The Basics - Evening with Jason Fried of 37Signals

Yesterday Andy, Kamil and I had the opportunity to listen to a live interview with Jason Fried of 37 Signals at an ITA event. I love these types of events where networking, food, and a great success story leave me feeling inspired with a full belly and a lot to think about.

I expected to enjoy the interview with Jason, but having read the 37 Signals Blog on a fairly regular basis and having read the book, Getting Real, I wasn't expecting to walk away with any revelations.

Well, I did. The word "revelations" may be a bit dramatic. Let's just say I was reminded of a few things that have been very important to me and very important to all of us at Local Motors.

Jason loves the obvious. He embraces clarity (not simplicity) and makes you think that if running your business isn't simple, well, for the most part it should be.

Personally my take-aways are these:

1.) Focus on the things in your business which do not change.
2.) Out-teach vs. Outspend
3.) Build an audience

The first point was a fantastic wake-up call for me. You would think that in the world of technology and 37 Signals everything must change at a rapid pace; but there are core commitments which remain the same and for each business these core commitments may be different. At Local Motors we are still adding to our list.

So far, the commitments at LM which do not change are the following:

1.) Fantastic customer/community service and site support.
2.) Exciting LM Rally Fighter development content, updated in real time.
3.) Competitions & Checkups, opportunities to gain & give feedback and develop individual design skills.
4.) Build awesome cars

It's not a long list, but each commitment is important. To our site and community, these four things are our differentiating factors and your reason for coming back day after day. As our community grows and demands increase the suggestion to "focus on the things which do not change" is a welcomed reminder.

Out-teach vs. outspend is something we at Local Motors are well familiar with. We are building a community based on exciting design, education, sharing and an open development process. Though we may spend some money on advertising in select locations, the success of our marketing strategy is not based on the depth of our pockets. For us, the answer is simple and the community has shown us that if the product is good and sharing is permitted, then community and customers will come. When engaging long-term community members, out teaching will win against outspending any day.

Number three, build an audience, is really part of number two. The word "audience" belongs to Jason; for us, the word is "community". So in summary, my reminder was to focus on the important things; focus on teaching and sharing with the community. If you provide an aspirational product and share something worth experiencing, then you will develop an audience. Your audience will become your customer. For us, our community will become our customer.

Back to basics. Not that I was doing rocket science before, but sometimes I'm tricked into thinking rocket science is necessary. This is good news for me since I'm a mediocre rocket scientist at best. Fortunately, I can be a kick-ass pro at the basics.