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If you look behind the numbers they aren't as impressive as they sound. GE, for instance, has 287.000 employees, and it only takes one to tick them off in the

by mixmax 15y ago

If you look behind the numbers they aren't as impressive as they sound. GE, for instance, has 287.000 employees, and it only takes one to tick them off in the stat they present here. A product that has some traction, as 37signals does, will almost certainly include a few people in large companies. They are very good at marketing though...

chamakits 15y ago
I actually find it impressive still. The reason being that for companies as big as they are to actually allow to use a new product has to go up high a couple of levels, and needs a lot of approval. So if it made it all the way up, and it was approved, even for that "one guy", it means there is a future in the company for the product.
- nandemo 15y ago
  It's not clear but it looks like they're also counting people who just signed up for the trial version.
- nikcub 15y ago
  That would be true is Basecamp was a $500 a month product, but since the price is so low it falls within being a cost that can be expensed. That expense level is usually a few hundred dollar per month, before it needs approval. Joel Spolsky wrote a post about this[1]. He had a great point - either price your product under the expense level, or if you prive it higher - go all the way and price it as an enterprise product, since it will involve a chain-of-approval, a sales cycle etc. The other good example is Atlassian. They prices their products so that they can sneak in as expenses. The founders talk about how with a lot of their customers the bosses do not know that their products are being used. It is a way to sneak into an organization through developer love and being a line-item in an expense report rather than something that is bought and procured. [1] Camels and Rubber Duckies - http://joelonsoftware.com/articles/CamelsandRubberDuckies.html http://joelonsoftware.com/articles/CamelsandRubberDuckies.ht...

by mixmax 15y ago

chamakits 15y ago

I actually find it impressive still. The reason being that for companies as big as they are to actually allow to use a new product has to go up high a couple of levels, and needs a lot of approval. So if it made it all the way up, and it was approved, even for that "one guy", it means there is a future in the company for the product.

nandemo 15y ago
It's not clear but it looks like they're also counting people who just signed up for the trial version.
nikcub 15y ago
That would be true is Basecamp was a $500 a month product, but since the price is so low it falls within being a cost that can be expensed. That expense level is usually a few hundred dollar per month, before it needs approval. Joel Spolsky wrote a post about this[1]. He had a great point - either price your product under the expense level, or if you prive it higher - go all the way and price it as an enterprise product, since it will involve a chain-of-approval, a sales cycle etc. The other good example is Atlassian. They prices their products so that they can sneak in as expenses. The founders talk about how with a lot of their customers the bosses do not know that their products are being used. It is a way to sneak into an organization through developer love and being a line-item in an expense report rather than something that is bought and procured. [1] Camels and Rubber Duckies - http://joelonsoftware.com/articles/CamelsandRubberDuckies.html http://joelonsoftware.com/articles/CamelsandRubberDuckies.ht...