Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Know Your Company grows up and moves out

37signals.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 41 posts

Re: Know Your Company grows up and moves out

#31

Post by erikpukinskis »

jenniferqq wrote: post #27

So basically, 37signals sold this product just like they sold Sortfolio. (They seem to be on a bad run lately given Breeze was shutdown after a few months. Sortfolio sale. etc)

I don't think it's necessarily a bad run. It seems like Basecamp is pretty stable these days, and well staffed, so they're looking for the Next Big Thing for the company. In order do do that, you have to do a lot of little experiments with things that seem trivial but have some potential to become big. There are going to be a bunch of things that work OK but aren't that perfect fit for the next tent pole for 37signals. That's a normal, expected part of the experimentation process.

What's noteworthy is that most companies just shutter their failed experiments, and most startups fail. The fact that they've spun out two of their projects into sustainable businesses is kind of amazing really.

Re: Know Your Company grows up and moves out

#32

Post by jasonfried »

anon808 wrote: post #28
jasonfried wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Know Your Company was a big experiment from the start. A totally new kind of product for us, an entirely new kind of business model for us, etc. And now we're taking that to the next level with an entirely new strategy for us: Spinning it off into it's own autonomous company and letting it find its own direction. As I mentioned in the original post, we wanted to hire Claire to run Know Your Company inside 37signals,…

yup, it makes sense why Claire wouldn't be part of 37s, and if the fit with her and the product is one-of-a-kind, makes sense that it would be organized separately if thats the only way to have her be a part of it. Of course now that you add more color, I'm more curious. I always got the impression you were more personally associated with Know Your Company than the other 37s products (having your signature on the mar…

I'm not bummed at all -- I'm excited! I can't give Know Your Company my full attention forever.

The product is in great hands now with Claire fully-focused on making it better as her full time job.

I'm standing by as an advisor and eager to help when called upon.

We also still own a sizable piece of the company so it's in our best interest to see it succeed.

And we're customers - we use Know Your Company every week.

Re: Know Your Company grows up and moves out

#33

Post by jasonfried »

jenniferqq wrote: post #27

So basically, 37signals sold this product just like they sold Sortfolio. (They seem to be on a bad run lately given Breeze was shutdown after a few months. Sortfolio sale. etc)

We didn't sell Know Your Company.

No one sold anything and no one bought anything. The piece of the company that Claire owns was a gift from us - and she can earn more as the company does better.

We moved it out into its own company, which Claire now runs.

Nothing at all like Sortfolio.

Re: Know Your Company grows up and moves out

#34

Post by cjlew23 »

anon808 wrote: post #13
jasonfried wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What did you want to know that we didn't share?

Why are you spinning off the business if it's profitable? Why isn't Claire joining 37S instead? What's happening to ClarityBox? What other operating scenarios did you guys consider? Who is going to run the business . . . will Claire be doing product development, programming, customer support herself? What exactly will she be doing? Is she hiring people? Who are these people? Of course you don't owe anyone any of that…

Hey there, this is Claire. Hopefully Jason was able to answer most of your questions. But if not, just wanted to chime in...

As the CEO of Know Your Company, I'll be running the business day-to-day. In the beginning, that will include everything from sales to customer support. I'll be bringing on a part-time programmer to do a bit of product development + maintenance until I'm ready to make a full-time hire. Overall, I'm not looking to build a huge team out-of-the-gate. I want to focus on talking with customers, listening to why KYC works for them, and learning how it could be better.

I'll be placing ClarityBox, the consulting practice, on hold to focus on running KYC and delivering the product. In the future though, I could potentially envision both a service and product offered together.

Let me know if you have any other questions – I'm happy to answer them.

Re: Know Your Company grows up and moves out

#35

Post by xivzgrev »

jasonfried wrote: post #22
anon808 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you spinning off the business if it's profitable? Why isn't Claire joining 37S instead? What's happening to ClarityBox? What other operating scenarios did you guys consider? Who is going to run the business . . . will Claire be doing product development, programming, customer support herself? What exactly will she be doing? Is she hiring people? Who are these people? Of course you don't owe anyone any of that…

Know Your Company was a big experiment from the start. A totally new kind of product for us, an entirely new kind of business model for us, etc. And now we're taking that to the next level with an entirely new strategy for us: Spinning it off into it's own autonomous company and letting it find its own direction. As I mentioned in the original post, we wanted to hire Claire to run Know Your Company inside 37signals,…

I really like the organic approach you've taken here. Just let things evolve, see where they go, and make the best decision you can at that point in time.

Also, Claire was friend of friend of mine in college, and I'm very excited for her!

Re: Know Your Company grows up and moves out

#36

Post by mst »

swombat wrote: post #29

I read through part of the slightly scammy-looking long sales letter (complete with bullet points and money-back guarantee) at https://knowyourcompany.com/ and still don't have a clue what this product does. Can anyone enlighten me? PS: @jason - the comment about the sales letter is not a comment about 37S, of course, but I'm sure you're aware of the format you're using there...

I'm fairly sure there was a post a couple years back by 37s along the lines of "this style of sales letter is often used by somewhat scammy companies ... but that's because they don't have a real product at all so they have to be really good at marketing copy".

Which is a fair point - and, well, the last time I read one of those I started off thinking "this is weirdly high pressure" ... and then ended up reading the whole thing and signing up for a basecamp trial anyway (which I promptly failed to try properly, so I have no opinion on the product ...).

I think my point is "call it high pressure instead of scammy". If I actually have one. goes in search of another coffee

Re: Know Your Company grows up and moves out

#37

Post by jenniferqq »

jasonfried wrote: post #33
jenniferqq wrote: post #27

So basically, 37signals sold this product just like they sold Sortfolio. (They seem to be on a bad run lately given Breeze was shutdown after a few months. Sortfolio sale. etc)

We didn't sell Know Your Company. No one sold anything and no one bought anything. The piece of the company that Claire owns was a gift from us - and she can earn more as the company does better. We moved it out into its own company, which Claire now runs. Nothing at all like Sortfolio.

Is 37signals still the majority owner in this new company?

Re: Know Your Company grows up and moves out

#38

Post by 100k »

jasonfried wrote: post #9
dannowatts wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what your 3 favorite craft beers are!!

Pick any three from New Glarus! http://www.newglarusbrewing.com

As a Minnesotan living in SF, this warms my heart. New Glarus is only available in Wisconsin so anyone bringing some back was very popular.

Re: Know Your Company grows up and moves out

#39

Post by dannowatts »

jasonfried wrote: post #9
dannowatts wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what your 3 favorite craft beers are!!

Pick any three from New Glarus! http://www.newglarusbrewing.com

you sir, have good tastes.

if you're a fan of IPA's, you should try and have some Pliny, Heady Topper and Ghandi Bot.

Re: Know Your Company grows up and moves out

#40

Post by d0m »

jenniferqq wrote: post #37
jasonfried wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We didn't sell Know Your Company. No one sold anything and no one bought anything. The piece of the company that Claire owns was a gift from us - and she can earn more as the company does better. We moved it out into its own company, which Claire now runs. Nothing at all like Sortfolio.

Is 37signals still the majority owner in this new company?

yes
Post reply on HN