Comments on: Why Is It So Hard For Innovators to Keep It Simple? http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2007/10/22/why-is-it-so-hard-for-innovators-to-keep-it-simple/ Business + Technology in the Exponential Economy Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:30:41 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: BatchBlue: Blog http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2007/10/22/why-is-it-so-hard-for-innovators-to-keep-it-simple/comment-page-1/#comment-2262 BatchBlue: Blog Sat, 27 Oct 2007 14:17:27 +0000 http://www.xconomy.com/2007/10/22/why-is-it-so-hard-for-innovators-to-keep-it-simple/#comment-2262 [...] and founding editor of Fast Company and author of the recently published Mavericks at Work nicely summarized the gist of it on the Xconomy web [...] [...] and founding editor of Fast Company and author of the recently published Mavericks at Work nicely summarized the gist of it on the Xconomy web [...]

]]> By: Christine Flanagan http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2007/10/22/why-is-it-so-hard-for-innovators-to-keep-it-simple/comment-page-1/#comment-2165 Christine Flanagan Wed, 24 Oct 2007 13:42:23 +0000 http://www.xconomy.com/2007/10/22/why-is-it-so-hard-for-innovators-to-keep-it-simple/#comment-2165 Here’s a bit of business advice you don’t hear too often: do less than your competition, spend less money, hire fewer people, work fewer hours and, offer fewer features. So says Jason Fried - and he clearly hit a nerve at BIF-3, didn't he? My fear for 37Signals though is based on something Mark Cuban said during the summit: "everyday I wake up knowing that some 12-year old is out there trying to kick my ass." Jason's model will be disrupted, probably sooner than later, when someone like Google starts to offer the same service and it will be free. Hopefully, he'll be able to develop those new opinions that people will care about which will carry his company forward. I think that will be the defining moment of his leadership and determine whether his strategy of purposeful constraint is right. (I sure hope it is.) Here’s a bit of business advice you don’t hear too often: do less than your competition, spend less money, hire fewer people, work fewer hours and, offer fewer features. So says Jason Fried – and he clearly hit a nerve at BIF-3, didn’t he?

My fear for 37Signals though is based on something Mark Cuban said during the summit: “everyday I wake up knowing that some 12-year old is out there trying to kick my ass.”

Jason’s model will be disrupted, probably sooner than later, when someone like Google starts to offer the same service and it will be free. Hopefully, he’ll be able to develop those new opinions that people will care about which will carry his company forward. I think that will be the defining moment of his leadership and determine whether his strategy of purposeful constraint is right. (I sure hope it is.)

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