I can totally subscribe what Jason said here.
One time someone said that I wasn't "startup" material because I wasn't open to work 80 hours per week. They said that like it was a bad thing :), fast forward a few years and their company is now dead and I'm now doing my own thing steady and profitable.
37signals Earns Millions Each Year. Its CEO’s Model? His Cleaning Lady
81–90 of 234 posts
Re: 37signals Earns Millions Each Year. Its CEO’s Model? His Cleaning Lady
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
Jason made it pretty clear that he was joining the Groupon board: * as a personal favor to Andrew Mason * to get some board experience He emphasized: * he had not changed his stance on bootstrapping companies * his board involvement was not an endorsement of groupon * he sold his shares when given the chance So I guess I'm missing the hilarity, other than seeing you try to pick another fight with Jason Fried.
Thanks for bullet pointing, was going to do the same thing. I wish people would at least read the link they paste, if they intend to use it for their arguments. The link answered/refuted his own 'claims'.
I sort of agree with this...
However, the saying "If you lay down with dogs, then you get up with fleas" still applies. Even if you publicly disavow the fleas.
Re: 37signals Earns Millions Each Year. Its CEO’s Model? His Cleaning Lady
#83This guy could have built the next Salesforce / google. but he eschewed hiring a sales team. He didn't want that, but still. Failing to achieve your true potential is not something to be bragging about all over the web.
He built up his hill of customers and you're slagging him because he didn't strip-mine the local quarry to build it into a skyscraper/mountain?
I'd say it's equally likely that 37Signals could have failed utterly in rapid expansion as they could have succeeded if they made their moon-shot.
Re: 37signals Earns Millions Each Year. Its CEO’s Model? His Cleaning Lady
#84The long hours mostly has to do with the startup community. They get funding and VC wants to make a profit within a year and get out, at the expense of any long-term goals of the company. The result is 70 or 80 hour work weeks and burnout. The VC don't care because they will be done in the short-term anyway. It's the reason why I refuse to work for startups.
This company is not a startup; it's merely a successful small business. the startup community ... get funding and VC wants to make a profit within a year and get out, at the expense of any long-term goals This is not unheard of, but certainly not the norm. Successful VC firms invest of big growth, but over a longer term. Look at the huge VC-backed successes in SV (obvious examples like Google, LinkedIn) and you'll se…
> This company is not a startup; it's merely a successful small business.
Startup, n.: A small business that is not successful yet.
Re: 37signals Earns Millions Each Year. Its CEO’s Model? His Cleaning Lady
#85> Actually, my cleaning lady, for example, she’s great. There's something a bit... I don't know quite how to put it. Let's just say that I bet she'd willingly trade places with him, cash out, and go enjoy herself instead of cleaning up after other people day in and day out. ( Edit to change the wording just a bit) > The other interesting thing about restaurants is you could have a dozen Italian restaurants in the cit…
> There's something a bit... I don't know quite how to put it. Let's just say that I bet she'd willingly trade places with him, cash out, and go enjoy herself instead of cleaning up after other people day in and day out.
See, the typical problem with claims like Fried made is that they're idealizing lives they don't know much about. But Fried didn't walk into that trap.
He doesn't remark on her home life. He doesn't remark on her happiness. He doesn't remark on her hopes and dreams. He says she's "respectful, nice, and awesome". His point is that her business is sustainable, adds value, and does good. He doesn't say, "I wish I was a cleaning lady." All he says is that her business model is a good business model, and he's inspired by it.
Re: 37signals Earns Millions Each Year. Its CEO’s Model? His Cleaning Lady
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
Jason made it pretty clear that he was joining the Groupon board: * as a personal favor to Andrew Mason * to get some board experience He emphasized: * he had not changed his stance on bootstrapping companies * his board involvement was not an endorsement of groupon * he sold his shares when given the chance So I guess I'm missing the hilarity, other than seeing you try to pick another fight with Jason Fried.
Andrew Mason is generally not considered a very upstanding CEO. Why is Fried giving Mason personal favors? Are they cousins?
I did some consulting for Andrew and can say that he's actually a REALLY decent guy who cares about his team and customers. Certainly there were times where Groupon was downright sloppy. And perhaps they were reckless. But can you point out where Andrew wasn't upstanding?
