UX Magazine published an in-depth interview with David. It’s a lengthy piece that touches on UI, business, programming, Getting Real, and more. Really comprehensive piece that’s worth checking out. Audio clips of the interview are included throughout too. (Also, check out the nice URL style the magazine uses.)
We keep comparing ourselves to the notion of chefs. When you walk into a high-end restaurant, you really don’t get a whole lot of choice. Usually, the hallmark of a high-end restaurant is the chef’s menu. The chef prepared courses of a dinner in advance where he made all the choices. You eat there because you trust the chef’s judgment and want his taste. Well, we try to do the same thing. Instead of just giving you a super-long menu, we’ll just give you this set course of plates and you’ll have to trust our judgment on it, and I think you’ll end up with a much tastier meal in the end.
Technically speaking is an interview with Jason that ran in Time Out Chicago.
Fried talks about how “making money is like playing the piano: The earlier you start, the more practice you’re going to have, the better off you’re going to be.” On the day he turned 13, Fried’s father, a Chicago Mercantile Exchange trader, took him to get a work permit. He worked typical jobs—grocery store, gas station, shoe store—but he always had a side business of his own. At 15, Fried got a resale license and began buying stereo equipment at wholesale cost, marking it up and selling it to friends. “I suck at playing the piano,” Fried says, “but I’m good at making money because I’ve had more practice.”
Check out the, um, heavenly image that ran alongside it:
Also, here’s a recent video interview and Q&A with Jason at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business:
Alejandro Moreno
on 03 Dec 09Whoa, that’s a lot of Jason. It’ll take a while to go through it all!
Michael Scott
on 03 Dec 09That’s what she said.
<a href="www.gde.ie">pool table guy</a>
on 03 Dec 09Lot of detail! I like.
Chadwick
on 03 Dec 09It’s great to see that you both (all of you really) are still out there sharing information with the world. I agree that getting out and answering questions and sharing your views always helps to keep you honest and helps you understand what you really believe in.
Thanks for sharing the video. In the future, maybe you could summarize questions before you answer them. Many questions were difficult to hear, maybe not such much in person.
Again, thanks for sharing.
Blue Sail Creative
on 04 Dec 09I agree and love the comment about being a chef and having a chefs tasting menu.
However I see both perspectives. I just watched this video and commented on a blog over at : http://bit.ly/6tXpGI
It showed me that sometimes its important to shift perspective. A lot of the posting and mindset of 37 Signals is to instill a lot of trust in design/development. I understand that the client chose you for a reason and they should trust you, but you must also listen to the client.
Shifting perspectives is key.
moe
on 04 Dec 09I like Jason’s no bullshit attitude. Even when I don’t agree with him, I always believe he is being honest, which I can’t say for a lot of talks I listen to online.
Steve R.
on 04 Dec 09The ‘chef’ theme brough to mind the following suggestion: go to Tru. Order the chefs’ tasting – not the one on the menu but the one where they give you nothing but the list of wines you will be served with each course (8 or 12 courses). The chef’s challenge is to match the wine – and it is not a staged event by any means. The sommelier and chef ‘duel’ like this every chance they get, but few customers actually go for it – the payoff is insane, though, if you are daring and willing to trust them.
Jonathan Anderson
on 05 Dec 09Hey,
Thanks for covering our coverage ;-) The interview with David has been remarkably popular on UX Magazine, owing to the clarity and perspicacity of his ideas. I read the interview transcript a while before it was published on UX Magazine, and it actually influenced some of the content that went into a book I just got done writing.
I admire what you guys have created and respect your design, product, and business philosophies… I hope we can be a platform for more of your ideas in the future.
Best, Jonathan Anderson Managing Editor UX Magazine (uxmag.com)
This discussion is closed.