risk"
(29:36) “Cool wears off but useful never does”
(31:07) Striking balance with a business partner
(34:14) The value of talking about money
(37:28) Navigating luxury with kids
(40:08) Midwestern values on blast
(43:39) The truth about luck
(46:55) Staying up vs. staying off
(49:45) New insights from old biographies
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Links:
• [Steal This] Get our proven writing frameworks that have made us millions https://clickhubspot.com/copy
• The Most Important Thing - https://tinyurl.com/9ym3xw5b
• Peter Lynch books - https://tinyurl.com/2nf87pzb
• The Pale Blue Dot - https://www.planetary.org/worlds/pale-blue-dot
• The Messy Middle = https://tinyurl.com/2paw5jmk
• Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/
• Newspapers.com - http://newpapers.com/
• Pessimists Archive - https://pessimistsarchive.org/
• Grab HubSpot's free AI-Powered Customer Platform and watch your business grow https://clickhubspot.com/fmf
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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
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Check Out Shaan's Stuff:
Need to hire? You should use the same service Shaan uses to hire developers, designers, & Virtual Assistants → it’s called Shepherd (tell ‘em Shaan sent you): https://bit.ly/SupportShepherd
My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by The HubSpot Podcast Network // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano
The Cashflow King: “Here’s How I Do It”, Negotiating w/ Jeff Bezos, Elon’s Cracked Rocket - Jason Fried
Episode 564: Shaan Puri (https://twitter.com/ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (https://twitter.com/theSamParr) talk to Jason Fried about his 6-Week Sprint playbook, how he’s planning for the end of subscription revenue, and what it’s like to have Jeff Bezos as an investor.
Want to see Sam and Shaan’s smiling faces? Head to the MFM YouTube Channel and subscribe - http://tinyurl.com/5n7ftsy5
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Show Notes:
(0:00) Intro
(2:30) Long term planning is a fantasy
(8:30) The 6-Week Sprint Playbook
(14:00) Does Jason regret selling We Work Remotely?
(16:00) Cash flow king
(21:00) Taking money from Jeff Bezos
(29:30) Who does Jason admire?
(33:00) Non-recurring revenue is back
(37:00) The Founder Letter Launch strategy
(45:30) Campfire v. Slack
(50:40) Pile on the wackier stuff early (in life and business)
(53:30) Taking financial risks that don't put you at risk
(57:00) Where does Jason spend his profits?
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Links:
• Jason on Twitter - https://twitter.com/jasonfried
• Rework - https://tinyurl.com/38mfc66n
• 37Signals - https://37signals.com/
• Basecamp - https://basecamp.com/
• We Work Remotely - https://weworkremotely.com/
• Once - http://once.com/
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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
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Check Out Shaan's Stuff:
Need to hire? You should use the same service Shaan uses to hire developers, designers, & Virtual Assistants → it’s called Shepherd (tell ‘em Shaan sent you): https://bit.ly/SupportShepherd
My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by The HubSpot Podcast Network // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano
Past guests on My First Million include Rob Dyrdek, Hasan Minhaj, Balaji Srinivasan, Jake Paul, Dr. Andrew Huberman, Gary Vee, Lance Armstrong, Sophia Amoruso, Ariel Helwani, Ramit Sethi, Stanley Druckenmiller, Peter Diamandis, Dharmesh Shah, Brian Halligan, Marc Lore, Jason Calacanis, Andrew Wilkinson, Julian Shapiro, Kat Cole, Codie Sanchez, Nader Al-Naji, Steph Smith, Trung Phan, Nick Huber, Anthony Pompliano, Ben Askren, Ramon Van Meer, Brianne Kimmel, Andrew Gazdecki, Scott Belsky, Moiz Ali, Dan Held, Elaine Zelby, Michael Saylor, Ryan Begelman, Jack Butcher, Reed Duchscher, Tai Lopez, Harley Finkelstein, Alexa von Tobel, Noah Kagan, Nick Bare, Greg Isenberg, James Altucher, Randy Hetrick and more.
