Jason Fried
Born 1974 · Age 51
Designer, entrepreneur, co‑founder and CEO of 37signals/Basecamp; author and speaker known for small‑company, calm‑workplace philosophy and products such as Basecamp, HEY; co‑author of Getting Real, Rework, Remote.
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Life & Career Timeline
Birth (estimated)
Estimated birth year based on college start year (1992). Exact birthdate not provided in source material.
Developed early interest in design
At about age 10–11, discovered design in his father's glossy annual reports and decided he wanted to be a designer.
First job — grocery store
First job at a small, locally owned grocery store; formative early work experience that shaped views of management.
Worked at a shoe store
Early retail job at a family-owned shoe store; influenced his preferences about workplace culture and ownership.
Started University of Arizona (finance)
Enrolled at the University of Arizona to study finance; went to college partly to get out of the Midwest and for the climate.
Built and sold 'Audiofile' shareware (college)
Created a program to organize his music collection called Audiofile, offered via AOL for $20; early evidence he could make and sell software directly to users.
Began designing for the web
Taught himself HTML and started doing freelance web design while in college; began finding clients and deepened interest in web product work.
Graduated University of Arizona (finance)
Completed his degree in finance in 1996; chose not to pursue a conventional finance career.
Took web designer job in San Diego
Accepted an offer to work as a web designer in San Diego right after graduation; worked there for approximately three to four months before returning to Chicago to freelance.
Returned to Chicago and freelanced
Moved back to Chicago and continued freelance web design, building networks that later led to co‑founding a company.
Co‑founded 37signals (web design)
Co‑founded 37signals with Carlos Segura and Ernest Kim in Chicago as a web design company.
Built internal project management tool (later Basecamp)
Created an internal tool to manage web design projects; began using it with clients after seeing its value—this product would become Basecamp.
Public release of Basecamp (first commercial app)
Basecamp, 37signals' first commercial web application, was polished and put on the market; it quickly grew significant for the company.
Ruby on Rails created/released (assoc. with 37signals)
David Heinemeier Hansson created the open-source Ruby on Rails framework initially for use at 37signals; Rails was publicly released in 2004.
37signals shifts focus to web applications (mid‑2004)
Company shifted strategy away from web design toward web application development following success of Basecamp.
Backpack launched (product)
Backpack was introduced as one of 37signals' products following Basecamp (date approximate, mid‑2000s as referenced in company product list).
37signals stops web design; focuses on software (since 2005)
About a year after Basecamp's success, 37signals ceased web design services and concentrated on software product development.
Getting Real published (co‑authored)
Co‑authored Getting Real: guidance around building web applications and product development (approximate mid‑2000s publication).
Campfire launched (product, approximate)
Campfire, a group chat/productivity tool from 37signals, became part of the company's product lineup (year approximate, mid‑2000s).
Highrise launched (product, approximate)
Highrise, a lightweight CRM by 37signals, was added to the product family (approximate timing mid‑late 2000s as referenced in product list).
Rework published — became a bestseller
Co‑authored Rework with David Heinemeier Hansson; the book became a bestseller and is cited as influential on business culture.
Remote book released (Remote: Office Not Required)
Co‑authored Remote: Office Not Required (noted as forthcoming in Fall 2013 in the Great Discontent interview) advocating remote work.
Company headcount reached 36
By 2013, 37signals/Basecamp had about 36 employees—the largest the company had been to date; the company emphasized slow, careful growth.
Interview: The Great Discontent (profile and long interview)
Featured interview by Tina Essmaker published May 14, 2013 describing his path, philosophy, and company decisions.
Company focus narrowed to Basecamp flagship product
Public strategy change to concentrate company resources on the flagship Basecamp product (February 2014 decision).
Company renamed from 37signals to Basecamp
In February 2014 the company adopted a strategy focusing entirely on the Basecamp software and renamed 37signals to Basecamp.
It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work (book)
Published It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work (noted as forthcoming in 2018 in the Tim Ferriss interview); presents company culture and pace philosophy.
Interview on The Tim Ferriss Show (podcast)
Long‑form podcast interview with Tim Ferriss released July 23, 2018 covering work philosophy, books, and company practices.
TED talk: 'Say no to meetings!' and workplace ideas
Delivered a TED talk (Oct 10, 2018) outlining strategies to minimize distractions and optimize workplaces for calm and quality work time.
HEY email product (company focus expands)
Basecamp team launched HEY (email service) and later HEY became a significant focus alongside Basecamp; mentioned as part of company direction by 2022.
Company reverts name to 37signals
In May 2022, citing focus on both Basecamp and HEY, the company reverted from Basecamp back to its original name, 37signals.
Active company blog posts on product, hiring and culture
Continues publishing essays and company posts on themes like hiring, defaults, product design and company decisions (examples from 2024–2025 shown on World.Hey and company sites).
Regular public writing and commentary (World.HEY posts)
Published multiple posts on world.hey.com throughout 2024–2025 on product design, hiring, and company philosophy (samples dated 2024–2025 included in sources).
Key Achievement Ages
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