X is the new Y is, like the movie montage, a convenient way to pack a lot of information into a small space. Getting Real is a book describing the business practices of web development company 37signals. The 14-person shop has a dedicated following and have developed popular business apps like project management and collaboration program Basecamp. To get an idea of the book and what 37signals is all about check out this list of things its believes.

+ Useful is forever. Bells and whistles wear off, but usefulness never does. We build useful software.
+ Our customers are our investors. They fund our daily operations by paying for our products. We answer to them, not outside investors or the stock market.
+ Clarity is king. Buzzwords, lingo, and sensationalized marketing-speak have no place at 37signals.
+ Great service matters. We’re known for fast, concise, and friendly customer service and support. We work hard to make sure we live up to that reputation every day.
+ Contracts suck. No one likes being locked into something for a year or two or more. We never lock anyone in. Our customers can cancel at any time, no questions asked (and we never charge a setup or termination fee).
+ Business software should be affordable. Some business software costs tens of thousands of dollars a year. That’s obscene. Our products start at $12/month and our most expensive plans are $149/month for unlimited users.
+ Software that requires training is failed software. Our products are intuitive. You’ll pick them up in seconds or minutes, not hours, days or weeks. We don’t sell you training because you don’t need it.
+ The basics are beautiful. We’ll never overlook what really matters: The basics. Great service, ease of use, honest pricing, and respect for our customer’s time, money, and trust.

If only Microsoft had believed in these things a decade ago.

While the advice is basic, stay lean, fund yourself, explicitly state what you want to do, the delivery is inspirational.  37signals has made the book available to read online for free here. You also have the option of purchasing a paper version or a PDF.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 6:40 am and is filed under Daily Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.