Getting Real by 37Signals

Success is all about great execution.

Constantly seek out your weak links and focus on them until they're up to par.

The folks on your team will make or break your project - and your company.

Shakespeare reveled in the limitations of sonnets, fourteenline lyric poems in iambic pentameter.

The goal is to win the customer by building what they want.

This sort of one-upping Cold War mentality is a dead-end. Its an expensive, defensive, and paranoid way of building projects.

If you're going to live with something for two years, three years, the rest of your life, you need to care about it.

Run on limited resources and you'll be forced to reckon with constraints earlier and more intensely. And that's a good thing. Constraints drive innovation.

Have an enemy. Sometimes the best way to know what your app should be is to know what it shouldn't be.

One bonus you get from having an enemy is a very clear marketing message. People are stoked by conflict. And they also understand a product by comparing it to others.

They'll take sides. And thats a sure fire way to get attention and ignite passion.

The problem is that once a consumer has bought someone else's story and believes that lie, persuading the consumer to switch is the same as persuading him to admit he was wrong...Instead you must tell a different story and persuade listeners that your story is more important that the story they currently believe. (Seth Godin, Be A Better Liar)

Instead we stay focused on the big picture and keep asking ourselves, what is the key problem we are trying to solve and how can we solve it. (Michael Reining, Blinklist)

Enjoy baking, sell your bread, people like it, sell more. Keep the bakery going because you're making good food and people are happy. (Ian MacKaye)

The more massive an object, the more energy is required to change its direction.

Instead of an aircraft carrier, you steer a cigarette boat. Revel in that fact.

Simple rules...lead to complex behavior. Complex rules, lead to stupid behavior. (Andrew Hunt)

Use a team of three for version 1.0. Start with a developer, a designer, and a sweeper.

Differentiate yourself from bigger companies by being personal and friendly.

Ignore details early on. Work from large to small.

What you really want to do is build half a product that kicks ass.

"Because it just doesn't matter." That statement embodies what makes a product great. Figuring out what matters and leaving out the rest.

Most of the time you spend is wasted on things that just don't matter. If you can cut out the work and thinking that just don't matter, you'll achieve productivity you've never imagined.

Innovation is not about saying yes to everything. Its about saying NO to all but the most crucial features. (Steve Jobs)

Get something real up and running quickly. Real things lead to real reactions. That that's how you get to the truth.

Get your story straight. Make sure the pieces work. Then launch and revise. No one is as smart as all of us. (Seth Godin)

From Idea to Implementations: Brainstorm, Sketch It, Mock Up, Make It

 Ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions. (Derek Sivers)

And if you're in a competitive race, getting something out earlier helps folks commit to you and not your competition. (Dave Thomas)

Do it quick:

• 1. Decide if its worth doing, and if so:
  
• 2. Do it quick - not perfect. Just do it.
  
• 3. Save it. Upload it. Publish it.
  
• 4. See what people think.
  

So shrink your time. Keep breaking down timeframes into smaller chunks. Keep dividing problems into smaller and smaller pieces until you're able to digest them.

The alone time zone is where the real development magic happens.

Judge potential tech hires on open source contributions.

Go for happy and average over frustrated and great

If you are trying to decide between a few people to fill a position, always hire the better writer.