This has been a long time in the making, but today in Seattle we put pen to paper — David Heinemeier Hansson, aka Mr. Ruby on Rails, Mr. Instiki, and the technical brains behind Basecamp, is now part of 37signals. We’re thrilled to officially have him on the team.
David is one of the sharpest, most practical, visionary developers I’ve ever met. He understands that programming isn’t just about the code you add, but the code you take away. He understands that design and the customer experience drives the back end. He understands what building something useful is all about. And he understands how to communicate clearly. He powers our Less Software movement. He’s 37signals through and through.
Welcome aboard, David. Here we go!
Congratulations David & 37s!
(To be honest.. I was wondering when this would be happening. It's about time!)
Congrats David! 37Signals is lucky to have you! :)
Woohoo! Now David can spread some European culture around, and be able to afford some real food instead of ramen and Kraft mac and cheese. :) Please make sure you let him still work on Rails and answer repetitive questions from us sycophants on #rubyonrails.
Congratulations David!
Moving to the US, or working remotely?
Congratulations David and 37s!
Congratulations, DHH & 37s. Having the privilege of meeting and working with David, he's always been 37signals material. How about a recap for us, David (or Jason), on how the connection was first made and how it's grown? Best wishes to all.
Congratulations, David and also 37Signals.
Will Next Angle be closed completely, or still open for clients in smaller numbers?
Congratulations! This is great news.
Does this mean a large shift in 37Signals focus? Your site offers usability testing, redesigns, and education but all your major projects recently have been web apps.
Kudos to both 37signals and David. Although most here will see this as a logical move, business owners don't always make logical moves. I look forward to see even more from the great "new" team at 37 signals.
Congrats, you all will continue to make beautiful music together, undoubtedly. I too wonder if DH will be in CHI or DK?
I'm surprise he signed it--giving up the "consultant" rate from a company to whom he was irreplacable? Must have been a sweet deal...congrats.
Welcome to the world of US tax returns...
Congrats David -- you'll never work with a more passionate, driven, empathetic, and intelligent group of individuals as you will at 37signals.
Congratulations!
And I second Matt's question above - do you guys see a shift in your focus that we the fans have been seeing for a while? It's not a change in your approach, just in your offerings. Diversifying into being able to build web apps with useful/usable/simple interfaces - rather than cleaning up other people's creations - makes sense from a business perspective, it just makes me think of signal 04 from the manifesto. Will David get to work on external client projects too? Only Basecamp-style internal products?
For that matter, how about a little spiel about who 37s is? Who are the other partners, are you all in Chicago, etc. It's amazing how little I knew when I stopped to think about it.
37signals is definitely transitioning into a products company. We're still doing some select client work, but 80%+ of our time is spent on Basecamp and the development of some other products in the pipeline.
Ryan and I are in Chicago, Matt is in New York, and David is in Copenhagen. We'll be bringing on a fifth person (a programmer) shortly, but that's it for our growth for a good long time.
So what happens of David's job at TextDrive then, eh?
I should have known something was up when David's Building of Basecamp, Seattle nametag specified he was a 37signals employee...
Congratulations to David and 37signals!
Congrats!
Thanks, everybody! To answer a few questions.
Yes, Next Angle is going to be more or less inactive from this point forward. I'll be working pretty much exclusively through 37signals -- even for consulting/client work.
The connection with TextDrive was never one of employment. I advise on matters relating to Ruby on Rails from time to time and enjoy a mutually beneficial endorsement deal.
I will not be moving to the States. The last three years of working together remotely have proven that to be a very effective cooperation form, so we'll continue doing that for now.
http://www.37signals.com/svn/archives/001035.php