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Other episodes you might enjoy:
• #224 Rob Dyrdek - How Tracking Every Second of His Life Took Rob Drydek from 0 to $405M in Exits
• #209 Gary Vaynerchuk - Why NFTS Are the Future
• #178 Balaji Srinivasan - Balaji on How to Fix the Media, Cloud Cities & Crypto
• #169 - How One Man Started 5, Billion Dollar Companies, Dan Gilbert's Empire, & Talking With Warren Buffett
• #218 - Why You Should Take a Think Week Like Bill Gates
• Dave Portnoy vs The World, Extreme Body Monitoring, The Future of Apparel Retail, "How Much is Anthony Pompliano Worth?", and More
• How Mr Beast Got 100M Views in Less Than 4 Days, The $25M Chrome Extension, and More
Jason Fried challenges your thinking on fundraising, goals, growth, and more
Jason Fried is the co-founder and CEO of 37signals, the maker of Basecamp and HEY. 37signals is a very different kind of company. With fewer than 80 employees, they have over 100,000 customers, generate tens of millions of dollars in profit each year, and have no investors, board, or any plans to ever raise money or sell the company. In our conversation, we explore a path many tech founders never consider—bootstrapping. We discuss:
• Why he and his team prioritize profit above all else
• The unexpected challenges with raising venture capital
• The “Shape Up” framework for building products
• Why, and how, to foster a gut-driven culture
• Jason’s thoughts on why work should not feel like war
• Advice for starting a bootstrapped business
• The philosophy behind Once, 37signals’s new line of software products
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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/jason-fried-challenges-your-thinking
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Where to find Jason Fried:
• X: https://twitter.com/jasonfried
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-fried/
• Email: jason@hey.com
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Jason’s background
(03:49) The success of 37signals
(06:46) When raising money makes sense
(09:58) The power of small teams
(13:55) Defining success and goals
(17:08) Playing “infinite games” in life
(20:11) Starting a business vs. staying in business
(22:13) Lessons from 25 years in business
(27:28) Venture scale vs. bootstrapping
(30:30) Choosing the right path for your business
(33:19) The “Shape Up” framework
(37:59) The drawback of promises
(39:56) Adopting a new way of working
(41:36) The two-week cooldown
(43:53) Trusting intuition and gut
(46:41) Creating a gut-driven culture
(49:44) What Jason looks for in new hires
(56:19) Advice on making changes and adapting
(01:00:06) What Jason has changed his mind about
(01:02:33) Planning in 6-week stretches and figuring it out as you go
(01:06:43) Being proud of the work you do
(01:09:05) Jason’s thoughts on why work should not feel like war
(01:11:31) Advice for starting a bootstrapped business
(01:14:33) You must be at peace with the worst that can happen
(01:15:42) The benefits of bootstrapping
(01:19:11) The value of constraints in business
(01:22:00) Jason’s philosophy: “Just keep making great s**t”
(01:23:19) Once, 37signals’s new line of software products
(01:26:33) The philosophy behind Once
(01:35:47) Closing thoughts
(01:37:23) Lightning round
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Referenced:
• 37 Signals: https://www.smartsheet.com/
• Basecamp: https://basecamp.com/
• Finite and Infinite Games: https://www.amazon.com/Finite-Infinite-Games-James-Carse/dp/1476731713/
• Ingram Micro: https://www.ingrammicro.com/
• Once: https://once.com/
• Basecamp’s Shape Up framework: https://basecamp.com/shapeup
• Hill charts: https://basecamp.com/features/hill-charts
• Jason Fried’s quote about long-term business planning: https://medium.com/@farkhan569/unless-you-are-a-fortune-teller-long-term-business-planning-is-a-fantasy-jason-fried-quote-a69e8778e9c4
• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/brian-cheskys-new-playbook/
• Matt Mullenweg on X: https://twitter.com/photomatt
• Leo Polovets on X: https://twitter.com/lpolovets
• HEY: https://www.hey.com/
• Redefining success, money, and belonging | Paul Millerd (The Pathless Path): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/redefining-success-money-and-belonging-paul-millerd-the-pathless-path/
• It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work: https://www.amazon.com/Doesnt-Have-Be-Crazy-Work/dp/0062874780
• Squarespace: https://www.squarespace.com/
• Stoic negative visualization: https://dailystoic.com/premortem/
• Linear: https://linear.app/
• Peter Rahal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-rahal-037bba43/
• RXBAR: https://www.rxbar.com/en_US/home.html
• Jason’s LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jason-fried_just-keep-making-great-s**t-keep-your-costs-activity-7130978623523614720-VBGX/?trk=public_profile
• Several Short Sentences About Writing: https://www.amazon.com/Several-Short-Sentences-About-Writing/dp/0307279413
• Hell Yeah or No: What’s Worth Doing: https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Yeah-No-whats-worth/dp/1988575117/
• Home-Made: Contemporary Russian Folk Artifacts: https://www.amazon.com/Home-Made-Contemporary-Russian-Folk-Artifacts/dp/0955006139
• Oppenheimer: https://www.oppenheimermovie.com/
• Tom Petty’s “Crawling Back to You” on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/1JenqZNMU6unIwVWmoP3J0
• Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger: https://press.stripe.com/poor-charlies-almanack
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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
20VC: Why Financial Planning and Goals Do Not Work, The Decision to Ban Politics in the Workplace and Losing 1/3 of the Team Overnight & The One Question That Will Drive All Decision-Making for Leaders with Jason Fried, CEO @ 37Signals
Jason Fried the Co-Founder and CEO at 37signals, makers of Basecamp and HEY. Over an incredible 21-year journey, Jason and his co-founder David have scaled Basecamp to become the communication tool trusted by millions. Jason is also the co-author of the widely acclaimed, ReWork and has also made several angel investments in the likes of Intercom, Gumroad and Hodinkee to name a few.
