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Jason Fried

Co-founder and CEO, 37signals · 2 appearances on the record.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

founderexecutiveauthorinvestor@jasonfried ↗LinkedIn ↗world.hey.com/jason ↗

Jason Fried is the co-founder and CEO of 37signals, the software company behind Basecamp and HEY. He is an advocate for bootstrapped businesses and has co-authored bestselling books including Rework, Remote, and It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work.

40statements → 15claims → 7claims resolved → 86%fully supported → 4.45/5average certainty → 2.4/5average debate potential → 4.4/5argument clarity · the sources → 12said about them ↓

6 supported 1 partly supported 0 contradicted 2 not yet assessed 6 not checkable as stated how the 15 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

5 predictions · 10 assertions · 4 opinions · 8 insights · 12 disclosures · 1 what if · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 15 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 7 are resolved, 2 are not yet assessed, and 6 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Jason argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Assertion Supported
One-third of Basecamp employees quit within two weeks of political talk ban
“Ultimately about a third of the company quit in a matter of is it a week or two.”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 22:18 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1
none yet certainty 2
none yet certainty 3
83% certainty 4
100% certainty 5

weighted support: a fully supported claim counts one, a partly supported claim counts half. Each filled bar is clickable and opens exactly those claims; "none yet" means nothing said at that certainty level has resolved yet

Argument clarity: do they answer the question? how? →

4.4 / 5 directness 4.8 · coherence 4.8 · precision 4 · compression 3.6

redirected or did not address 1 of 42 assessed questions (2%). Watch them ▸

This is a score against a rubric. It is not a rank. Every host question → answer exchange is scored with names hidden on directness, coherence, precision and compression, 1–5 each, on meaning alone: disfluencies are ignored, and only raw unedited episodes count. This is the score that measures thought. Every scored exchange, scores shown → · The rubric and its checks →

How they sound: speaking style how? →

292 words/min while actually speaking · 21.9 um and uh per 1k words · 25.2 false starts per 1k · 32.1% of pauses land inside a clause

Measured by listening to the audio itself: 9,425 words across 1 episode of raw-level tape, transcribed verbatim with every um and uh kept, each one attributed only where the alignment onto our timed stream is unambiguous. These are measurements of speaking style. We do not rank them: across this corpus, fluency and argument quality are nearly uncorrelated (ρ≈0.2), and smooth talking does not signal clear thinking. How it's measured →

How the interview went all their pushback → series average →

Across 2 rated episodes:

host pushback ▾ 2.5/10
pushed back at the host ▾ 2/10
setup questions received 55%

