37signals
A small, independent, profitable software company behind Basecamp, HEY and Highrise, run remotely with about 60 people.
37signals stayed small and profitable for 27 years with no outside money or revenue targets. It runs about 62 people (down from a peak near 80), two-person teams and six-week cycles, and shares 10% of profits with staff. Its rivals have 1,000 to 3,000 staff and similar customer counts. Lesson: keep costs low and teams tiny, and treat independence as the goal. Losing about 20 staff in 2021 shows the cost of culture fights.
- Chase endless growth
- Revenue is the goal
- Accepted a limit on growth
- Founders paid millions in dividends
Profit, not revenue, became the goal
From Podcast findings on 37signals
What was said about 37signals
37signals shows profit can be a better goal than endless growth. 37signals is a bootstrapped company that accepted a limit on its growth and pays its founders millions a year in dividends. It is cited as an example of a company that shifted from maximizing revenue to maximizing profit.
Other bootstrapped firms with well-paid founders are grouped with it. The advice is to ask what growth you actually need before chasing it, and to check whether the founder and team are fulfilled, since years of stagnation can still be bad for the people involved. Quote: "maybe growing forever isn't the goal actually or growing revenue isn't."
DHH: How to Build a Profitable Company Without Losing Control
Built on tight constraints, no investors and no board, with 40 hour weeks and profits taken out. About 20 of roughly 60 staff left after the 2021 political blow-up, when DHH paid up to six months of salary. It out-teaches rivals instead of outspending them.
37signals shows profit can be a better goal than endless growth. 37signals is a bootstrapped company that accepted a limit on its growth and pays its founders millions a year in dividends. It is cited as an example of a company that shifted from maximizing revenue to maximizing profit.
Other bootstrapped firms with well-paid founders are grouped with it. The advice is to ask what growth you actually need before chasing it, and to check whether the founder and team are fulfilled, since years of stagnation can still be bad for the people involved. Quote: "maybe growing forever isn't the goal actually or growing revenue isn't."
Jason Fried: Your Only Competition Is Your Costs
It has 62 people, down from a peak near 80, and has been profitable every year for 27 years. It has no revenue targets, spends almost nothing on marketing, takes no outside money, and shares 10% of profits with staff in cash by tenure.
A better way to plan, build, and ship products | Ryan Singer (creator of “Shape Up")
Singer was one of its first few hires and spent about 15 to 17 years building product there. It markets by showing one clear way, 'this is how we do it', and a second edition of the book will likely show how it works today.
Jason Fried challenges your thinking on fundraising, goals, growth, and more
About 75 employees, 100,000 paying customers and double-digit million profits, profitable 24 years in a row with no investors, OKRs or revenue targets. It works in six-week cycles with two-week cooldowns and promises no delivery dates.
The surprising advice from a founder who built 2 unicorns | Jason Cohen (WP Engine)
A bootstrapped company that accepted a growth limit and pays its founders millions a year in dividends, an example of maximizing profit over growth.
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