37signals Releases Backpack Financial Numbers

37signals.com

40 points·unfoldedorigami··13 comments

if you're really determined to figure out their revenue, work your way backwards from their 9 employees. Most software companies take in $100,000-$200,000/yr per employee per year in top line revenue.

Excellent point. My guess is that they could be a bit higher, up to 300K per employee (that would be a somewhat exceptional, I grant you). $300K estimate would give $2.7 million per year.

my random guesses for their revenue:

- basecamp: $550,000/yr

- signal vs noise (jobboard + deck): $200,000/yr

- backpack: existing + new customers = $100,000/yr

- highrise: $100,000/yr

- campfire / writeboard / ta-da list: $75,000/yr

- get real book: $75,000, span of its entire publication run

37s is at least a 1 mil a year company

I think Basecamp makes boat loads more than we realize. That's why they're so secretive about the numbers.

Or quite the opposite.

I think you are off by a factor of 5-7x

I think you're closer than Alaska is. A million dollars a year is nothing when you've got nine high-profile employees in Chicago. Jason Fried is good enough of a business person that he's not going to run a firm with dangerously low margins.

Misleading title. They only shared the numbers from yesterday.

Well, they are financial numbers aren't they?

Misleading by omission.

Should be"releases financial numbers... for yesterday."

Actually, only the new from yesterday - not the already signed up users.

37signals / basically the google of the SAAS model.

Isn't Google the Google of the SaaS model?

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