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Founder Stories Volume 01: Slicehost

150 points by davidedicillo 15y ago

dhh 15y ago
The proper permalink for this is actually http://37signals.com/founderstories/slicehost http://37signals.com/founderstories/slicehost. Can someone update the title?
- beaumartinez 15y ago
  HN should do a HTTP HEAD on submitted URLs and change them according to redirects. Edit: Doing an HTTP HEAD on the submitted URL—37signals.com/founderstories/—gave me an HTTP 302 "Found" (with Location 37signals.com/founderstories/slicehost). According to the HTTP spec, with an HTTP 302 you're indicating that "the client SHOULD continue to use the Request-URI for future requests"—strictly, shouldn't this be an HTTP 303 "See Other"—"the new URI is not a substitute reference for the originally requested resource"[1]? [1] http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2616#section-10.3.4 http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2616#section-10.3.4
revorad 15y ago
What's that other tech interview series by the same name? Oh yeah, VC-backed-swing-for-the-fences TC Founder Stories - http://techcrunch.com/tag/founder-stories/ http://techcrunch.com/tag/founder-stories/ Total coincidence, I'm sure :-P
- ry0ohki 15y ago
  I agree with you, though it seems like there was some decent money and time put into this (the video production seems professional), I can't figure out what 37sigs motivation for this is though. Eventual DVD sales?
  - revorad 15y ago
    Oh yeah, the interview quality is excellent. I don't think 37s are looking to sell any of this directly. This is just audience building.
  - wheels 15y ago
    37signals chief strength has been in building a following around their dogmas. Remember that their customers are small businesses; they've positioned themselves as an expert among their peers and interviews like this solidify that. That audience is what allows them to sell (generally mediocre) products into very crowded markets with a reasonable premium.
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]
    - ry0ohki 15y ago
      I understand their "pro-bootstrap/anti-VC funding" agenda, but I'm not quite sure why they are so anti-acquisition?
      - iamwil 15y ago
        They's not so much anti-acquisition as they are warning that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow may not be all that you seek or wish it to be.
  - symptic 15y ago
    I think it's largely out of a genuine love for the space.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - dhh 15y ago
    We want to tell stories that we don't feel like are being told. The conflicts of building businesses to last versus sitting with all the risk. This actually started as an email conversation with the Slicehost guys about some of these dilemmas. About living mojito island and so forth. And I really like the debate and thought that others would too.
    - ry0ohki 15y ago
      Thanks! I found it really well done and interesting.
    - timjahn 15y ago
      Love the production quality you guys put into these videos. Nice work!
howradical 15y ago
Hey all Matt here, if you have any questions/comments my email is matt@devstructure.com.
- Omnipresent 15y ago
  are you guys looking for help in any way @devstructure?
  - howradical 15y ago
    it's opensource so anyone can help, if you're talking full time send an email and such to support@devstructure.com
mmastrac 15y ago
Slicehost was great back then. I remember jumping on the early waiting list to get my first server and how much cheaper it was than anything else at the time. The service was top-notch - I'd jump on IRC if something bad happened and there would always be someone there handing out info. I'm still on Slicehost for a few servers and it's still good, but it feels like it's frozen in time (which it is AFAICT). Can't blame them for cashing out and they didn't really leave us hanging - things are still running fine.
- mmahemoff 15y ago
  Me too, but I don't really mind that it's frozen in time as it "just works". I use Dreamhost too and haven't seen much change there either in that time. Maybe a few more options, but it didn't make much difference to me. The downside will be if Rackspace proceeds with their plan to move SH accounts over.
sudonim 15y ago
I can't think of slicehost without thinking of Pickled Onion. This guy's tutorials were the reason I used slicehost. I remember being really thrilled when they added him to the team. Does anyone know where he is now? As a customer and stakeholder in slicehost, I felt let down by the sale to Rackspace. I'm guessing without watching that these interviews reinforce the 37s mantra that building businesses you want to do for the rest of your life rather than building for the liquidity event is the "right" way to go. I can't help but agree in this case.
