This is Signal vs. Noise, a weblog by 37signals about design, business, experience, simplicity, the web, culture, and more. Established 1999 in Chicago. Visit the Product Blog for more information on our products.

Did he surprise you a bit by disagreeing with you? I think you fielded the interview quite well. Nice work.

Very cool. I’m usually not a big 37s cheerleader but I really liked what you had to say. It reminds me when my wife and I have to make a joint household decision (which paint color, which couch, etc.) and it is a decision I don’t agree with, my first response is “Democracy sucks.”

I thought it was interesting you said the Open Source community is not opinionated enough. Mark Shuttleworth seems like quite an opinionated individual to me, as do Miguel de Icaza and company at Novell. Perhaps you were referring to the appearance of User Interfaces in software, but diminishing the zeal of Open Sourcers would be in error I believe.

Sorry about the double post. I just thought this was interesting to contrast with Matt’s post from a couple of days ago (here) in terms of democracy within a company.

Walt Mossberg is so full of himself – he should’ve let Jason talk more! At one point, I wasn’t sure who was interviewing who – very, very painful.

@brad

agreed….i dont think any one would say theo de raadt isn’t opinionated. i think the main issue Jason alluded to which was that “design” in open source is an afterthought; however, I don’t believe design is an afterthought. I think the developers are saying “We could give 2 shits about the user interface” because … surprise… they are designing for people like themselves where a command line and / or brutal interface is fine as long as the software is stable / reliable / performant.

I recommend Clayton Christensen’s books “The Innovators Solution” and “The Innovators Dilemma” for most any 37signals reader.

These where the first (possibly last) business books that I read and didn’t think to myself how totally full of baloney they were.

On the whole ‘simple’ thing, do you not find it frustrating when things are that simple you cant seem to get it to work for you? For example add an entry to basecamp milestones but you want it recurring, not possible – does that and other missing features not drive any one else mad or is it just me?

@ Peter. You are right. That is what i thought. But anyway. If you follow svn you have heard what Jason said.

@Kieran – I’m not sure that milestones should re-occur.

Weekly progress reports aren’t really milestones in a project. What you are supposed to present or have achieved by that week is the milestone.

The old man likes to hear himself talk doesn’t he? Was it supposed to be a conversation or not?

This interview made me feel really good. You are a great leader Jason.

Amazing Jason, how did you end up thinking that way?

Jason, this interview was awesome. Really cool!

I liked the bit of insight into Mark Cuban’s interest in purchasing the Cubs:

“There is a direct correlation between how innovative you are in terms of how you market and how you approach your consumers and your fans versus how well you perform on the court, or in our case on the field.”

Thanks so much for your kind words Jason! We hadn’t done the interview format with Walt before and you had the honor of going first. You brought your A game and then some…it was a thoughtful conversation that definitely hit a lot of nerves.

I think Mark Cuban summed it up best when he said that every morning he wakes up knowing there’s some 12-year old out there trying to kick his ass.

It’s that mindset coupled with your ‘execute on the basics brilliantly’ approach to innovation that should keep 37signals around for a very long time.

I don’t care for that old guy’s interviewing style. He rambles on too much. I watched him interview Gates and Jobs. The interviewee has to compete for the floor rather than having a nice balanced flow to the conversation.

Excellent interview Jason, you got what you needed in there and hit all the key talking points that show what 37 signals is about.

I really appreciate the mindset 37 signals brings to the table, keep up the great work.

Walt is a great journalist but a terrible interviewer.

That felt alot more like 15 minutes of Walt talking than a 20 minute interview with Jason. Very well played however.

Jason – Your talk/interview was one of the high points in a great conference. Thanks for hanging out with us Providence Geeks for an evening. Come back to PVD anytime!