SxSW: How to make big things happen with small teams

Quoting from terry storch @ fellowship church – SxSW: How to make big things happen with small teams… because he took great notes. By the way, found this post via the PubSub feed for SXSW that Scoble set up.

Weblog: terry storch @ fellowship church
Source: SxSW: How to make big things happen with small teams
Link: http://www.terrystorch.com/2005/03/sxsw_how_to_mak.html

How to make big things happen with small teams
Jason Fried, President @ 37signals
http://www.37signals.com
http://www.basecamphq.com
http://www.tadalist.com
Book: Defensive Design for the Web

Jason was by far the best speaker that I heard today. Jason is a very charismatic communicator that also knows what he is talking about. Jason is the president of 37 signals, a web design and software development company. 37 signals would best be know for Basecamp, a web-based project management tool.

4 keys to making big things happen with small teams:
1) reducing mass
2) making things manageable
3) lowering cost of change
4) staying out of debt (design, code, and cash)

here is Jason’s outline———————–

small has big advantages
the customer is closer
less distortion
less middle/muddle
everyone on the front line
change is easier

hire the right people!- passionate and happy
well rounded
quick learners
good writers
trustworthy

act your size
don’t try and be a big company
less formalities
less mass
less fear
more flexible
more change
more freedom

embrace constraints
less people, more power
less money, more value
less resources, better use
less time, better time

build half a product not a half-a** product
say no by default
listen to the product
ignore details early on
improve what you have
decisions are temporary

less software
lower cost of change
less room for error
less support required
encourage human solutions

get real, start with the UI (user interface)
there is nothing functional about a functional spec.
start designing
start prototyping
start experiencing
start changing
rinse and repeat

make most decision JIT (just in time)
scalability (don’t build for it until you need it)
admin interface (don’t spend time on admin side)

work on the next most important thing
is this it?
if not, what is?
are we doing it?
if not, why not?

celebrate small victories
iterate
celebrate
etc, etc.

feel the hurt
builders support it
chefs become waiters
shared annoyance (developers need to support it!)

publicity amplifiers
get your message out!
feature food- people want to talk about it…
promote through education
30 day major upgrade
transparency=trust
bloggle

tags: sxsw | jason fried
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