Re: 37signals Earns Millions Each Year. Its CEO’s Model? His Cleaning Lady
#87This guy could have built the next Salesforce / google. but he eschewed hiring a sales team. He didn't want that, but still. Failing to achieve your true potential is not something to be bragging about all over the web.
He built up his hill of customers and you're slagging him because he didn't strip-mine the local quarry to build it into a skyscraper/mountain? I'd say it's equally likely that 37Signals could have failed utterly in rapid expansion as they could have succeeded if they made their moon-shot.
Good point. But I don't think hiring a sales team could have lead to a failed moon-shot attempt.
Re: 37signals Earns Millions Each Year. Its CEO’s Model? His Cleaning Lady
#88"I won’t name names. I used to name names. But I think all you have to do is read TechCrunch. Look at what the top stories are, and they’re all about raising money, how many employees they have, and these are metrics that don’t matter. What matters is: Are you profitable? Are you building something great? Are you taking care of your people? Are you treating your customers well? In the coverage of our industry as a wh…
Jason Fried's article feels a bit preachy TBH, and the last paragraph about the cleaning lady being so awesome, seems rather cliched/trite.
I'm sure he's trying to tell us he values the little-guy/gal. Great!, we do too, but then don't pretend her job is more exciting than a whole industry, and you're just sitting around in gushy anticipation of your fresh flowers. ugh :p
Also, painting the valley as "sick" and "disgusting", feels one sided.
Sure there are problems with some startups being over-hyped, but bubble or not, companies are getting real shit done here, and it's pretty unique place, simply in terms of raw tech innovation density. Giving credit where due, doesn't need to take away from all the rest of the good stuff that goes on elsewhere in the world too, like at 37 Signals, Chicago IL.
Re: 37signals Earns Millions Each Year. Its CEO’s Model? His Cleaning Lady
#89Profits are without question important.
Bootstrapping I'm not so sure about. There are many profitable companies today that were never bootstrapped, like Apple and Google and tons of others. I'd be concerned that bootstrapping in this day and age might limit how big a company you actually do become, esp since you are competing against entrenched players.
Re: 37signals Earns Millions Each Year. Its CEO’s Model? His Cleaning Lady
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
I once got to see Jack Welch give a talk and he basically said the same, but about American labor unions. He said if you want job security, the answer is "customers". There is no other shortcut in business.
??? Customers won't give you, hapless employee, job security if your employers can easily replace you with someone cheaper because you have a flimsy (or no!) contract, nor will customers help you with disputes with management, or wrongful termination, or promotion from within, or even the too-little-emphasized increased potential for synergy between the ranks that unions afford, or any of the many other things that u…
You shouldn't need a contract if you're adding value to the organization. If you can get replaced by someone cheaper, then you weren't worth what you were getting. Why the heck should a business pay more for the same outputs? If you're adding more value than you cost, your job is always safe. The union mentality is exactly the reason American manufacturing has left for cheaper pastures. Union employees aren't about adding value, they're about protecting their own ass rather that striving to find ways to add value to the organization.
Business owners do not have an obligation to keep everyone employed, they have an obligation to make a profit, if there's no profit, then they won't be able to employ anyone for very long.
Good employees are an asset to any company. You don't get "wrongfully" terminated if you are adding value of a company.
I will never hire union labor ever. I would close down a business before I submitted to the extortion of unions. If I hire people, I treat them really well because they add value not because a contract says I must. Google employees aren't unionized -- Google understands that to attract the best talent you have to treat people well. Google employees don't need a union -- they know that if they're providing value, their jobs are very secure. It's the lower-skilled workers with chips on their shoulders that are the first to cry about needing a contract to "protect" their rights.
Contracts protect the employees that strive to do the minimal possible under the terms of the contract. Unions have made employees interchangeable because you get paid based on your job title and seniority, not necessarily the value you bring to the organization. The big tragedy is that in union shops, when layoffs happen it's the junior guys that go first, even if they're better workers than the more senior. It's disgusting that years on the job mean more than actual job output. Unions had their place before OSHA came along, but now they are corrupt labor monopolies where the bosses get paid millions each year cronyism and corruption are the norm. If you don't like a company, you're free to quit, but in closed-shop states, if you don't like the union, too bad, you have to be a member (or pay the dues) if you want to be employed in that field in your state. Detroit is 1993 Sarajevo because of unions, while North Carolina is doing pretty well. The difference is the unions.