How I left behind my silicon dream for a saner place to work

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It all started in September 2015. I had recently graduated from DePaul University in Chicago, where I had studied Information Technology, and I was flying out to San Francisco to join the ranks of Silicon Valley — the promised land for any twenty something tech hopeful. “All the biggest and best companies are out there. That’s where… keep reading

Basecamp is looking for interns for summer 2017

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Basecamp is looking for talented interns to join our team this summer. We’re excited to work with you, and the things you work on will impact millions of users at the world’s leading online project management tool. The deadline for applying for a summer internship at Basecamp is February 10, 2017. About the Basecamp summer… keep reading

Time to toss resumes on the rejection pile

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Ten years ago, I was unemployed. For fifteen months I tried and failed to find a job. I scoured the internet, the newspapers, asked friends, acquaintances, strangers for introductions or hints at where to find somewhere. After a while, it was hard not to take the rejections personally, to value myself less with each “sorry,… keep reading

Constraints only work if they hurt

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We run on 6-week budgets for most major product work at Basecamp. It’s not that everything has to done in that time, but the self-imposed constraint makes us try. It’s not a deadline, mind you, but a budget. Deadlines are just excuses for death marches (fixed scope, fixed time). Screw deadlines. Budgets, on the other… keep reading

Party in the Front, Business in the Back

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Illustration by Nate Otto When Gary Morrison’s mother and her best friend got into the foil-stamped napkin business in 1979, the two women were just looking for a side project that would make them some extra money. Decades later, Gary is running AR-EN Party Printers, a company that custom prints cocktail napkins, coasters, matchboxes and more.… keep reading

Does Know Your Company actually work?

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The most common question I hear from a business owner about our software is something to the effect of: “What are the results I’ll see in my company because of Know Your Company?” In other words, “Does Know Your Company actually work?” Admittedly, when a business owner would ask me this, I’d sometimes struggle to… keep reading

What’s new in Basecamp 3.3 for iOS

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Basecamp 3 is one year old and we’re celebrating with the most significant update since launch last fall. It’s available now in the App Store! Here’s a quick look at what’s new… Basecamp 3 is also available on Android, Mac, and Windows — anywhere you’ve got a web browser and an internet connection. Still haven’t tried Basecamp?… keep reading

“Say something funny”

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Patrice O’Neal dealing with a heckler Great comedians bomb on new material all the time. That hilarious HBO special wasn’t just random, clever observations from the last month, but the product of years and years of filtered and practiced work. Thousands of hours and ideas boiled down into perfect timing to a continuous laugh fest. To… keep reading