October 25, 2008
Posted by Ryan Graves
Jason Fried at the Business Software Conference
This video is a bit long, just shy of 1 hour. But, it is packed with great lessons from 37 Signals founder and CEO, Jason Fried. He goes through a series of tips or lessons before opening up for Q&A. Here is my take a two of his lessons that stuck out to me most.
What is the optimal size of a business?
Jason makes the point here that the idea that businesses always need to grow is wrong. People see business like they see tumors, only eternal growth is acceptable. Jason claims this is a bad idea. He pushes that 37 Signals will focus on being a strong and healthy business, not just a large powerful business. The point he’s making here without ever actually using these words is, quality or quantity. He also says that “his team equates success with being happy with what we are building over just making more money”. This is a powerful statement.
During another talk, I heard Fried make the point that you don’t have to be Domino’s Pizza to be a successful pizza shop. He encourages people to go out and run a successful mom & pop pizza shop that customers are happy with.
Treat your software as though it was physical.
Jason uses the example of the water bottle he is holding during the talk. It’s the perfect size for what it is supposed to be, portable water. If the water bottle was 2 liters he wouldn’t be able to hold it or carry it. So why not design your software the same way? If you make it the right size for the problem you are trying to solve, then your customers will be happier with it and you will be happier because your effort will be proportionate to the problem you are attempting to solve.
