Getting Real
The smarter, faster, easier way to build a successful web application
by 37 Signals, Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson, Matthew Linderman · first published 2006
85% recommend15% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Practical, opinionated advice on building a web product lean and without outside funding. It shapes how founders approach web startups and how anyone thinks about building software.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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…scene, their opinions and observations are often useless. That said, if you don't want to go the VC route and instead want to have a go at building a successful business without outside financing, I think Getting Real and Rework are must-reads. Genius is rarely universal. William Shockley invented the transistor — yes, a gross oversimplification — but was an advocate of eugenics. Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh?…
on “Wizards of bullshit: How Forbes turned $6.5 million into $20 billion” ↗You definitely have to read Getting Real by Jason Fried of 37Signals. By reading this book you'll know every single detail how to direct your idea to reality, at least it happened to me... http://gettingreal.37signals.com/
on “Ask HN: I really want to start a startup but I don't know what to do.” ↗- Customers.com: How to Create a Profitable Business Strategy for the Internet and Beyond by Patricia B. Seybold. - Getting Real: The smarter, faster, easier way to build a successful web application by Jason Fried, Heinemeier David Hansson, Matthew Linderman. These books top my list of MUST READ for web startup. Customers.com…
on “Ask HN: I want to start a web company what books should I read?” ↗…found these books to be very influential in my thinking on web startups and building things in general: 1) Hackers & Painters - PG 2) Smart & Get Things Done - Joel Spolsky 3) Rework - Jason Fried 4) Getting Real - Jason Fried 5) Founders at Work - Jessica Livingston 6) Joel on Software - Joel Spolsky These are by far some of my favorites.
on “Ask HN: Books that change your way of thinking?” ↗The obvious ones: The Lean Startup - Eric Ries, Rework - Jason Fried & DHH, Getting Real - Jason Fried
on “Ask HN: Best books/resources on running a lean/bootstrapped company?” ↗…events and talked to a lot of people and read a lot of books. Some of my favorite business / work philosophy comes from: . Founders of Atlassian (Jira and Confluence) -- try Google them . 37 Signals' Getting Real . David Heinemeier Hansson at Startup School 08 -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CDXJ6bMkMY . 37 Signals' Re-work . Blue Ocean Strategy book My background: . BS in Computer Science ( graduated…
on “Ask HN: How to find technical cofounder who wants to start a small business?” ↗…a list of items which i've always liked. To be honest you can get so much just from reading Hacker News. Books: Founders at Work The Lean Startup The Four Hour Work Week Hackers & Painters Getting Real - 37 Signals/Jason Fried F'd Companies (Maybe not crucial but helped me think about startups needing to fulfill a need/fix a problem). Articles: http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html http://thestartupfoundry.com/…
on “Ask HN: Reading materials for someone looking to get into the startup world” ↗Recommended reading: "Rework" by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, and "Getting Real". Both by 37 signals-the ruby on rails guys. Best of luck!:) trust me, they are well worth the buy...
on “Ask HN: I quit my job .. now what?” ↗Ever since Getting Real (https://gettingreal.37signals.com/) I've agreed with practically everything Jason Fried has ever said. Wish there were more CEOs like him.
on “How we structure our work and teams at Basecamp” ↗…that I read not immediately one after the other, but that had an impact on me once I started to connect some concepts and ideas among them: 1. Simplicity, William Jensen 2. Getting Things Done (GTD) 3. Getting Real, Jason Fried
on “Ask HN: Are there any books that changed your life during college or school?” ↗…energy into understanding others points of view, and understand others better as a result. Much of my old behavior was childish. Others that changed my way of thinking in some way or another: Rework, Getting Real, and the recent Reconsider post - DHH & Jason Fried: I'd always considered external funding as the best way to grow things I've built in the past, and wrote off the few bad experiences with this approach…
on “Ask HN: What book that you read in 2015 significantly affected how you think?” ↗Getting Real, Jason Fried.
on “Ask HN: Which books do you consider real gems in your field of work/study?” ↗have a look at this article by jason fried 37 signals Getting Real: Release something today http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/getting_real_release_some...
on “Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?” ↗Lots of Jason Fried's influence in the subconscious, I should say. Two or three segments seem to be extracted verbatim from 'Getting Real' book. Nice text, congrats.
on “B2B Is Unsexy, and I Know It” ↗I can't "confirm" it, but these are slightly dickish caricatures of the Jason Fried/37signals/Getting Real concepts. Jason is a good, smart guy and anyone who wouldn't waste his time doing something like this.
on “Friedisms” ↗