I’m Jason Freed, CEO of Basecamp and This Is How I Work
Basecamp is a web-based project management tool, and like many software tools and startups before it, the creators of Basecamp made it for themselves. They just needed a decent way to manage projects and collaborate. It just so happens that other people want to use it too.
The company, now known as Basecamp, was founded 17 years ago by Jason Freed, Carlos Segura and Ernest Kim. Originally called 37signals and involved in various types of web design and development, including products like Campfire and what became Ruby on Rails, they eventually turned their attention to Basecamp’s eponymous product.
Jason Freed, CEO, runs the company in a fairly simple way. No real to-do lists, no multiple monitors, no alarm clock. Just clear focus throughout the day so that work does not go beyond the boundaries of daily life. This is how it works.
Location: Chicago, Illinois. Current position: Founder and CEO of Basecamp. One word that best describes how you work: Calm. Current mobile device: iPhone 7. Current computer: MacBook 12 “
First of all, tell me a little about your past and how you became who you are today.
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and was a pretty cheesy student. I loved to study, but school never interested me. Sometime in the late 1980s, my closest neighbor got this weird thing called the Macintosh SE. He called me to check it out. The first thing I saw on it was a flight simulator, and it just amazed me. The graphics were so sharp. Black and white, but sharp sharp sharp. I was amazed, went home and asked my parents for a computer. They asked me to make a presentation … Why do I need a computer? So, I wrote 100 reasons (I’m sure they are pretty repetitive), but my efforts were convincing enough. So we bought one. At that time it was SE / 30. A few years later I had a large collection of music – mostly cassettes, but also a few CDs. I gave them to friends, but I never got them back. Even worse, I forgot who I lent them to, so it really was my fault. It was around this time that we got an AOL account. The days of the dial-up modem. And I started looking for software to organize my music collection. I have not found anything that I like. So, I decided to figure out how to create my own. I found FileMaker Pro and learned about it. Then I made a music organization database for myself. What was really cool about FileMaker was that you could create your own GUIs based on standard database elements. This is how I started developing graphical user interfaces. So I made my own music collection database. I ended up calling it “Audio File” and uploaded to AOL. I asked people to pay me $ 20 if they liked it, and I listed my parents’ home address where they should send the check. I received an envelope from Germany that summer (I think). It was an airmail envelope with a blue and red check around the edges. So smart! I didn’t know anyone in Germany, so I opened it with great impatience. Inside was a printout of the order form I had attached to the Audiofile, and a crisp $ 20 bill. Someone bought this thing that I made for myself! This is how my software business started. The last 20 years have been based on this experience. And today Basecamp is the same thing – a product that we make for ourselves and sell to other people. Fortunately, there are many people with the same problems as us. It is difficult to organize teams, it is difficult to communicate across the company, it is difficult to keep projects and people on the same page. Base camp!
What apps, software or tools can’t you live without?
Here’s a boring one, but meaningful to me … I really came to enjoy Instagram. Although I use it differently than most. For me, this is an educational platform. I absolutely love collecting vintage watches, and Instagram has a vibrant vintage watch community. I’ve learned a lot from seeing so many different clocks in such a short amount of time. I can’t imagine how I would have learned so much so quickly in a different way. I also met some really great people.
How is your workplace arranged?
I work half from home and half from our office. At work, we have permanent desks. I work at my desk at home, but I can also switch to work on one of the shelves on a deep bookcase that is perfect for standing up. I’m a guy with one computer, a 12-inch MacBook, so I can work anywhere. Several years ago, I used multiple monitors and had multiple computers. Then I ditched multiple computers but kept the multiple monitors setup. And a few years ago I threw away the second monitor and have been working with one computer and one screen ever since. I go full screen in almost every application. I also hide my dock. I don’t want anything to distract my attention. When I’m interested, I look. Otherwise, I look at what I want, not what someone else might want me to see. I can’t stress enough this enough – protect your attention as you protect your friends, family, money, etc. This is one of the most valuable things you have.
What’s your best time-saving shortcut or life hack?
Say no. Techniques and Techniques are all about controlling what happens when you say yes to too many things. All techniques and techniques in the world are never reduced to the power of “no”. Less work is the best way to get things done. I am very careful with my time and attention – it is my most valuable resource. If you don’t have it, you won’t be able to do what you want. And if you can’t do what you want, what’s the point?
What’s your favorite to-do list manager?
