Note: The following is a repost from the Horn Group Blog.
Bezos Expeditions, a personal investment company of Jeff Bezos, has made a minority private equity investment in 37signals.
I’ve been a fan of 37Signals since we started using Basecamp (their hosted project management solution) a couple of years ago. The beauty of Basecamp is its simplicity. For an agency, the success of adopting a tool intended primarily for centralized client communication is completely dependent on client adoption, which in turn is dependent on simplicity and ease-of-use. If clients found Basecamp difficult to use they simply wouldn’t use it, and then of course either would we. Our adoption of Basecamp has been successful because new users immediately understand how to use it, and even more importantly, recognize the benefits over email.
This simplicity and focus is at the core of everything 37Signals does. From their products, to their work philosophy and Ruby on Rails development framework. But it also goes deeper than that. The success of 37signals has a lot to do with their refusal to ever stray from their core values. From a widget on one of their web applications to a post on their blog to an article in BusinessWeek , their “keep it simple” message is evident at every possible interaction. This is how you build a strong brand. Define a world view or philosophy and stick to it, even if it means weathering a period of reduced revenue or alienating a few customers.