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Fried: 37signals Distributes 10% of Profits Based on Employee Longevity, Not Title

Jason Fried · Jason Fried: Your Only Competition Is Your Costs · Feb 15, 2026 · at 1:33:00

Jason Fried explains the internal profit-sharing structure at 37signals, where a customer support rep and an engineer with equal tenure receive equal profit distributions.

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“10% of our profits go to our employees every year and it's based on seniority or actually, that's the wrong, it's based on longevity, not seniority. It's kind of, you know, The two aren't the same thing, however long you've been here. So every, every, every month you've been, you basically accrue units up to 10 years worth of units at that point, like you've maxed out your units and we distribute profits based on that. So it's not based on which role you're in. It doesn't, it's not based on the salary or your title.”

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