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37signals becomes Basecamp

37signals.com

101–110 of 144 posts

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#101
post #99

I had just signed up for Highrise but haven't started implementing it yet. Sounds like the product will live on but I wouldn't mind some recommendations for alternatives if anybody has some. I've used both Salesforce and SugarCRM and they seem a bit overkill for my use.

PipelineDeals and Pipedrive are both I've used and would recommend. If I had to narrow to one, I'd go with PipelineDeals.

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#102
post #100

I still don't understand why basecamp is so popular. In my opinion it's just an average product, nothing special about it, but it has so many users.

You underestimate the power of marketing, design, and timing then. A good product is not a prerequisite to being popular by any means (although it certainly helps).

[deleted]

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#104

Me thinks they are feeling some pressure from rising stars like Asana and they are quickly trying to solidify their lead before it's too late.

I don't think Asana competes with base camp, at all. It's an over customizable nightmare that you need engineers to administer for Big Corps. It competes with Jira. Basecamp is something that a nontechnical person can use.

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Github would be better to write a campfire clone in a day or so, and roll it out. I'm betting github has a larger userbase than campfire, so what would be the point in paying a few million for campfire?

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

> The talent and know-how

Actually, they state that any sale or spinoff of the de-emphasized products would not include employees.

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#106
I'd say this has more to do with an existential crisis - the landscape for project management collaboration tools is very crowded with competitors, and some are vastly superior in many ways to Basecamp. I stopped using Basecamp years ago and groan every time a client makes me log into it. The early adopters have mostly given up on their core product.

PM collab tools are becoming a commodity product in business, and 37 Signals got distracted and missed out on making sure that their brand was front and foremost in customers' minds. They could have doubled down on the brand and become the "Kleenex" of PM tools. But they waited too late and are now scrambling to re-affirm their dominance in the space. Thats how I see this.

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#107
post #55

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 part…

Paymo time tracker also comes in mind :) (shameless plug)

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#108
post #14

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

I have heard about them. There is that guy there who invented RoR apparently, and likes to posts articles explaining how cool he is etc.

DHH co-founded a multi-million dollar business, created one of the most famous web-frameworks, races on Le Mans, and has one-of-a-kind sports car made specially for him [1]. He's fucking cool.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagani_Zonda#HH

Re: 37signals becomes Basecamp

#109
Am I the last guy still paying $7/month for a solo Backpack account? I've looked for good alternatives a few times, and never found anything I like as much as Backpack for basic note-taking. As long as they'll keep taking my $7, I guess I'll keep using it.
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