- seats 15y ago
  Pickled Onion, aka Paul Tomes is still working at Rackspace, however not directly with slicehost.
- programminggeek 15y ago
  I'll second that. Those tutorials were so fantastic it made me a Slicehost/Rackspace customer for sure. Rackspace's documentation was so laughably bad they might as well have not existed.
- kreek 15y ago
  Another Pickled Onion fan. I still have his tutorials saved just in case http://www.usefuljaja.com/ http://www.usefuljaja.com/ every went away. Now with Heroku, CloudFoundry, et al it's difficult to remember how hard Rails hosting was back then. The combination of Slicehost, Litespeed, and Pickled Onion's tutorials were a godsend for me. I could finally just build stuff and not worry about infrastructure.
- sabon 15y ago
  I'm still with Slicehost because of Pickled Onion. Only because I know that if I need to do anything with my servers, the articles will definitely help me. Worked every time. And even though there are better and cheaper solutions now, I haven't even thought about moving.
  - code_duck 15y ago
    The articles, for the most part, apply to Linux and associated programs regardless of host.
rcrowley 15y ago
I'm the other founder of DevStructure. True story: I met Matt in the Slicehost IRC in 2007.
ckeck 15y ago
This was a very powerful story and I'm glad you guys decided to share. It was certainly fun and I enjoyed working with you both. Time to build the next big thing with a lot of lessons learned :) -Chad
spitfire 15y ago
The thing I don't quite understand about all these stories 37 signals loves to blag about. What's in it for them? It doesn't seem like a revenue generator for them. Is it just ego? Are they setting up to enter a different market? Sales tactics for rails? The production quality is excellent however.
- timjahn 15y ago
  Growing their following.
- dhh 15y ago
  "Sales tactics for Rails" :)? You do know that Rails is free, right? We want to get stories out there that we don't think are covered well elsewhere. We've been sharing our own story, technique, and tools for more than a decade. This is just a continuation of that. Build an audience.
  - thaumaturgy 15y ago
    > We want to get stories out there that we don't think are covered well elsewhere. Keep doing it, please. It's a heck of a breath of fresh air for those of us that are right now building the brands and businesses that we want to own for the rest of our lives.
- petercooper 15y ago
  Is it a revenue generator for Red Bull when they run a flugtag day or sponsor extreme sports? Or for Nike or Adidas to sponsor basketball players? Not directly, but it builds the right image and draws the right audience to the brand. 37signals has enough resources to do this in a different space but on a relatively similar scale.
jessed 15y ago
I really enjoyed this. It was very informative and interesting. The production quality was excellent. It seemed like the guys in the interview tried to talk over each other at times which was annoying, but overall the interview was great.
- seats 15y ago
  I'll own up to that. Talking over people is probably one of my worst tendencies, but I think it was a little exaggerated by the editing. It was necessarily to do a bit of chronological editing to get the tangents we covered into a better flow.
dools 15y ago
Andrew Warner will be spewing. I don't think he's ever gotten an admission to someone crying in an interview! In the Kevin O'Connor interview he even came right out and asked to hear about the times he was crying in the shower! [1] Call it beginner's luck I guess? [1] http://mixergy.com/kevin-o%E2%80%99connor-doubleclick-interview/ http://mixergy.com/kevin-o%E2%80%99connor-doubleclick-interv...
petercooper 15y ago
Excellent work but a bit risky using Vimeo? They seem to be quite boot-happy for even vaguely commercially-related usage: http://boagworld.com/reviews/vimeo/ http://boagworld.com/reviews/vimeo/
rglover 15y ago
I was not familiar with Slicehost before watching these videos, but I can say their story and philosophy has really changed my outlook on things. Most importantly, the discussion about not being content with sitting around all day post-exit. I love to hear that the drive still exists, even if you've already made it (I'm sure this doesn't apply to everyone but is hopefully common).

