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37signals becomes Basecamp

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Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#71

Post by Veus »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #58
Veus wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Indeed, Google is a corporate company. I probably meant to say that certain departments have the culture of a startup.

My main point (and question) of my comment was in the first sentence.

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#72

Post by josefresco »

theknown99 wrote: post #21
thescrewdriver wrote: post #7

Am I the only one who had never heard of 37signals before?

They made basecamp, and write articles about how awesome they are.

I couldn't possibly give you more upvotes for this snarky comment. While 37 Signals/Basecamp (whatever) has made some great products over the years, their self-righteous (IMHO) blog posts always turned me off to them and left me with the impression that they believed in their own bullshit.

Just because you've had success doesn't mean you know everything about even your success or why you achieved it. Be humble, even while educating and talking about your achievements.

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#73

Post by ry0ohki »

wlll wrote: post #44
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…

The only feature I can think of that we ever removed (I might be wrong) is OpenID, because almost no-one used it and it was really confusing. Time tracking is still there in Basecamp Classic, and that's not going away. If you rely on time tracking in Basecamp Classic you can continue to do so. See this from the announcement page FAQ: Q: What about Basecamp Classic? "We are fully committed to running Basecamp Classic…

I get the feeling if a majority of people had switched to the new Basecamp, they would have killed off the old one, but it's such a breadwinner, they are not going to take it away, although I suspect if it ever gets to the point that a tiny portion is on Classic, they will change their mind, which is unsurprising as that's more or less been the concept of their company (to make bold statements and change them when circumstances change).

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#74

Post by ry0ohki »

ordinathorreur wrote: post #60
keeptrying wrote: post #34

This smells like they are going to try to pull a Atlassian. And they will also go take VC money ... Going to be fun to watch :)

Why would a profitable company like Basecamp need VC money?

Profitable companies take VC money all the time. In fact, I would guess that's where most VC money goes to (despite all the high profile SV startups that get press). Companies do so to grow at a faster rate.

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#75

Post by henryaj »

taude wrote: post #65
netcan wrote: post #49

Software is a hard business. Novel becomes trivial fast. Competitive edge can become a standard "best" practice fast and a product or business which was revolutionary and profitable one decade can seem naive the next. Basecamp needs to move to keep up. They have their commitment to "not too much software" and simplicity which is great but has some tradeoffs. In any case, collaboration between people working on things…

And that space has a ton of competitors in it now, too. Some heavy hitters like Podio, Asana, Zoho. I don't see any reason why some of 37's other products can't get rolled up into Basecamp as features/modules though.

> I don't see any reason why some of 37's other products can't get rolled up into Basecamp as features/modules though.

Mm - that's what I assumed they would do. Slightly surprised that their plan is to spin them off to third parties.

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#76

Post by henryaj »

Basecamp may not have all the power features that some HN readers (and myself) would want, but in retrospect that's exactly the point - it makes their software simple and accessible.

I love these guys. 37signals are an inspiration, and I've been using and loving Basecamp since I was 17 and running a company with my friends in school.

To the next ten years.

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#77

Post by ry0ohki »

Angostura wrote: post #53

No mention of Trello, I see.

I saw a couple of people saying things like this, it always seemed to me they are different customers, Trello is for internal project management, where Basecamp is better for external client facing management (which is what 37s made it for to begin with).

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#78

Post by josefresco »

theknown99 wrote: post #66
adrinavarro wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The talent and know-how? I thought we were already past the "why buy it if you can copy it".

"Talent and know how"? Seriously? Is writing a webchat client some black dark art? There's nothing much you need to know to write a webchat client. Campfire isn't high volume, so it doesn't need to be too efficient either. Last time I checked campfire processes a few messages a second. Heck you could rewrite it in PHP/MySQL if you were that way inclined. Campfire didn't succeed because it was a good product. It succe…

You could levy that same criticism on any company who leveraged an existing success to market and sell a less than stellar product or service.

Many times people will see a product or company and think "how simple, I could have made that ... why did they succeed?" Everyone has assets they bring to the table that help them succeed. For some it means they can create and sell a less than stellar product because they have existing leverage in a market that give them an advantage an average "Joe" wouldn't.

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#79

Post by davb »

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 think this is a problem that's inherent in "the modern web". Trusting part of your business process to a SaaS application is always going introduce risk. Sometimes it's a calculated risk, and if you have contingency plans in place then it's acceptable. But in most cases, users simply aren't prepared for the day that a critical part of their workflow changes or disappears.

I know it's not a popular opinion here, but using SaaS is no different from outsourcing part of your operations. If it's a small part and there are plenty of direct competitors, the risk is minimal. However, if it's a critical part of your system and there are no direct alternatives, you really are putting the safety of your business in the provider's hands.

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#80

Post by rgrieselhuber »

Grue3 wrote: post #46

10 years after they released Basecamp and apparently it's still their "best idea". This explains why every 37signals blogpost I read was so devoid of good ideas. One hit wonders.

I think most people would be happy to have a single idea that provided the basis for a multi-million dollar business. Have you had better luck?
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