Everything Jason Fried said on 20VC that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Assertion Supported
One-third of Basecamp employees quit within two weeks of political talk ban
“Ultimately about a third of the company quit in a matter of is it a week or two.”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 22:18 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
What-if
Jason Fried would ban workplace political discussions again despite the employee backlash
“If I had to make it again today, I would make the same decision.”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 23:18 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Basecamp is in a significantly better place following its political discussion ban
“I can tell you the company's in a significantly better place.”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 25:03 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Basecamp does not beta test products or survey users before launch
“This is the thing I think that's so important, and this is why, like, when we build products, we don't beta test them, really, and we, sometimes we get a few people in, but we're not, like, asking people what they think.”
Jason Fried Mar 22, 2021 ▶ 15:44 20VC: Basecamp CEO Jason Fried on His Relationship To Risk, Money, Vulnerability and Self-Doubt, Fantasising About Being Fired, How To Optimise Decision-Making and Minimising Regret
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Basecamp will not pursue growth at the expense of profitability
“I don't want to be bigger and have much lower margins. I don't want to be bigger and lose money per customer. I don't want to be bigger and have to take a bunch of money to support that growth.”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 11:26 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
37signals operates without financial goals or growth targets beyond remaining profitable
“We don't have financial targets. We don't have financial goals besides being profitable. I'm not aiming for a certain percentage of growth on a given year.”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 13:29 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Managers should evaluate first-year employees by asking if they would rehire them
“One of the things we do is the first year is kind of a real big, I would say, I mean, people are hired, but it's kind of a test. The main question we ask at the end of the first year is would I hire this person again?”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 17:26 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Fried reveals most of his personal wealth is in cash
“Frankly, like, most of my money is sitting in cash”
Jason Fried Mar 22, 2021 ▶ 11:15 20VC: Basecamp CEO Jason Fried on His Relationship To Risk, Money, Vulnerability and Self-Doubt, Fantasising About Being Fired, How To Optimise Decision-Making and Minimising Regret
Opinion
Fried was exceptionally bullish on Clubhouse in March 2021
“I am exceptionally bullish on Clubhouse, more so than I've been about any company I've seen in a long time”
Jason Fried Mar 22, 2021 ▶ 39:24 20VC: Basecamp CEO Jason Fried on His Relationship To Risk, Money, Vulnerability and Self-Doubt, Fantasising About Being Fired, How To Optimise Decision-Making and Minimising Regret
Disclosure
Basecamp operates strictly on six-week planning cycles
“I think six weeks at a time. I think six weeks ahead of time, And that's it. We're pointed in a direction, but it's six weeks at a time. That's the only thing I think about. It's the only thing I plan.”
Jason Fried Mar 22, 2021 ▶ 40:55 20VC: Basecamp CEO Jason Fried on His Relationship To Risk, Money, Vulnerability and Self-Doubt, Fantasising About Being Fired, How To Optimise Decision-Making and Minimising Regret
Insight
Long-term corporate planning causes leaders to stop thinking
“What I don't like about long-term planning is you kind of stop thinking. It's like you thought something and now you live it out.”
Jason Fried Mar 22, 2021 ▶ 41:12 20VC: Basecamp CEO Jason Fried on His Relationship To Risk, Money, Vulnerability and Self-Doubt, Fantasising About Being Fired, How To Optimise Decision-Making and Minimising Regret
Insight
Founders make a mistake by comparing customer counts with competitors
“This is, I think something entrepreneurs get wrong all the time. They compare themselves to someone else and they go, how many customers do they have? How many customers do they have? All that matters is do we have enough customers to make our own business wor…”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 9:06 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Jason Fried ignores resumes, work history, and college education when hiring
“I don't really care about resumes. I don't really care about a lot of that people's history. I don't care where they went to school. If they went to school, I don't care about any of those things. Let's look at the work itself.”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 20:22 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Supported
Basecamp grew to its largest headcount ever following the 2021 staff walkout
“We, we've actually grown significantly bigger than we've ever been. So we rehired a bunch of people and then have hired more since. At the time that happened, we were about 60, now we're about 80, biggest we've ever been.”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 25:06 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Jason Fried believes everyone should try a high-dose psychedelic experience once
“I feel like everybody should do this once in their life is kind of how I felt after I came away from those experiences.”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 44:16 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Supported
Jeff Bezos bought Basecamp shares directly from founders, not as primary capital
“So Jeff Bezos bought a small piece of my shares and David shares. None of his money went into the business. The money went into my bank account and David's bank account.”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 46:21 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Prediction Open · timeframe Jan 2033
Jason Fried predicts he will leave Basecamp within ten years
“I'm certain I'm not here in 10 years but I don't know where I will be.”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 51:38 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Prediction Open · timeframe Jan 2028
Jason Fried vows to never start another company that has employees
“I'm certain actually not don't think I would never start another company with employees. I don't want to feel what I don't want to feel anymore is responsible for anybody else.”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 52:29 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Most CEOs no longer build products and focus on firefighting
“To me, it has to be about like the product and making stuff. And most CEOs aren't involved with that anymore. They're involved with other things. They're involved with complicated things. They're involved with conflict. They're putting out fires all the time. …”
Jason Fried Mar 22, 2021 ▶ 12:34 20VC: Basecamp CEO Jason Fried on His Relationship To Risk, Money, Vulnerability and Self-Doubt, Fantasising About Being Fired, How To Optimise Decision-Making and Minimising Regret
Opinion
Fried says being Meta CEO is the worst job on Earth
“I can't imagine anyone would want to trade places with Mark Zuckerberg right now. So, like, that must just be the worst job on the planet, actually. Even though he has so much power, it must be a terrible job.”
Jason Fried Mar 22, 2021 ▶ 13:37 20VC: Basecamp CEO Jason Fried on His Relationship To Risk, Money, Vulnerability and Self-Doubt, Fantasising About Being Fired, How To Optimise Decision-Making and Minimising Regret
Insight
Wait weeks before responding to knee-jerk product change backlash
“So what I tend to do is, like, for any, like, immediate change-based feedback, I say, let's just sit on this for a while, and let's see what happens in a few weeks, because once the moment goes away and people start to get used to this thing, maybe they'll end…”
Jason Fried Mar 22, 2021 ▶ 18:17 20VC: Basecamp CEO Jason Fried on His Relationship To Risk, Money, Vulnerability and Self-Doubt, Fantasising About Being Fired, How To Optimise Decision-Making and Minimising Regret
Disclosure
37signals operates without a board of directors or outside funding
“Not taking money, so I'm not beholden to anybody. We don't have a board of directors.”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 2:15 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Prediction Held up
Unprofitable SaaS companies face deep cuts as venture funding dries up
“If a company can't make its own money, they require outside money. Outside money dries up. Things have to change. I mean, there's gonna have to be late. There already is. It's not like this is news, but layoffs, deep cuts, some austerity measures. You know, th…”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 6:56 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Supported
37signals has been profitable every single year for 23 years
“We've been profitable for 23 years, every year.”
Jason Fried Jan 6, 2023 ▶ 9:32 Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings

Show 16statements(16 left)

The other half of the tape: Jason Fried's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 11 times in 2 episodes on 20VC. 1 statement on the record names them. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most David Heinemeier Hansson 6Harry Stebbings 3Andrew Wilkinson 2

Statements about Jason Fried, by other people (1)

Prediction Held up
DHH: Basecamp Intentionally Avoids Expanding to Hundreds of Employees
“I don't think we could do the things that we could do if we were 300 people or a thousand people, which is actually one of the main reasons we try not to get to that, Right? Like, I don't want to work at a place that has 300 people or a thousand people that I …”
David Heinemeier Hansson Apr 14, 2020 ▶ 15:41 20VC: Basecamp Founder David Heinemeier Hansson on Why It Is The Biggest BS To Chase Being A Unicorn, His Relationship to Wealth and Status and Why Now More Than Ever It Is A Myth Entrepreneurs Have To Raise VC

Every mention by year

tap a year for its mentions
00811522020episodesmentions
0122020episodes it came up in
0031622020episodesmentions per episode
2020 11 mentions in 2 episodes 6 per episode

Appearances (2)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
Basecamp CEO Jason Fried: We Banned Talking Politics and 1/3 of our Team Quit | 20VC #963 Jan 6, 2023 39m
20VC: Basecamp CEO Jason Fried on His Relationship To Risk, Money, Vulnerability and Self- Mar 22, 2021 31m
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