48 of the best people I know work at Basecamp.
We’ve been working at Basecamp for 5, 6, 5, 1, 5, 4, 2, 3, 15, 1, 2, 1, 5, 2, 3, 8, 17, 7, 5, 1, 8, 9, 4, 5, 6, 5, 1, 5, 4, 1, 5, 7, 4, 3, 5, 6, 6, 13, 11, 8, 5, 2, 6, 3, 2, 3, 6, and 3 years.
Collectively, across just 48 people, that’s 244 years of experience together. As a business owner it makes me feel great seeing longevity, loyalty, and low turnover as a common theme. In return we try to offer the best benefits in the business.
Something I always keep in mind: Behind these people are family trees. Husbands, wives, partners, children. As a business owner I feel a responsibility to these other people too — I don’t want to create tired, anxious, resentful employees who bring those emotions home with them. It’s not just the quantity of hours at work that affect life at home, it’s the quality and impact of those hours spent at work, too. A healthy work-life balance isn’t about separation as much as it’s about how one influences the other.
At Basecamp we’re not just building a different kind of product, we’re building a different kind of company. The kind of company we’d want to do business with if we were in the market for a product to help our company communicate clearly, work together better, and form stronger bonds with each other.
An observation: Looking at the picture at the top of this post, it’s clear need to work harder on diversity. We’d also like to have a roughly 50/50 split male to female to better represent the population at large. It’s tricky for us since we don’t hire often — maybe just a few people a year — so it’ll take some more time to get to the ideal mix, but we’re aware of it, working on it, and have been getting much better at it over the last couple years.
Want to join the crew? We’re currently looking to add two new designers to our team. One focused primarily on product design (Basecamp the apps), and one focused primarily on marketing design (Basecamp.com the site). From time to time we cross over — product designers work on marketing stuff and marketing designers work on product stuff. If you’re interested, email me in a way that demonstrates your skills, your character, and helps you stand out amongst the hundreds who apply whenever we have openings. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Want to see what this team makes together? What we spend our days improving and perfecting? Then check out the all-new Basecamp 3. It’s unlike any Basecamp before it, and a unique product in the industry. In many ways it’s our company operating system, and we’ve seen how it can turn any small business into a better business. Want to find out more about Basecamp 3? Email me and I’ll give you a personal tour. — Jason Fried, CEO, Basecamp
