Basecamp Turns 20. Thank you, Basecamp!
Yesterday, I read Jason Fried’s LinkedIn post on Basecamp turning 20. We take inspiration from 37signals, Basecamp’s parent company, not only because they are a self-funded company that started with one customer, but also because of the way they run their business. Jason’s post is good excuse to explain why Basecamp is important to Render Analytics, and to say thank you to Jason, David Heinemeier Hansson, and the good folks at 37signals for setting an example for how to start and run a small business.
For those of you who are unaware, Basecamp is a project management software that allows teams to collaborate using a straightforward and easy-to-use interface. To use their own words, “Basecamp’s the project management platform that helps small teams move faster and make more progress than they ever thought possible.”
We use Basecamp to manage our implementation projects, including storing documents, keeping track of To Dos, providing updates on our progress, and posting messages (so that all project communication is in one place, rather than scattered in our respective inboxes). It’s easy to use and our clients like it.
We started using Basecamp not just because it’s a user-friendly tool, but also because of the way Jason and DHH run 37signals. They have written multiple books on “a better way to work,” including REWORK, REMOTE, and It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work. We have adopted many of their principles, including remote work, simplicity, asynchronous communication, doing more with less, and keeping our customers’ satisfaction at the forefront of everything we do.
Render Analytics is a work in progress. We take inspiration from 37signals, but we don’t follow them blindly. For example, we are in the process of finding an office. Being a remote company allows us to find talented people anywhere. Nevertheless, Corey, Mike and I enjoy working together, and we think it will help us to have an office where we can sync up more regularly. That being said, we’re not going to ask Jordan to move from Austin to Reno, and Nicole is free to use the office if and when she pleases.
We are shifting our business model from consulting to developing tools and services, as Basecamp did. However, we use Power BI for our dashboards and GCP as our data warehouse. We have some secret sauce in the middle, but we have no plans to develop a brand new business intelligence platform, when we can leverage best-in-class tools. Using Microsoft and Google applications may cause DHH to cast us into the shadow realm, but I think even he would agree that you have to find what works for you, and move forward accordingly.
If you would like to learn more about Basecamp and 37signals, I recommend you read their books, check out their software, and follow Jason and David on LinkedIn - they often have insightful posts, and they are simply great writers.
Congratulations on turning 20, Basecamp! We love using your software. You lead by example and are a model for small business owners, including us. Thank you for all you do.