Today, I spoke to Jason Fried, who is the co-founder and President of 37signals. In this interview, Jason talks about how simplicity is so important when it comes to products, his views on personal branding, web 2.0, the future, and more.
Your brand is based on simplicity and your products represent that. Why is simplicity so effective?
Simple is effective because it’s usually all that’s required. Plus simple is easy to understand. It’s approachable, easy to try, it makes sense, and it’s usually true. Most people’s problems are simple problems until someone makes them complicated. We try to make them simple.
How did you get started with 37 Signals and when did Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon.com) come onboard? How did his brand help?
We started 37signals in 1999. We were a web design firm up until 2004/2005 when we launched Basecamp. About a year later Basecamp was making more money than our web design firm so we stopped designing web sites for other people and started designing software for ourselves.
We took the investment from Bezos in 2006. I don’t know if his involvement helps from the outside, but it’s great to have access to his insight and experience on the inside. We’ve definitely learned a few things from him and expect to learn more as time goes on.
What is your impression of web 2.0? What could web 3.0 look like?
I don’t like version numbers on big ideas like “the web.” The mean so many different things to so many different people. Web 1, 2, 3 – it’s all just the web mixed up a little differently. The things that actually happen seem to be things that weren’t predicted.
What steps did you take to establish your personal brand? How have you been able to speak at many conferences?
I don’t really think much about personal brand. I work at 37signals. I think about 37signals first. Whatever else comes of it comes as a by-product of being part of 37signals. I don’t shy away from the personal branding benefits, but I don’t actively pursue them. For example, I don’t have a personal blog or a personal site. When I write I write on the 37signals sites.
Regarding conferences: Getting started was tough because I was terrified of public speaking, but like anything, you get better the more you do it. Now I really enjoy it and don’t get nervous at all. Speaking engagements usually lead to more speaking engagements. Most of them come from word of mouth these days.
What are your 2010 tech predictions?
I don’t really have any. Don’t mean to be a downer there, but I really don’t think 2010 will be much different from 2009. I don’t think things change or move as fast as we sometimes like to think they do.
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Jason Fried is the co-founder and President of 37signals, a Chicago-based company committed to building the best web-based tools possible with the least number of features necessary. 37signals’ products include Basecamp, Highrise, Backpack, Campfire, Ta-da List, and Writeboard. 37signals’ products do less than the competition—intentionally. Jason believes there’s real value and beauty in the basics. Elegance, respect for people’s desire to simply get stuff done, and honest ease of use are the hallmarks of 37signals products.
