The Lifestream of Jon Moss

Happy Birthday - Basecamp Turns Five!

February 5 2009, 5:14pm

We launched Basecamp on February 4, 2004. The rest is history! (i.e. There's a detailed explanation of what happened from there over at Signal vs. Noise.)

It’s really been a thrill, a pleasure, and an honor to have been part of all this. Basecamp has made so many things possible for 37signals. We’ve met so many interesting people. We’ve learned so much. Our customers are amazing.

One of the most rewarding things has been showing people that there’s a different way, a better way. Software doesn’t have to be a pain in the ass. Software doesn’t have to get in the way. Software isn’t about feature lists and sensational promises. Software is a concise set of tools that serve as an extension of your own mind. Great software lets you get things done and then it gets out of your way.

The comments have been full of positivity too. Some examples:

MRK: Basecamp is the first web-app I’ve paid for, and it’s made me more productive and successful as a result, not forgetting that my clients love it too. Rock on :-)

Miles K. Forrest: you guys have changed my life. I’ve learned to embrace constraints. I realize You Ain’t Gonna Need It more often than not. Ruby and Rails are a real passion. So many blog posts, so many lessons internalized.

Josh Ferguson: It is more than a project management tool to me. It is a motivational tool. The place I turn to when my thoughts are cluttered and just need to be dumped, organized and shared. It doesn’t just make things easier for me, it makes projects that were intractable, possible.

Jerry: Congratulations! I have built my company around Basecamp. It has allowed us to hire quality talent from around the world and everyone gets to work from home!

Gregor: Happy Birthday, Basecamp! I successfully managed over 30 projects in the last 3 years, I can’t imagine having done this without you guys!

Michael Wynn: After years of working with horrible, so-called ‘project management’ software, including some crazy Italian version that wasn’t even well translated, we finally hopped on board the BaseCamp system and we haven’t even thought of looking elsewhere since, Our clients love it, my staff loves it, and it helps us sell jobs.

Mark Kleiman: You have freed all of us to focus on the projects rather than the method of accomplishing the projects—and you have the easiest learning curve of anything remotely like this.

Anne Goodrich: I feel proud of the fact that I suggested Basecamp to my boss and now our educational agency has a bazillion projects on Basecamp...It’s been a great tool, especially as even the novice tech users seem to catch on with ease.

...And lots more too. Thanks so much to everyone who commented! The nice thoughts really made our day. It feels really good to know how much Basecamp means to everyone. We look forward to continuing to make it better, faster, and more useful. Thanks again to all our customers who make it possible.