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37signals becomes Basecamp

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Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#51

Post by Veus »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #25
sgdesign wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, what would you have them do? Would it really be better for them to keep spreading themselves thin supporting too many products? On the contrary, I think them refocusing on Basecamp should give you more trust that they won't pull a Google and pull the plug on it.

The problem is spreading yourself too thin in the first place, getting people to rely on your products, and then pulling them. I think it's much more acceptable for a small business like 37Signals to do this than a large one like Google. Google has the resources to keep products around, 37Signals doesn't.

Even if you have the resources to support something, should you if its not your core focus? Personal I feel that Google is still run as a startup, which is fantastic however people expect Google to be a corporate company.

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#52

Post by petercooper »

officemonkey wrote: post #38
theknown99 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can you be a "startup" for 10 years? Will they ever stop being a "startup"?

I suppose even Yahoo and Google were "startups" at one time. 37signals probably kept the moniker longer than other businesses because they were profitable early, and they didn't need or want to grow fast for growth's sake.

and they didn't need or want to grow fast for growth's sake.

The HN/YC model of a "startup" is something that is growing rapidly, as per http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html, so perhaps 37signals was never a startup in the HN use of the term ;-)

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#54

Post by hrvbr »

jaimebuelta wrote: post #30

It still escapes me why this recent trend of naming companies with the names of products "for brand recognition" (the other obvious example is 10gen to become MongoDB Inc.) It would be interesting to see other companies do that in the past: - "Microsoft is going to become Windows Inc" - "Apple Computers will be known from now on as iPod Ltd" - "The new name of the company will be Air Jordan & Co. Nike no more!"

Big companies do it too: EADS has become Airbus Group.

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#55

Post by masnick »

alexcroox wrote: post #17

While I admire 37signals I do find myself increasingly comparing them to Google and their offering. They make incredible services, but it's hard to trust them to build your business workflow around their products. If there aren't stripping back critical business features such as time tracking for our billing in the new Basecamp, they are looking to shutdown or sell others a few years on. I hate corporate software as…

I really don't understand how the author of the parent post is still angry about this. 37s did the responsible thing by continuing to fully support the old version, giving users time to migrate (or not migrate).

I think there are a lot of 3rd parties that integrate with the new Basecamp to provide time tracking. Harvest is the one that immediately comes to mind. While this might seem to not be as good as a first party experience, I would argue that it is better to use a real time tracking app like Harvest, which is waaaaay more capable than the time tracking in Basecamp Classic.

Whatever criticisms you might have of Basecamp, they are certainly focused on avoiding feature creep and bloat. I suspect they agree with my assessment that Harvest et al. provide a better time tracking experience, so there is no reason to complicate their product with a (poorer) duplication of their features.

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#56

Post by andypants »

Veus wrote: post #51
k-mcgrady wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is spreading yourself too thin in the first place, getting people to rely on your products, and then pulling them. I think it's much more acceptable for a small business like 37Signals to do this than a large one like Google. Google has the resources to keep products around, 37Signals doesn't.

Even if you have the resources to support something, should you if its not your core focus? Personal I feel that Google is still run as a startup, which is fantastic however people expect Google to be a corporate company.

How is google anything like a startup?

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#57

Post by mherdeg »

jaimebuelta wrote: post #30

It still escapes me why this recent trend of naming companies with the names of products "for brand recognition" (the other obvious example is 10gen to become MongoDB Inc.) It would be interesting to see other companies do that in the past: - "Microsoft is going to become Windows Inc" - "Apple Computers will be known from now on as iPod Ltd" - "The new name of the company will be Air Jordan & Co. Nike no more!"

Like RIM and BlackBerry?

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#58

Post by k-mcgrady »

Veus wrote: post #51
k-mcgrady wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is spreading yourself too thin in the first place, getting people to rely on your products, and then pulling them. I think it's much more acceptable for a small business like 37Signals to do this than a large one like Google. Google has the resources to keep products around, 37Signals doesn't.

Even if you have the resources to support something, should you if its not your core focus? Personal I feel that Google is still run as a startup, which is fantastic however people expect Google to be a corporate company.

>> "people expect Google to be a corporate company."

It is a corporate company. When millions of people rely on your products you need to be careful when introducing new ones and pulling old ones. I don't think you can run a business like a startup forever if you have millions/billions of users. You cans till maintain some aspects of that startup culture but there are other aspects you have to leave behind. You have to think of how anything you do is going to affect people's long term view of you. The Reader shut down may not have affected a majority of Google's customers but now some people are wary to adopt new Google services. If you pull that kind of thing often enough you damage your long term prospects.

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#59

Post by terabytest »

jacobr wrote: post #4

> When we meet people, and they ask us what we do, we say we work for 37signals. If they aren't in the tech world, they'll squint and say "what's that?". When we say "we're the folks who make Basecamp", their eyes light up and open wide. "Basecamp! Oh I love Basecamp! My wife uses Basecamp too! [my emphasis] Even our church uses Basecamp!" So, "people" = men?

What a shit comment. Not even sugar-coating it.
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