What David Heinemeier Hansson thinks about startups
Creator of Ruby on Rails, CTO of 37signals, and creator of Omarchy.
David Heinemeier Hansson did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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20 dated positions, 2022 to 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what David Heinemeier Hansson has said — not written or endorsed by them.
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Their wordsThis was one of the reasons why I was always so skeptical about venture capital when it came to software. Because I saw time and again people raise an enormous amount of money, hire hundreds of people, and produce crap software.
↗DHH: How to Build a Profitable Company Without Losing Controlyoutube.com 3rd of 27 in this recording
- 4 months earlier
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Their wordsAnd I have no shame in saying that Base Camp was the best idea objectively in terms of a business that we've ever had.
↗DHH’s new way of writing codeyoutube.com 3rd of 21 in this recording
- 2 weeks earlier
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Our readingNew businesses improve the economy for all
Their wordsWhen the pie gets bigger, it gets better for all, as long as nobody is robbed of their existing slice
↗Denmark desperately needs more inequalityworld.hey.com 1st of 2 in this piece
- 5 months earlier
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Our readingFounders benefit from regular sabbaticals
Their wordsbosses - be they founders or professional executives - benefit just as much from a regular sabbatical like anyone else
↗Sabbaticals keep our attrition at bayworld.hey.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Their wordsSix weeks is also just long enough to remind tired founders that selling their company isn't likely to be the bliss they imagine
↗Sabbaticals keep our attrition at bayworld.hey.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 6 weeks earlier
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Their wordsThis is why companies led by founders tend to have much better products
↗Apple has no one left who can say noworld.hey.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 2 months earlier
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Their wordsBecause the problem isn't just venture capital, it's other people's money. Once you take other people's money, completely understandably, they want a return and they would prefer to have the largest return possible.
↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Ruby on Rails, Productivity & Parenting | Lex Fridman Podcast #474youtube.com 22nd of 36 in this recording
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Their wordsI know this from experience because I've been trying to build a lot of other businesses since. And some of them have been moderate successes, even good successes, none of them have been Basecamp. It's really difficult to do that twice.
↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Ruby on Rails, Productivity & Parenting | Lex Fridman Podcast #474youtube.com 25th of 36 in this recording
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Their wordsNow my next kind of tingle is that if you could move out of the cloud, can you also move out of the data center? Personal servers have gotten really scarily quick and efficient and personal internet connections rival what we connected data centers with just a decade or two ago.
↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Ruby on Rails, Productivity & Parenting | Lex Fridman Podcast #474youtube.com 28th of 36 in this recording
- 5 months earlier
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Their wordsit's an incredible advantage to have the founders doing that work directly, and for much longer than they find comfortable
- 17 months earlier
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Their wordsMost founders and executives would do well to add at least 10% of Musk's intensity to their personal recipe
- 2 months earlier
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Their wordsThe risk of succumbing to the rigor mortis of success is usually far greater than the risk of making a mistake by not considering and mitigating all possible bad outcomes up front
↗Don't lose your unreasonable sense of urgencyworld.hey.com 1st of 2 in this piece
- 1 day earlier
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Their wordsthere's probably a lot more pain in the pipeline for unprofitable software startups
↗There's no rebound in sight for unprofitable SaaSworld.hey.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 4 months earlier
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Their wordsI urge any of the founders and executives looking at their budgets right now wondering where to trim the fat to focus on the cloud spend first
- 3 weeks earlier
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Our readingHiring is a cost for SaaS startups
Their wordsEntrepreneurs everywhere are suddenly having to count each hire as a cost rather than a trophy
↗SaaS startups will have to care about productivity againworld.hey.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Their wordsGetting to profitability is no longer a distant, post-IPO nice-to-have, but a short-term necessity for survival
↗SaaS startups will have to care about productivity againworld.hey.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 3 months earlier
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Their wordsRunning a software service that has thousands of customers means you're the single point of failure for their dear data
↗An ode to software products over software servicesworld.hey.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 4 weeks earlier
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Our readingThe venture capital model is flawed
Their wordsThe logic of venture capital is to rush every business it touches through a steroid program that accepts a mortality rate of up to 90%
↗The bubble has popped for unprofitable software companiesworld.hey.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 5 months earlier
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Our readingBootstrapping can't help all startups
Their wordsour song of bootstrapping austerity just can't help these folks
↗I ain't no angel but I have made some startup investmentsworld.hey.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Their wordsWe desperately need more tech companies that aren't solely focused on unicorn stardom, the big exit, or any of the other bullshit markers of success in that world
↗I ain't no angel but I have made some startup investmentsworld.hey.com 2nd of 2 in this piece