About Jason Fried

Jason co-founded Basecamp back in 1999. He also co-authored REWORK, the New York Times bestselling book on running a "right-sized" business. Co-founded, co-authored... Can he do anything on his own?

Design Decisions: Paint vs. No Paint

Jason Fried wrote this on Jun 06 2010 19 comments

Here’s a stool at a gate at O’Hare (Chicago) airport:

Everything below the seat was black painted metal. I’m sure it looked nice when it was painted and originally installed, but it ages quickly. So here we have a material (metal) that will last forever, but a high-contrast finish (paint) that only lasts a fraction of forever. Probably not the best idea for a high traffic area – especially when a lot of people in airports have hard-soled shoes. A bad design decision.

Here’s a stool at a gate at Hartsfield-Jackson (Atlanta) airport:

More comfy seat, but let’s look at the base. It’s either steel or aluminum. But it’s bare – no paint. It’ll hold up just as long as the metal base on the stool at O’Hare, but it’ll age more gracefully. No paint means nothing wears off. It looks new longer. Less maintenance means money saved and aesthetics maintained. Good design decision.

Roughly a month to go until we move in. Most of the bones are in place. Materials, surfaces, lighting, and finishes coming next. For reference, see the last under-construction video from May 19 and the pre-construction video from March 9.

Jason Fried on Jun 6 2010 13 comments

It is always quietly thrilling to find yourself looking at a world you know well but have never seen from such an angle before.

—
Bill Bryson (via an edited extract from At Home, his new book).

Jason Fried on May 29 2010 Discuss

Nice UI touch from the New York Times. There are plenty of ways to approach this problem, but I like this novel solution. It grabs your attention in a way a simple list of articles wouldn’t.

Jason Fried on May 25 2010 22 comments

The REWORK Meetup - happening in a city near you

Jason Fried wrote this on May 25 2010 10 comments

Want to meet other people who’ve read REWORK? Want to talk with other business owners (or potential business owners) who believe ASAP is poison, meetings are toxic, planning is guessing, and inspiration is perishable? Or maybe you’re just curious about how these ideas can apply to your own business. Sound interesting to you?

Then check out a REWORK Meetup. They’re happening this June in over 100 cities across the world. These are face-to-face meetups in bookstores, cafes, restaurants, pubs, libraries, or anywhere else people agree to meet up and discuss REWORK and the ideas within.

I’ll be at the Chicago Meetup on June 3rd. Which one will you be at? Check out the REWORK Meetups, pick your city, sign up, and meet your fellow readers, thinkers, and doers.

It’s a lot easier for a small company to happily grow into a large one than a large one happily downsizing to a small one. When you’re small you have options – you can stay small or go middle or go big. But once you’re big, getting smaller is almost always out of the question unless you’re forced in that direction. This is the problem when companies grow too fast – they skip right over their options and set themselves up for big or bust.

Jason Fried on May 24 2010 7 comments

Beautiful shot of Frank Lloyd Wright with his apprentices at Taliesen. Photo by Ken Hedrich, 1933.

Jason Fried on May 21 2010 2 comments

REWORK in the Wild: The Winners

Jason Fried wrote this on May 20 2010 43 comments

When REWORK was released we launched a “REWORK in the Wild” promotion. We asked people to upload a photo of their physical (or digital) copy of REWORK. We said we’d pick our favorite and send that person an iPad.

Check out all the submissions at Flickr.