37signals

1999

Jason Fried, Carlos Segura, and Ernest Kim found 37signals as a web design consultancy in Chicago. Each puts in $10,000 seed money.

1999

Signal v. Noise blog starts, building an audience of web designers and developers

2000

Jason Fried works contract at Quokka Sports in SF, gets first taste of VC-funded culture and decides it's not sustainable

2001

Carlos Segura leaves the partnership amicably. Dot-com bust validates Fried's skepticism of VC model.

2002

Ernest Kim departs. Jason Fried runs 37signals solo for a period. Meets David Heinemeier Hansson through blog.

2003

Work begins on Basecamp to solve 37signals' own project management chaos. DHH joins as programmer, working part-time from Denmark.

2003

Basecamp treated as internal client, allocated 20% of team's time alongside paying web design projects

2004-02

Basecamp launches publicly on February 5, 2004 (same day as Facebook). Free tier (1 project) plus paid tiers at $19, $39, $59/month. One of the first SaaS freemium models.

2004-03

Hits $5,000/month revenue goal in approximately 6 weeks, far ahead of the 1-year target

2004-07

Ruby on Rails extracted from Basecamp codebase and released as open source by DHH. Becomes one of the most influential web frameworks.

2005-01

Ta-da List launches as free standalone to-do list web app

2005

Basecamp revenue exceeds web design consulting revenue. 37signals stops doing client work and goes all-in on software products.

2005-10

Writeboard launches as simple web-based collaborative writing tool

2006-02

Campfire launches: business-oriented real-time group chat

2006-02

'Getting Real' book published: first book codifying 37signals' product development philosophy

2006-07

Jeff Bezos acquires minority no-control stake via Bezos Expeditions for estimated $10M. Money goes to founders as personal liquidity, not to fund operations.

2006-11

Basecamp reaches 1 million accounts (free + paid combined)

2007-03

Highrise CRM launches publicly, expanding into customer relationship management

2009

Sortfolio launches: web designer directory for small businesses

2010-03

'Rework' book published by Jason Fried and DHH. Becomes NYT bestseller, sells over 1 million copies worldwide.

2013

Over 1 million businesses using 37signals products. 'Remote: Office Not Required' book published.

2014-02

Company renames from 37signals to Basecamp to focus entirely on flagship product. Highrise spun off as independent company.

2014

Ta-da List, Writeboard, Backpack, and Sortfolio sunsetted as part of single-product focus

2018

'It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work' book published, advocating for calm company culture

2019

'Shape Up' published as free online book detailing their 6-week development cycle methodology

2020-06

HEY email service launches. Apple threatens to remove iOS app over in-app purchase dispute, creating major public controversy that generates massive awareness.

2021

3.5 million+ registered accounts across products. Reported 100M+ annual revenue (unconfirmed by company).

2022-05

Company reverts name from Basecamp back to 37signals to reflect multi-product future

2022

Basecamp introduces simplified flat-rate pricing: $299/month unlimited users, rejecting per-seat model

2023

37signals begins experimenting with paid marketing for the first time in 25 years of operation

2024-01

ONCE product line launches with Campfire as first product: one-time purchase ($299) self-hosted group chat, challenging the SaaS subscription model they pioneered.