The book describes a way of starting and doing small business. It tries to convey importance of some attitudes they think are important for keeping the business afloat. Stay small, think about the product, don't waste resources on things you don't need, etc.
Reminded me of Carnegie. Light, emotional, motivating. No deep research or argumentation presented. They are just showing the way it worked for them but try to put it as though it is the best way to do things. ( )

Highly recommended if you have any authority at all to control how work is done at your job. ( )

Where: Kuala Lumpur, Ubud

Everything in this book sounds fresh and sensible, boldly said and inspiring. But sometimes it sounds too guru-esque and oversimplified. Nice illustrations, though. ( )

Pretty good quick businessy book. ( )

I skimmed through this book once about a decade ago, and went back through it now after well over a decade working in/with startups.

I think it's still quite applicable today... it's strange because it seems to be a book people start their startup journeys reading, but then abandon many parts of it once "things get too real".

Most of the time this is because they're VC-backed, and, as the book mentions, VC-firms have goals... usually exponential growth and return goals which require lots of hires at once, which leads to some of the traditional 'problems' this book seeks to address.

Unfortunately, the book's solution of "just don't take VC money" isn't realistic for many companies and founders. That having been said, you can still maintain some of the essences of this book even in a rapid-growth environment if you bake flexibility and keeping your eye on what's important into your business from the early stages. ( )

This is a good book; not because the content is great, but because it opens up your mind to different possibilities and gives you the chance to trust yourself and your individuality in business more than other "business books" would allow. However, I did not like the snobby tone that basically told you "our way is the only right way". Ideal for those who like would like to keep their businesses small.
There were a lot of awesome things I came across while reading it but now I remember none. Hm, I wonder what that could mean.
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student work ( )

Despite the description, this is more of a manifesto than a guide on how to actually do anything, but that's ok. It's a fast read with a good pace, and 37 Signals philosophy of building up a value delivering business to last is a refreshing contrast to the normal focus on growth, growth, and more growth.

The heart of their philosophy is to find the problems that will still need a solution in 10 years (even if the solution will change). Don't focus on creating a product or adding a feature just because it's trendy right now or a competitor has it. Don't focus on what the user -- or even worse, the market -- wants; focus on what they need.

While I didn't always agree with their vision -- it's my opinion that companies that think managers are useless don't understand how to grow good managers -- there was much worth thinking about in an easy to digest package. ( )

Rework is not a terribly profound piece of business literature*, but it is a clearly written and useful business book.

Little of the proffered advice is new. If you've read the authors' blog (SvN), or Seth Godin's blog, or you've left a corporate job to pursue your own endeavors (check), then the book is largely a collection of what should be business common sense. Therein lies the value though. Too much of what people do in business - especially in the corporate world - focuses on turning means into ends, a lot of busy tail-chasing.

Rework offers advice contrary to those behaviors, and while often in the form of platitudes and without much in the way of cited evidence, I would argue that it is largely good advice.



*Acknowledged that business works don't quite qualify as literature ( )

Amazingly awesome ! ( )

Solid book, pretty motivating, short, only thing was i felt like i got nothing new/different than from that other 37 signals book that i origionally raved about. So yup, the illustrations were a nice touch though (even as an ebook on my nook). All around good

I've long been a fan of Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson's unique philosophy of work in general, but particularly workflow and process. _Rework_ is breath of fresh air in the business book genre and scrupulously avoids the self-help mentality often found there. I recommend this book to people who hate business books. _Rework_ articulates a potent form of the 'less is more' philosophy where interminable soul-sucking meetings, feature creep, workaholism, and the tyranny of ASAP are verboten.

http://37signals.com/rework/

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Toute personne qui démarre une nouvelle entreprise ou qui désire changer la vision d'une entreprise existante devrait DOIT lire ce livre.

Même si le livre est surtout axé sur une entreprise du monde des TI, les principes qui y sont expliqués sont applicables à toute sorte d'entreprise.

Il offre une vision rafraîchissante avec des affirmations du style : "Faites-en moins que vos concurrents", "Les communiqués de presse sont des pourriels", ...

Le livre se lit très rapidement car les idées y sont exposées clairement de façon directe sans passer par 4 chemins. Je l'ai lu en une soirée avant d'aller me coucher!

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No more meetings! ( )

I'm not really one for business books, but I was really drawn to this one by some of the claims on the back.

The author's aren't really claiming anything revolutionary, but in the fine tradition of David Allen, Fred Brooks, and Strunk/White it succinctly lists principles to strive for and the rationale behind them. It also does it in a very straightforward (and slightly abrasive) manner.

I don't think the book is a bible, and I suspect that a successful company would find that a dogmatic adherence would eventually be counter-productive. I imagine that this book lays out a great mindset for someone starting out their own business, though.

As an engineer, this book's appeal is that it both lays out some insight into the _business_ of software development and why I should invest some care into that aspect of my employment. It also provides some business rationale for arguments I mostly just thought about in terms of maximizing productivity, which I suspect provides for better effective ammo when it is the business types I need to convince. ( )

Where: Kuala Lumpur, Ubud

The recommendation to read Rework* came to me through the Entrepreneurs on Fire podcast. It had been mentioned on a number of occasions and I thought I should take a look. After reading it, I can understand why many are recommending it. In this book, the authors, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson share the secrets of their successful company 37signals. I am very interested in how companies broke the code and became successful. I believe these lessons can be leveraged for my current work as well as non-profits I am engaged in. There are definitely lessons to be learned from this book. Read more ( )

This really was useful - helped me to rethink how I work, and look at what I do from another angle. The title is apt, as I definitely reworked my working life as a result. ( )

Inspiring essays about running a modern business. Beautiful artwork inside. Refreshing and inspiring. Another great book by the founders of 37signals. ( )

Some cute tips and ideas, nothing too exciting and all around rather shallow. ( )

Quick read with a lot of ideas to digest. I'll definitely be revisiting the contents of this book for ideas in the future.

Some of the ideas seem like old common sense as the antidote to VC fueled Start up fever. I can imagine an old timer who ran his own shop reading this and say, "Duh". The trick for a lot of people is translating and implementing these concepts to a situation where maybe they aren't starting a business, or its not a software business.

The book is about the author's formulas for success and he warned us that what he found about his methods are different from conventional advises. He talks about growing profit but not growing in size because there's no need to. The author always take the contrarian approach which is non-conventional. For eg, he said 'make the small decisions'. One can always write a paragraph on 'making the big decision' and is correct too.

The book is more useful to the business owner than the business executive. I will come back to this book when I hire more. ( )

Meh.
I am really kind of over books that make thinking a little outside the box out to be some major triumph of intellect. I'm pretty sure that anyone paying even a little bit of attention realized that the way of working the monolith died right about the same time Carly Fiorina/Jonathan Schwartz took over, and that a better world is possible. I'm also way less interested in how a bunch of the benefactors of privilege made it than, say, even half the stories I read as I'm perusing Kiva. ( )

The book is about the author's formulas for success and he warned us that what he found about his methods are different from conventional advises. He talks about growing profit but not growing in size because there's no need to. The author always take the contrarian approach which is non-conventional. For eg, he said 'make the small decisions'. One can always write a paragraph on 'making the big decision' and is correct too.

The book is more useful to the business owner than the business executive. I will come back to this book when I hire more. ( )