Rework Revisited

SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0036 - SEP 27, 2022

Don't be a Hero

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

You’ve been working on a thing for days, weeks, maybe months and you’re still nowhere near finishing. Our natural instinct is to say, “I’ve already put this much time and energy into it, might as well finish.” Well, most of the time this is wrong. You’re not getting that time back either way and...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0035 - SEP 20, 2022

Quick Wins

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Building and maintaining momentum is one of the most underrated things you can do when building products. Keep moving forward by shipping work early and often. The longer something takes, the less likely it is you’ll finish it. At 37signals, we work in six-week cycles, but even six weeks is a long...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0034 - SEP 13, 2022

Good Enough is Fine

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

At 37signals, we tend to solve problems by finding a “judo solution.” The simplest, easiest, cheapest solution that gets you 90% of the way there. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to be great. It just has to be good enough. Part of this is reframing and simplifying the problem itself....

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0033 - SEP 6, 2022

Meetings are Toxic (Season 2)

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Meetings are the worst type of interruption. A one-hour meeting with five people is actually five hours of productivity lost. They’re also horrible at conveying information. So, why do so many companies jump to meetings as the first option. Next time try writing something up, jumping on a a...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0031 - JUN 21, 2022

Reasons to Quit

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Are you doing work that matters or are you just doing what you think you should be doing? Sinking too much time into something that you should have quit working on weeks ago is an easy trap to fall into. Avoid it by asking yourself some simple questions:

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0030 - MAY 31, 2022

Illusions of Agreement

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Simply describing your pitch can cause the illusion of agreement. Everyone may have a completely different idea of what you’re talking about. Try sketching it out, hum the melody you want to create, or, better yet, start building the thing. Removing these levels of abstraction ensures everyone is on...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0029 - MAY 24, 2022

Launch Now

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

If you had to launch your thing in just two weeks what would you cut out? Put off anything you don’t absolutely need for launch. You can always build that stuff later when you have more information. It’s best to just get it out there!

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0028 - MAY 10, 2022

Sell Your By-products (Season 2)

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Henry Ford turned wood scraps from Model T production into charcoal. That company is now called Kingsford and it’s the leading manufacturer of charcoal in America. 37signals was a small web design firm before it started selling the project management tool it made to communicate with clients. That’s...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0027 - MAY 3, 2022

Tone is in Your Fingers

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Any photographer will tell you it doesn’t really matter what camera you use if you know how to take a good picture. So often, businesses obsess over getting a fancy office, the best software or breakroom snacks, when they really should be focusing on getting customers and making money. It doesn’t...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0026 - APR 26, 2022

Focus on What Won't Change

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

A lot of companies focus on chasing hot trends or new technology. That’s all fine and good, but the core of your business should be built around the things that people will always want. In the case of Basecamp, that means speed, simplicity, and great customer service. For a company like Amazon, it...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0025 - APR 19, 2022

Throw Less at the Problem

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

When things aren’t working, it’s human nature to throw more at the problem. More money, more people, more time. However, this usually ends up making the problem bigger. So, do less! Reframe the problem in such a way that it can be solved with fewer people, less money, and without endlessly pushing...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0024 - APR 5, 2022

Be a Curator

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Everyone has more ideas than they can realistically fit in a product. A good museum doesn’t just throw everything in its collection up on the walls. There’s a curation process. Someone says, “no.” It’s in making these edits that the real product comes out, so embrace it!

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0023 - MAR 15, 2022

Making the Call is Making Progress

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

It’s so easy to punt on something; to say, “let’s wait until we have enough information to make the perfect decision.” Perfect decisions don’t exist, putting things off makes them pile up, and you’ll end up getting absolutely nowhere. Very few decisions are set in stone. So, make calls as quickly as...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0022 - MAR 8, 2022

Ignore the Details Early On

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

It’s incredibly easy to focus too much on the little details of what you’re building. You can spend hours and hours on something that will rarely ship with the final product. And, details are important! But, early on is not the time to worry about them. Focus on the basics first and worry about the...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0021 - MAR 1, 2022

Start at the Epicenter

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

When starting something new, you can work on the stuff you could do, the stuff you want to do, and the stuff you have to do. It’s the stuff you have to do is where you should begin. To find that epicenter ask yourself, “if I took this one thing away, would what I’m selling still exist.”

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0019 - FEB 15, 2022

Embrace Constraints

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

When you’re just starting off you’re going to be surrounded by constraints. You probably won’t have enough time to do everything you want to do. You probably don’t have enough people or money either. Don’t worry! These are good things! It’s when you’re boxed in that you’re forced to make tough...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0018 - FEB 8, 2022

Less Mass

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Businesses can get weighed down by things like excess staff, countless meetings, long-term contracts, etc. The more mass they take on the harder it is change direction. Being able to change direction, to change your mind, is essential to building a successful company.

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0017 - FEB 1, 2022

Building to Flip is Building to Flop

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

A lot of people start businesses with the hope that they’ll be able to sell it quickly for a huge pile of money. While this might happen sometimes, it’s extremely rare and even worse, the businesses created with this goal sacrifice so much just for the chance to sell. They sacrifice their customers,...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0016 - DEC 21, 2021

Start a Business, Not a Startup

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Last episode of the year and we’re talking about startups. The new dry cleaner down the street doesn’t call itself a startup. The pizza place on the corner doesn’t call itself a startup. They’re new businesses, that’s all! So, what’s so special about your tech company that you need a fancy word for...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0014 - DEC 7, 2021

Outside Money is Plan Z

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Taking outside money to start your business may seem like a good idea, but there are a ton of strings attached… You give up control. Cashing out becomes the #1 priority. It’s addictive. It’s usually a bad deal. Customers become less important than investors… You get the idea. Outside money should...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0013 - NOV 30, 2021

Mission Statement Impossible

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

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...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0012 - NOV 23, 2021

Draw a Line in the Sand

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

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.

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0011 - NOV 16, 2021

No Time is No Excuse

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

“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!

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0010 - NOV 9, 2021

Start Making Something (Season 2)

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

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...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0009 - NOV 2, 2021

Scratch Your Own Itch

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

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...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0007 - OCT 19, 2021

Enough with Entrepreneurs

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

“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...

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 0006 - OCT 12, 2021

Workaholism

with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

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.

Rework Revisited
SEASON 2 - BONUS EPISODE - JUL 27, 2021

Before Basecamp

with David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried

Rework is coming back for season 2 this September! In the meantime here’s a little bonus to tide you over. Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, during the dot com bubble, Basecamp cofounders, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson both had run-ins with venture-backed tech startups. These...

Rework Revisited

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