REWORK Easy to leave
42 snips
Apr 8, 2026 
David Heinemeier Hansson, co-founder of 37signals known for strong takes on pricing and culture, and Jason Fried, 37signals co-founder focused on simple, user-friendly products, discuss making cancellations frictionless. They talk about easy cancel flows, offering pauses instead of forced cancellations, transparent pricing, and how humane offboarding boosts trust and referrals.
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Make Cancellation Self Serve And Data Portable
- Make cancellation self-serve and frictionless so customers can leave without talking to anyone.
- Basecamp lets users close accounts and export nicely formatted HTML data so people can browse their info without assistance.
Offer A Pause Option Not Just Cancellation
- Offer a pause option instead of forcing full cancellation to retain goodwill.
- Basecamp lets customers pause for a small fee (e.g., around $5/month) keeping projects, people, and data available for up to a year.
Retention Tricks Fuel Long Term Hatred
- Hard retention tricks create furious, long‑lasting resentment that damages reputation.
- David cites Adobe's cancellation ransom and how a small uplift isn't worth turning users into angry advocates against you.