150 points by davidedicillo 15y ago

dhh 15y ago

The proper permalink for this is actually http://37signals.com/founderstories/slicehost http://37signals.com/founderstories/slicehost. Can someone update the title?

beaumartinez 15y ago
HN should do a HTTP HEAD on submitted URLs and change them according to redirects. Edit: Doing an HTTP HEAD on the submitted URL—37signals.com/founderstories/—gave me an HTTP 302 "Found" (with Location 37signals.com/founderstories/slicehost). According to the HTTP spec, with an HTTP 302 you're indicating that "the client SHOULD continue to use the Request-URI for future requests"—strictly, shouldn't this be an HTTP 303 "See Other"—"the new URI is not a substitute reference for the originally requested resource"[1]? [1] http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2616#section-10.3.4 http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2616#section-10.3.4

revorad 15y ago

What's that other tech interview series by the same name? Oh yeah, VC-backed-swing-for-the-fences TC Founder Stories - http://techcrunch.com/tag/founder-stories/ http://techcrunch.com/tag/founder-stories/ Total coincidence, I'm sure :-P

ry0ohki 15y ago
I agree with you, though it seems like there was some decent money and time put into this (the video production seems professional), I can't figure out what 37sigs motivation for this is though. Eventual DVD sales?
- revorad 15y ago
  Oh yeah, the interview quality is excellent. I don't think 37s are looking to sell any of this directly. This is just audience building.
- wheels 15y ago
  37signals chief strength has been in building a following around their dogmas. Remember that their customers are small businesses; they've positioned themselves as an expert among their peers and interviews like this solidify that. That audience is what allows them to sell (generally mediocre) products into very crowded markets with a reasonable premium.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - ry0ohki 15y ago
    I understand their "pro-bootstrap/anti-VC funding" agenda, but I'm not quite sure why they are so anti-acquisition?
    - iamwil 15y ago
      They's not so much anti-acquisition as they are warning that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow may not be all that you seek or wish it to be.
- symptic 15y ago
  I think it's largely out of a genuine love for the space.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- dhh 15y ago
  We want to tell stories that we don't feel like are being told. The conflicts of building businesses to last versus sitting with all the risk. This actually started as an email conversation with the Slicehost guys about some of these dilemmas. About living mojito island and so forth. And I really like the debate and thought that others would too.
  - ry0ohki 15y ago
    Thanks! I found it really well done and interesting.
  - timjahn 15y ago
    Love the production quality you guys put into these videos. Nice work!

howradical 15y ago

Hey all Matt here, if you have any questions/comments my email is matt@devstructure.com.

Omnipresent 15y ago
are you guys looking for help in any way @devstructure?
- howradical 15y ago
  it's opensource so anyone can help, if you're talking full time send an email and such to support@devstructure.com

mmastrac 15y ago

Slicehost was great back then. I remember jumping on the early waiting list to get my first server and how much cheaper it was than anything else at the time. The service was top-notch - I'd jump on IRC if something bad happened and there would always be someone there handing out info. I'm still on Slicehost for a few servers and it's still good, but it feels like it's frozen in time (which it is AFAICT). Can't blame them for cashing out and they didn't really leave us hanging - things are still running fine.

mmahemoff 15y ago
Me too, but I don't really mind that it's frozen in time as it "just works". I use Dreamhost too and haven't seen much change there either in that time. Maybe a few more options, but it didn't make much difference to me. The downside will be if Rackspace proceeds with their plan to move SH accounts over.

sudonim 15y ago

I can't think of slicehost without thinking of Pickled Onion. This guy's tutorials were the reason I used slicehost. I remember being really thrilled when they added him to the team. Does anyone know where he is now? As a customer and stakeholder in slicehost, I felt let down by the sale to Rackspace. I'm guessing without watching that these interviews reinforce the 37s mantra that building businesses you want to do for the rest of your life rather than building for the liquidity event is the "right" way to go. I can't help but agree in this case.

