Thoughts on Changes at Basecamp
I am not a customer of Basecamp nor have I ever been involved with them as an employee.
That said, I think that Fried and Hansson’s recent changes at the company refocusing on product development and delivery are a good move.
You can read their announcement via this link.
Some of their employees have accepted buyouts and are deciding to leave over the announcement. That freedom to choose where they work and with whom they associate should be celebrated as much as Basecamp leadership’s attempt to de-politicize their work environment.
I have political views and, to those who know me personally, I am happy to share them. However, I have chosen to focus this newsletter and my other content associated with my website around other topics of interest to me.
In a similar manner, I do not introduce my politics into my other work either.
For me, I do see where I work as a vehicle for the promotion of political or cultural objectives. In a similar vein, I do not see an obligation from my customers or employers to enable or support my political objectives. They are mine & they do not have to be theirs.
If you choose to start an endeavor (or engage one you already have) in political advocacy, that is your choice. If you wish to set requirements upon those with whom you choose to work, that is as well. In both cases, I support your freedom to do so and hope the same courtesy is extended.
There are other viewpoints on these changes. If you’d like to see some of them, you can check out this link or this one.
Update from previous edition
You can read the previous edition (#42) via this link.
The 2020 Draft came and went this past week. If you missed my breakdown of the NFL’s “four” seasons from last week, be sure to check it out.
As for my “winners and losers” of the Pre-Draft and Post-Draft cycles, I would have to say that the San Francisco 49ers did an effective job of obfuscating their plans in the lead-up attention to Alabama’s Mac Jones. When they “surprised” everyone by picking Trey Lance instead, that created some stir among the following picks. One big winner stands to be the New England Patriots who were able to stand pat at their 15th pick having Jones instead fall into their lap.
It is too early to declare losers (or busts), but I do wish luck to the Chicago Bears who traded up to pick Justin Fields from Ohio State. After the Trubisky debacle that saw the Bears trade up to pick the QB in front of what has become a list of more effective NFL QBs, let’s hope for their sake (and the sake of Fields) that they aren’t repeating their mistake.
In the case of my Atlanta Falcons, my stated preference was to trade back and acquire more picks. As most of the trades occurring pre-draft limited the partners willing to trade up, they stood pat drafting Kyle Pitts of Florida with their #4 pick. They followed that good start by drafting solid (if not flashy) talent at a number of positions of need for their team. All in all, congrats to the team and welcome to the new Falcons players!
Other Links
Chrome extensions for Digital Marketing
While I’ve built software and managed software developers on Microsoft platform tools for the better part of two decades, I am (and have been) a predominately Chrome user. I was already switching when I migrated a previous workstation to use Ubuntu Linux, but I typically choose Google Chrome as my browser.
If you do and engage in digital marketing, don’t miss some of these extensions among the many.
Neil Patel on Google’s June Update
I link to Neil’s material quite a bit. I’m a big fan and have learned a lot from him. It is always good to have a basic understanding of how search engine algorithms & dynamics evolve. Assuming you are generating your content with your audience in mind, there are always minor tweaks to help increase your site traffic & Neil keeps a pulse on what that means for us all.
Online Marketing continues to grow
I noticed this article a few days ago. During the Covid-19 period, digital marketing and advertising have continued their growth curve. Regardless of the platform, increases continue at double-digit levels as marketers continue competing for the attention of their audiences online.
More App Store conflicts!
If you’ve been around this group for a while, I’ve shared the ongoing conflict between platforms (like Apple…and now Steam) with app developers (like Epic…and now Valve) over restrictions related to their App Stores. The positions are cemented for good reason.
Platforms receive a percentage (often as much as 30%) of the sales revenue of applications delivered via their Stores. Most platforms include specific terms preventing app developers from enabling in-game sales outside their App Store (which would circumvent that downstream revenue).
For background from a previous newsletter, check out this link from Edition 11.
For those checking out the book reviews, I finished The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes. My post of notes from the book is complete. You can check it out on my blog at this link.
If you would like to read along, I will be starting Content Inc. by Joe Pulizzi soon.
Note: Book links are Amazon affiliate links.
