The lifestyle business bullshit
37signals.com
The lifestyle business bullshit
1–10 of 45 posts
Re: The lifestyle business bullshit
#2I don't disagree with DHH but I bet if you totaled the hours spent blogging, redesigning FedEx for fun, giving talks at conferences, fixing Rails bugs, etc. the 37signals crew works about as much as anyone else. I want to know who is calling them a lifestyle business. Did that even happen?
Re: The lifestyle business bullshit
#3Gah, it's honestly the people who RUN lifestyle businesses who make it such a dirty word. It's not, and you should stop being defensive about it.
People's dreams vary. Some people want to change the world in a big way and gain satisfaction from herculean effort against incredible odds. Other people aspire to a comfortable living and a life that has lots of room for non-work activities. There's no shame in either.
Re: The lifestyle business bullshit
#4These guys really, really – I mean REALLY – like to talk about themselves. We get it, you're cool. Now please help port some more gems for Ruby 1.9.
Re: The lifestyle business bullshit
#5I don't disagree with DHH but I bet if you totaled the hours spent blogging, redesigning FedEx for fun, giving talks at conferences, fixing Rails bugs, etc. the 37signals crew works about as much as anyone else. I want to know who is calling them a lifestyle business. Did that even happen?
As much as what? And what are you willing to bet :)?
We certainly don't have a 4-hour work week, but we sure don't keep a 60-hour one either. Yes, there are exceptional weeks here and there were there's a brief spike, but those are just that, exceptions.
On average, we all take time to spend lots of it away from a computer. I think having a healthy hobby and social life outside of computers will only make you a better business person, not to mention a more well-rounded human.
Your 20'ies and 30'ies are your most capable for physical activity. In my mind, you'd do well to spend a fair amount of that potential.
Of course, you're free to do whatever the hell you please. Just don't make excuses like "I have to, that's the only way to be successful". Oh, and stop calling people who do pursue that balance "lifestyle businesses" unless you literally mean that the have both a life, style, and a business ;)
Re: The lifestyle business bullshit
#6Gah, it's honestly the people who RUN lifestyle businesses who make it such a dirty word. It's not, and you should stop being defensive about it. People's dreams vary. Some people want to change the world in a big way and gain satisfaction from herculean effort against incredible odds. Other people aspire to a comfortable living and a life that has lots of room for non-work activities. There's no shame in either.
Another bullshit dichotomy. We want to change the world in a big way. We certainly face hard odds (building a multi-million dollar business is very hard regardless of how you go about it). We just want to do all of that and do other things at the same time. So far that has been going pretty well.
Re: The lifestyle business bullshit
#7These guys really, really – I mean REALLY – like to talk about themselves. We get it, you're cool. Now please help port some more gems for Ruby 1.9.
Agreed. 37narcisists.com is more like it!
Re: The lifestyle business bullshit
#8I think a lifestyle business isn't necessarily defined by the amount of hours you work but rather how much you earn. If your business earns X and you are content earning X because it supports your 'lifestyle', then you have a lifestyle business.
I don't think a lifestyle business is negative nor am implying that 37Signals is a lifestyle business. Just think you have it mixed up is all...
Re: The lifestyle business bullshit
#9From wikipedia: "Lifestyle Businesses are businesses that are set up and run by their founders primarily with the aim of sustaining a particular level of income and no more; Lifestyle Businesses typically have limited scalability and potential for growth because such growth would destroy the very lifestyle for which their owner-managers set them up."
And from 37signals blog: "We haven’t found the natural size for 37signals yet, but I can tell you that it’s not a thousand people. It’s highly unlike to be a hundred. Right now it’s 10 and it’s been in that vicinity for quite some time."
You can't really complain you get the 'lifestyle business' tag... As far as I see, it's pretty much the definition of one.
Re: The lifestyle business bullshit
#10"...still have time for taking flying lessons, learning to play the guitar, nurture your garden, go hiking, enjoy cooking, socialize with people outside your tech circle."
One doesn't have to run a 37-signals style business ("do less", no external investment, charge customers immediately) to do this. One doesn't even have to limit themselves to a traditional 35-45 hour work week to do so. This is entirely possible while being a "workaholic", if you aren't wasting your time. I'd say that those who do spend all waking hours on technology (and I used to be one of those) generally do so out of preference, anxiety or combination of those two.
Note: I am also not implying there's anything with either running a 37-signals style business or spending all waking hours working. Depending on what your goals and preference are, all these are legitimate choices.