I don’t track cases. I have a small handful of things that I know I need to do every day. If I can’t keep them in my head, I have too much to do. Every day is a blank slate for what I need to do. If something that I should have done yesterday was not done yesterday, then today it does not automatically occur to me. Today’s mind is a clear mind, not yesterday’s remnants.
What device, besides a phone and a computer, can you not live without and why?
I’m a fan of vintage watches, so I feel naked without an old watch on my wrist. We live in such a temporary culture that it’s nice to receive reminders several times a day that things can last. I am wearing an old Longines diving watch from the 60s. He is almost 60 years old and still works. And it should for the next 60 years. It says something.
What are some of your best everyday activities? What’s your secret?
I would like to think that it makes a great cup of Japanese green tea. Sure, there are people who do it better, but most people either boil the water too hot, infuse the tea for too long, or use shitty tea that tastes bitter and distracts people from tea. The right amount of Japanese sencha at about 170 degrees, immersed in the right amount of water in the right vessel for about 45 seconds without stirring, is truly amazing. I’ll make you one.
What do you listen to while you work? Have a favorite playlist? Maybe we can talk on the radio? Or do you prefer silence?
I want background audio, but the more I turn it off, the better. People cannot talk because then I listen to the conversation. Music, white noise, loud air conditioning, something. I have tinnitus (ringing in my ears), so whatever I can do to drown it out is the key to my success. Lately, I’ve just been playing random playlists on Spotify to broaden my horizons a bit. If I were on my own, I would play bebop jazz most of the time.
What are you reading now? A novel, a comic strip, a website, a magazine? Or what would you recommend?
My favorite site to read these days is HODINKEE.com , a site about watches. I’m in the subject, but the text is really top notch. Chief Editor Jack Forster is one of the best writers in the world. Deep knowledge available. Poetic, fun, a real gymnast with words. His compositions have a great rhythm. The guy respects writing, and it shows in everything he does. Highly recommended even if you don’t like watches.
How do you replenish? What do you do when you want to forget about work?
It’s easy for me to forget about work. I work about 40 hours a week and highly recommend everyone at Basecamp to do the same. Forty hours is enough when you actually have 40 hours to use for your work, compared to coming to work for 40 or 50 or 60+ but only having 15 or 20 hours for yourself. When I’m done, I’m done. Some ideas remain – things that I chew, ideas that I roll – but they happen in the background. They do not work.
I’m having dinner with my wife, not at work. I go to bed with my wife, not with work. In the morning, the first thing I do is take the child, not work. When it’s time to work, I focus. But when it’s over, it’s time to go. But when I really need to recharge, I find myself in nature – in forests, botanical gardens, wherever I can walk in something green.
What is your sleep pattern? Are you a night owl or get up early?
~ 8 hours a day. Sleep neglect is a terrible mistake. This is the only debt you can never pay off, and it affects everyone around you. I fall asleep around 10:00 and get up around 6:00 – either in the sun or on my son. I used to go to bed a little later and sleep until 7:30 or so, but since I had a baby (now 2 years old) it has become an alarm clock. Since he gets up around six these days, I go to bed 8 hours earlier. As for a real alarm clock, I haven’t used it in 10 years. I never plan anything that would require me to get up before my natural wake-up time, so I just get up naturally. Forcing yourself to wake up at a random time is a good way to spend a shitty morning.
For a while, I used a bracelet that woke you up in the window based on body movement, which was fine, but I still prefer to get up when my eyes open and I’m ready to get out of bed. It’s always early enough anyway.
Fill in the blank: I would like _________ to answer these same questions.
10-year-old child (the word “work” has been removed from some of the questions).
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
I have received so many great advice from so many great people, but one that comes to me over and over again is what my father told me, “If you don’t ask, you won’t understand.” Such a simple rule. If you want something, ask. If you want someone to buy what you are selling, ask them to buy it. If you need someone’s help to spread the word, ask them to spread the word. The worst part is not that they say no – the worst part is that they would do something for you if you only asked.
While I’m talking about my father’s advice, he shared with me another one that I always remember: “Nobody ever went broke profitably.” This is the foundation of how we conduct our business. Basecamp has been in business for 17 years and has been profitable for all 17 years.
What else would you like to add that might be of interest to readers and fans?
How about this … What do readers want to know? Let’s put together 100 questions and I’ll answer all 100 in one shot for a future article.