I enjoyed reading Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson’s earlier book – Getting Real too. Of course, what worked for 37Signals (for Basecamp, Campfire, Ta-da list and their other products) may or may not work in your situation. Their advise is still valuable and worth pondering over for any startup / productivity aspirant.

Download the PDF

1. Great businesses have a point of view, not just a product or service.
2. Writing a plan makes you feel in control of things you don’t actually control.
3. Don’t sit around and wait for someone else to make the change you want to see.
4. Stuff that was impossible just a few years ago is simple today.
5. Failure is not a prerequisite for success.
6. Don’t make assumptions about how big you should be ahead of time.
7. You have the most information when you’re doing something, not before you’ve done it.
8. When you build what you need, you can assess quality directly instead of by proxy.
9. Solving your own problem lets you fall in love with what you’re making.
10. What you do matters, not what you think or say or plan.
11. When you want something bad enough, you make the time.
12. The perfect time to start something never arrives.
13. Start a business, not a startup.
14. You need a commitment strategy, not an exit strategy.
15. Huge organizations talk instead of act, and meet instead of do.
16. Build half a product, not a half-assed product.
17. Getting to greatness starts by cutting out stuff that’s merely good.
18. The real world isn’t a place, it’s an excuse. It’s a justification for not trying.
19. The big picture is all you should be worrying about in the beginning. Ignore the details.
20. It’s the stuff you leave out that matters.
21. Decide. You’re as likely to make a great call today as you are tomorrow.
22. The longer it takes to develop, the less likely it is to launch.
23. Focus on substance, not fashion. Focus on what won’t change.
24. When good enough gets the job done, go for it.
25. When you make tiny decisions, you can’t make big mistakes.
26. Pour yourself into your product.
27. You rarely regret saying no but you often regret saying yes.
28. Instead of out-spending your competitors, out-teach them.
29. Let customers look behind the curtain.
30. Better your customers grow out of your product, than never grow into them.
31. You can’t paint over a bad experience with good marketing.
32. All companies have customers. Fortunate companies have audiences too.
33. Don’t hire for pleasure; hire to kill pain.
34. Leave the poetry in what you make, there is beauty in imperfection.
35. Marketing is not a department, it’s the sum total of everything you do.
36. Don’t make up problems you don’t have yet.
37. A business without a path to profit is a hobby.

Liked it?

Download printable PDF with best insights from the book here for free!

You can also download the excerpts from here.

Related posts:

1. Gearing up for Entrepreneurship – Best Lessons
2. How to pick a co-founder?
3. Paypal Sales + Marketing Activity Trend Spotting