In Todays Episode with Jason Fried We Discuss
1. From Web Design Agency to Founding Basecamp:
What was the a-ha moment for Jason when they had to make the pivot from a design agency to going full-time launching and running Basecamp as a SaaS company?
What is Jason running towards? What is he running from?
What is the single biggest fear that Jason is trying to avoid?
2. Jason Fried: The Leader:
Why does Jason believe he is running from his position as leader and CEO @ Basecamp?
Why does Jason not like or agree with goals or targets? Why are they not helpful?
How does Jason make decisions today as a leader and CEO? What one question does he ask that determines his decision-making process?
Why does Jason never compare himself to the competition? Why does he believe competition is for losers?
3. Jason Fried: The Politicisation of Leadership:
Why did Jason and David decide to not allow politics in the workplace?
How did they manage with 1/3 of their team leaving overnight? How was that experience for them personally? How did it impact the company? Is there anything they would do differently?
Does Jason believe we will see the continued politicization of leadership in the coming months?
How would Jason advise other CEOs when it comes to taking a stance on politics?
4. Jason Fried: Building the Best Team:
What is the one question that determines whether you made a good hire?
Why does Basecamp start with hiring all employees on a week-long project contract?
Why does Jason believe the best CEOs approach management as the art of the individual?
5. Jason Fried: The Partner, Father, and Husband:
Jason and David have been partners for 21 years, why does Jason believe it is helpful that they do not see each other much?
Is it right for co-founders and partners to be friends?
What have been Jason's single biggest lessons on what it takes to be the best husband?
What does great fatherhood mean to Jason? How has it changed over time?
#253 — Corporate Courage
Sam Harris speaks with Jason Fried about the recent controversy over the "no politics" policy at his company Basecamp. They discuss his business philosophy, the surrender of institutions to "social-justice" activism, how politics has acquired a religious fervor, some of the cultural risks of remote work, keeping activists out of one's company, social media use as analogous to smoking cigarettes, antitrust regulations for big tech, how social media might be improved, the tax-avoidance schemes of the richest Americans, the prospect of implementing a wealth tax, and other topics.
If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.
Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That's why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life's most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.
20VC: Basecamp CEO Jason Fried on His Relationship To Risk, Money, Vulnerability and Self-Doubt, Fantasising About Being Fired, How To Optimise Decision-Making and Minimising Regret
Jason Fried is the Founder & CEO @ Basecamp, the project management and team communication tool trusted by millions. Over an incredible 22 year journey, they have scaled to over 3.5M accounts and in 2020 they went back to being a multi-product company with the launch of their integrated email client & service, HEY. Jason is also the co-author of the widely acclaimed, ReWork and has also made several angel investments in the likes of Intercom, Gumroad and Hodinkee to name a few.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Jason Fried made his way into the world of startups and came to found one of the leading project management and team communications tools in the form of Basecamp?
2.) How does Jason analyse and evaluate his relationship to money? Why does Jason believe that he has this inherent downside protection when it comes to money? How does he structure his personal finances between stocks, cash, crypto etc etc? What have been some of Jason's biggest lessons when it comes to tying happiness to monetary levels?
