Getting Real: The Book

Author(s) : 37signals (Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson, Ryan Singer, Sam Stephenson, Marcel Molina, Matt Linderman, Mark Imbriaco, and Mr. Jamis Buck)
Publication Date : 2005

Book Description:

This book details the business, design, programming, and marketing principles of 37signals, a small company that creates simple, focused web-based softwares.

37signals used the Getting Real process to launch five web-based applications ( Basecamp, Campfire, Backpack, Writeboard, Ta-da List ), and Ruby on Rails, an open-source web application framework, in just two years with no outside funding, no debt, and only 7 people (distributed across 7 time zones). Over 500,000 people around the world use these applications.

The Getting Real principles is about:

- skipping all the tasks that represent real (charts, graphs, boxes, arrows, schematics, wireframes, etc.) and actually building the real thing
- less mass, less software, less features, less paperwork, less of everything that's not essential (and most of what people think is essential actually isn't)
- staying small and being agile
- starting with the interface, begins with what the customer actually experiences and builds backwards from there
- launching, tweaking, and constantly improving which makes it a perfect approach for web-based software
- delivers just what customers need and eliminates anything they don't.

The book contains keep-it-simple insights, contrarian points of view, and unconventional approaches to software design. It should not be considered as a technical book or a design tutorial, but as a book of ideas. Anyone working on a web app - including entrepreneurs, designers, programmers, executives, or marketers - should find an interest in this book.

Reviews:

Getting Real Press/Buzz, a collection of reviews and press about the book.

Khoi Vinh’s Web Site

"If you want to have a first hand look at how this industry's working methods are changing, this is the book to read."

View/Download Getting Real: The Book | The book's blog