seats 15y ago
Pickled Onion, aka Paul Tomes is still working at Rackspace, however not directly with slicehost.
programminggeek 15y ago
I'll second that. Those tutorials were so fantastic it made me a Slicehost/Rackspace customer for sure. Rackspace's documentation was so laughably bad they might as well have not existed.
kreek 15y ago
Another Pickled Onion fan. I still have his tutorials saved just in case http://www.usefuljaja.com/ http://www.usefuljaja.com/ every went away. Now with Heroku, CloudFoundry, et al it's difficult to remember how hard Rails hosting was back then. The combination of Slicehost, Litespeed, and Pickled Onion's tutorials were a godsend for me. I could finally just build stuff and not worry about infrastructure.
sabon 15y ago
I'm still with Slicehost because of Pickled Onion. Only because I know that if I need to do anything with my servers, the articles will definitely help me. Worked every time. And even though there are better and cheaper solutions now, I haven't even thought about moving.
- code_duck 15y ago
  The articles, for the most part, apply to Linux and associated programs regardless of host.

rcrowley 15y ago

I'm the other founder of DevStructure. True story: I met Matt in the Slicehost IRC in 2007.

ckeck 15y ago

This was a very powerful story and I'm glad you guys decided to share. It was certainly fun and I enjoyed working with you both. Time to build the next big thing with a lot of lessons learned :) -Chad

spitfire 15y ago

The thing I don't quite understand about all these stories 37 signals loves to blag about. What's in it for them? It doesn't seem like a revenue generator for them. Is it just ego? Are they setting up to enter a different market? Sales tactics for rails? The production quality is excellent however.

timjahn 15y ago
Growing their following.
dhh 15y ago
"Sales tactics for Rails" :)? You do know that Rails is free, right? We want to get stories out there that we don't think are covered well elsewhere. We've been sharing our own story, technique, and tools for more than a decade. This is just a continuation of that. Build an audience.
- thaumaturgy 15y ago
  > We want to get stories out there that we don't think are covered well elsewhere. Keep doing it, please. It's a heck of a breath of fresh air for those of us that are right now building the brands and businesses that we want to own for the rest of our lives.
petercooper 15y ago
Is it a revenue generator for Red Bull when they run a flugtag day or sponsor extreme sports? Or for Nike or Adidas to sponsor basketball players? Not directly, but it builds the right image and draws the right audience to the brand. 37signals has enough resources to do this in a different space but on a relatively similar scale.

jessed 15y ago

I really enjoyed this. It was very informative and interesting. The production quality was excellent. It seemed like the guys in the interview tried to talk over each other at times which was annoying, but overall the interview was great.

seats 15y ago
I'll own up to that. Talking over people is probably one of my worst tendencies, but I think it was a little exaggerated by the editing. It was necessarily to do a bit of chronological editing to get the tangents we covered into a better flow.

dools 15y ago

Andrew Warner will be spewing. I don't think he's ever gotten an admission to someone crying in an interview! In the Kevin O'Connor interview he even came right out and asked to hear about the times he was crying in the shower! [1] Call it beginner's luck I guess? [1] http://mixergy.com/kevin-o%E2%80%99connor-doubleclick-interview/ http://mixergy.com/kevin-o%E2%80%99connor-doubleclick-interv...

petercooper 15y ago

Excellent work but a bit risky using Vimeo? They seem to be quite boot-happy for even vaguely commercially-related usage: http://boagworld.com/reviews/vimeo/ http://boagworld.com/reviews/vimeo/

rglover 15y ago

I was not familiar with Slicehost before watching these videos, but I can say their story and philosophy has really changed my outlook on things. Most importantly, the discussion about not being content with sitting around all day post-exit. I love to hear that the drive still exists, even if you've already made it (I'm sure this doesn't apply to everyone but is hopefully common).