3.) What does Jason mean when he says, "I have a fantasy of getting fired"? How does Jason think about knowing when is the right time to step away from the business? What would he like to do with that time? How does Jason feel about the challenge of tying his identity to his company? What are the dangers of doing so?
4.) How does Jason approach decision-making frameworks? What does Jason believe is the right way to respond when a decision does not go as planned? Where do many make mistakes here? Does Jason feel regret with decisions? How does Jason try and minimise regret?
5.) How does Jason feel about his biggest insecurities as a leader and CEO today? What are Jason's views on a CEO's ability to have self-doubt and be vulnerable? How have his views on this changed over the years? In what way has having kids impacted Jason's operating mindset? How has it changed what he values and appreciates?
Item's Mentioned In Today's Episode
Jason's Favourite Book: In Praise of Shadows
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E1099: Basecamp Co-Founder Jason Fried on building Hey, making email exciting again, Hey vs. Apple & more
Check out Hey: https://hey.com
FOLLOW Jason Fried: https://twitter.com/jasonfried
FOLLOW Jason Calacanis: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
Recode Decode: Jason Fried
Basecamp CEO Jason Fried talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the company's new email product, Hey, which he describes as "the most ambitious and stupidest thing we’ve ever done." Fried also discusses how coronavirus proved that offices are not as important as other companies used to say, why Zoom calls "suck," and why Basecamp is charging $99/year for a personal Hey account, Plus: Why Uber is a "shitty business," why Fried doesn't want any public CEO's job, and the state of tech regulation.
Featuring:
Jason Fried (@jasonfried), CEO, Basecamp
Host:
Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Recode co-founder and editor-at-large
More to explore:
On Reset, Arielle Duhaime-Ross explores why — and how — tech is changing everything.
On Recode Media, Peter Kafka interviews business titans, journalists, comedians and podcasters about the collision of tech and media.
On Pivot, Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway talk about the big tech news stories of the week, who's winning, who's failing, and what comes next.
And on Land of the Giants, Jason Del Rey chronicled the rise of Amazon. Season 2 will focus on Netflix and is coming soon!
About Recode by Vox:
Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us.
Follow Us:
Newsletter: Recode Daily
Twitter: @Recode and @voxdotcom
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#105 – Charting Your Own Course as a Founder with Jason Fried of Basecamp
Jason Fried (@jasonfried) doesn't intend to be controversial or to change people's minds, but he seems to end up doing both of these regardless. Since launching Basecamp in 2004, he's grown the business to tens of millions of dollars in annual *profit*, and gathered a collection of strong and often counterintuitive beliefs along the way. In this episode we discuss how to take advantage of building an independent company, when to focus on a product and when to let it go, how to learn from the past without fooling telling yourself a false narrative, and the importance of blazing your own path as a founder instead of blindly imitating others.
Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/105-jason-fried-of-basecamp
Recode Decode: Basecamp CEO Jason Fried
Basecamp CEO Jason Fried talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his most recent book, It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work, which he co-wrote with his business partner David Heinemeier Hansson.
In this episode: How Basecamp got started; why chat apps like Slack and Basecamp's own Campfire are bad for productivity; the things that make work crazy, including access to coworkers' calendars, ASAP-response culture and codependent departments; why Basecamp does not set any goals internally other than "be profitable"; how Silicon Valley's "world domination mindset" stresses workers out; which tech exec would win in a fight?; the fakeness of fancy office perks; the problems with serial entrepreneurship, best practices and intentional sleep deprivation; "hacking anything is stupid"; why venture capital destroys more businesses than it helps; and how tech companies are trying to avoid becoming Philip Morris.
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#329: Jason Fried — How to Live Life on Your Own Terms
Jason Fried (@jasonfried) is the co-founder and CEO at Basecamp, and the co-author of Rework, Remote: Office Not Required, and Getting Real: The Smarter, Faster, Easier Way to Build a Successful Web Application. The upcoming It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work will be out later this year.
Jason writes a regular column for Inc. magazine and is a frequent contributor to Basecamp's popular blog Signal v. Noise, which offers "strong opinions and shared thoughts on design, business, and tech."
Enjoy!
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Episode 73: Jason Fried
Jason is the founder and CEO of Basecamp. In this episode we talk about building a company that lasts 40 years, what it’s like to build a remote team, how he thinks of the professional year in terms of seasons, daily rituals, and how he defines success. Edited by @alexkontis Lavish Praise to @Jasonfried Constructive Criticism to @ErikTorenberg