Running a Calm Company

EPISODE 0112 - MAR 2, 2021

A Dose of Empathy

with Marcy Capron Vermillion and Maia Reed

Equilibria, a company that makes CBD products for women, has a team of dedicated dosage specialists who do one-on-one consultations with customers. During the pandemic, this team has taken on an unprecedented amount of customer support—bearing witness to the heightened stress and anxiety that their...

Running a Calm Company
EPISODE 0103 - NOV 10, 2020

Take Some Time Off (We Mean It!)

with Dan Jimenez

Unlimited paid time off is a common perk in the tech industry, but as one company discovered, an open-ended vacation policy led to confusion and even burnout. Dan Jimenez of Chatbooks comes on Rework to talk about how they shifted from unlimited to mandatory PTO, and how they’re recalibrating...

Running a Calm Company
EPISODE 0097 - SEPT 22, 2020

Something's Broken

with Jeremy Daer and Troy Toman

Basecamp recently suffered three outages in a week. Programming lead Jeremy Daer and director of operations Troy Toman come on the show to discuss their approach to customer communication around these kinds of incidents. They talk about public accountability, mental health, and why the human side of...

Basecamp Behind the Scenes, Running a Calm Company
EPISODE 0075 - MAR 10, 2020

Work, Rest, and What You Will

with Emily Twarog

We at Basecamp love to preach the virtues of the 8-hour work day, but where did it come from? (Hint: Not from Henry Ford!) Labor historian Emily Twarog explains the origins of the 8-hour work day and why it was so short-lived in the U.S.

Running a Calm Company
EPISODE 0070 - FEB 4, 2020

The Road Out Of Startupland

with Sahil Lavingia

Sahil Lavingia once believed his startup was headed for unicorn status, but his journey through Silicon Valley—the viral launch on Hacker News, $8 million in venture capital, the glowing press—led to a very different outcome. In this episode, Sahil reflects on life outside the literal and figurative...

Running a Calm Company
EPISODE 0062 - NOV 26, 2019

Calm in the Political Storm

with Marty Santalucia

Workplace cultures in politics and tech share many similarities: Overwork is glorified; long hours are the norm; employees are expected to respond to communication instantly, no matter the day or time; and those that opt out are seen as lacking hustle or ceding ground to competitors. Marty...

Running a Calm Company
EPISODE 0050 - SEPT 3, 2019

The Cult of Overwork

with Ty Fujimura

We’re back from summer break! It’s time to get back to work, but it’s important not to overdo it. In this episode, Ty Fujimura, president of web design firm Cantilever, talks about how he escaped the Cult of Overwork; why it’s important to rethink the relationship between hours “worked” and actual...

Running a Calm Company
EPISODE 0037 - MAR 12, 2019

Hiring Is Not Hazing

with Aja Hammerly

Why are manhole covers round? How many golf balls can fit in a 747? Why are job interviews so terrible? In this episode, Aja Hammerly, a developer advocate at Google, talks about the drawbacks of common tech interview techniques like whiteboard coding and trivia questions, and shares her tips for...

Running a Calm Company
EPISODE 0035 - FEB 12, 2019

No Hard Feelings

with Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy

Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy are the co-authors of No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions At Work. They come on Rework to talk about how the future of work is emotional; why it’s useful to listen to feelings like envy; and how we can all take small steps toward a healthier...

Running a Calm Company
EPISODE 0032 - DEC 18, 2018

Happy Pacifists

with David Wood, Joshua Guble, and Elizabeth Gramm

Business rhetoric is rife with the language of war—there’s constant talk of conquering markets and dominating the competition. These tropes indicate a dangerous way of thinking that can have real consequences, intended or not, on human behavior. In this episode, two professors share their research...

Running a Calm Company
EPISODE 0024 - JUL 24, 2018

Take a Break

with Jason Fried, Adeline Koh, and Rachel Winard

Smell ya later! Shaun and Wailin are taking off the month of August. Before they left, they interviewed three business owners about sabbaticals. In this episode: Adeline Koh of Sabbatical Beauty shares the story of how she ended up starting a business while on leave from a different job; Jason Fried...

Running a Calm Company
EPISODE 0016 - MAR 20, 2018

How to Say You're Sorry

with David Heinemeier Hansson, Susan McCarthy, Robin Geall, and Robert Rawlins

“You know I try, but I don’t do too well with apologies,” Justin Bieber once sang. You’re not the only one with this problem, Justin! Why is saying sorry so difficult, especially for businesses? In this episode: A veteran tracker of apologies looks at what’s changed (and what hasn’t) in public...

Running a Calm Company
EPISODE 0014 - FEB 20, 2018

Meetings Are Toxic

with Dan Kim and Dan Miller

You’ll laugh; you’ll cry; you’ll gnash your teeth in recognition as you hear the stories of horrible meetings we collected for this episode. Meetings are one of the worst kinds of workplace interruptions. They’re held too frequently, run too long, and involve more people than necessary. Also in this...

Running a Calm Company
EPISODE 0013 - FEB 6, 2018

Interruption is Not Collaboration

with Thomas Fritz, Dave Shepherd, Noah Lorang, and Bryan Miles

Hey, are you busy? Can you listen to this real quick? It’s an episode about interruptions in the workplace. You’ll hear from academic researchers, Basecamp’s head data wrangler, and the CEO of a remote company about how they’ve tackled not just the disruptions themselves, but also the workplace...

Running a Calm Company
EPISODE 0002 - AUG 29, 2017

Workaholics Aren’t Heroes

with Josh Tsui, Chase Clemons, and Sylvia Maldonado

Being tired isn’t a badge of honor. There, we said it. We’ve been saying this for a while now, because our culture loves to glorify toiling long hours for its own sake and we think that leads to subpar work and general misery. In this episode, we talk to a veteran of the video game industry and a...

Running a Calm Company

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