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Comment by compay | Hacker News Reader

Part of me deeply admires 37 Signals for their success, their people, and the quality of the work they do. Yet another part of me detests how they've always tried to sell themselves as some sort of movement, when in fact they're a business trying to make a buck, just like any other. Not that there's anything wrong with making a buck... let's just leave the "manifestos" to Marx and Engels.

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I have to disagree with you. Creating a business based around something you believe in is arguably the #1 most powerful way to change the world.

Just because people make profit does not mean profit is their "only" goal. And like Paul Graham explained in his Y-combinator speech, there are certain services to humanity that simply would not work if they didn't make profit.

I think it's ridiculous to say that people like Steve Jobs are in it for profit. If Steve Jobs was after profit he would have been a highly successful wall street CEO or something. He does what he does out of personal ambition to improve the world. It's the same for 37signals and I would argue it's the same for Y-Combinator.

>He does what he does out of personal ambition to improve the world

Well that, yes, and a bit of vanity I am sure.

And probably a bit of profit too.

This is the same thing that Apple does to impassion customers and drive their employees to ever greater heights. They create a facade of purpose built around their products and services.

It pisses me off when Apple does it too.

They are just a business trying to make a buck, and sadly, that is what makes them somewhat unique. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube are "successful" and get a ton of press, but they've yet to make a profit. 37signals isn't afraid to charge for a product they know is great.

37signals is really good at making you realize how these web companies might not be the best business to get into. Could there be a bubble slowing building that will eventually burst?

"just a business trying to make a buck"" While true, that's a bit too reductionist for me. They are trying to make money their way, not by chasing whatever they see that might make most the money. Creating a profitable business is one aspect of that, but perhaps a larger aspect is that they are unusually open about their opinions on design, process, and usability, etc. This is a reason they are a bit polarizing and find detractors as well as fans.

This is silly. There are thousands of websites that make money. The difference is, they don't go on and on and on about it.

The unique part is 37Signals seems to concentrate mainly on PR. They're not the biggest or best, they just shout the loudest.

Hey--the best create their own reality and get others to join in. What better marketing is there? Particularly if you back it up with execution.

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