REWORK Talk directly to your customers
51 snips
Feb 25, 2026 
David Heinemeier Hansson, co-founder of 37signals and creator of Ruby on Rails, a candid commentator on company culture. Jason Fried, co-founder of 37signals and Basecamp, a simplicity-focused entrepreneur. They discuss founders writing customers from real inboxes. They talk about keeping conversations open after the first reply. They explain why email feels more personal than social noise.
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Email Customers Personally To Reassure And Invite Feedback
- Do email customers personally to reassure them and invite feedback.
- Jason Fried emailed Basecamp users with his address and promised to read and reply, which prompted hundreds of thoughtful responses.
Customer Emails Sparked A Voice Notes Prototype
- Customers' replies contained many specific, sometimes surprising feature requests.
- Voice notes were a common ask; Jason prototyped voice notes in Basecamp within days after seeing the responses.
Founder Conversations Deliver High Fidelity Signals
- Founder-to-customer conversations unlock high-fidelity signals and faster decisions.
- David Heinemeier Hansson notes a founder can convert a few direct calls into product changes that ripple to many users.
