4 ms·

Wow, as one of the "pioneers" of the SaaS model, and a highly successful bootstrapped startup for 10+ years, I would have to say... yes, I would imagine you are

by RafiqM 13y ago

Wow, as one of the "pioneers" of the SaaS model, and a highly successful bootstrapped startup for 10+ years, I would have to say... yes, I would imagine you are one of very few people in this community who would have never heard of 37signals.

derefr 13y ago
It's weird how open-source encourages using something without really understanding how it originated. I bet less than 10% of the people who use Rails realize it came from a company, let alone which one. (The same will probably become true of dotCloud with Docker soon enough.)
fs111 13y ago
Pioneer? web-mail is nothing else but SaaS in the end and it exists way longer than 37Signals...
- RafiqM 13y ago
  SaaS as a business model, not as a technology. Webmail was a feature, not the entire business, for the most part. I'm sure you can find examples of SaaS before 37signals, but that doesn't detract from the fact that they were amongst the first to build an entire company from the business model.
  - ig1 13y ago
    Not really. Basecamp wasn't created until 2003, in the second wave of of web SaaS after the Salesforce wave (1999).
theknown99 13y ago
How can you be a "startup" for 10 years? Will they ever stop being a "startup"?
- officemonkey 13y ago
  I suppose even Yahoo and Google were "startups" at one time. 37signals probably kept the moniker longer than other businesses because they were profitable early, and they didn't need or want to grow fast for growth's sake.
  - petercooper 13y ago
    and they didn't need or want to grow fast for growth's sake. The HN/YC model of a "startup" is something that is growing rapidly, as per http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html, so perhaps 37signals was never a startup in the HN use of the term ;-)
jasonfried 13y ago
FWIW, I meet people all the time who don't know "37signals". They're in the tech world too. But when I mention Basecamp, they say "Oh Basecamp!! Of course! We love Basecamp!" World-wide, Basecamp is much bigger brand than 37signals.

by RafiqM 13y ago

derefr 13y ago

It's weird how open-source encourages using something without really understanding how it originated. I bet less than 10% of the people who use Rails realize it came from a company, let alone which one. (The same will probably become true of dotCloud with Docker soon enough.)

fs111 13y ago

Pioneer? web-mail is nothing else but SaaS in the end and it exists way longer than 37Signals...

RafiqM 13y ago
SaaS as a business model, not as a technology. Webmail was a feature, not the entire business, for the most part. I'm sure you can find examples of SaaS before 37signals, but that doesn't detract from the fact that they were amongst the first to build an entire company from the business model.
- ig1 13y ago
  Not really. Basecamp wasn't created until 2003, in the second wave of of web SaaS after the Salesforce wave (1999).

theknown99 13y ago

How can you be a "startup" for 10 years? Will they ever stop being a "startup"?

officemonkey 13y ago
I suppose even Yahoo and Google were "startups" at one time. 37signals probably kept the moniker longer than other businesses because they were profitable early, and they didn't need or want to grow fast for growth's sake.
- petercooper 13y ago
  and they didn't need or want to grow fast for growth's sake. The HN/YC model of a "startup" is something that is growing rapidly, as per http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html, so perhaps 37signals was never a startup in the HN use of the term ;-)

jasonfried 13y ago

FWIW, I meet people all the time who don't know "37signals". They're in the tech world too. But when I mention Basecamp, they say "Oh Basecamp!! Of course! We love Basecamp!" World-wide, Basecamp is much bigger brand than 37signals.