Podcast · 24 min

Say No by Default

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson · REWORK (37signals) Free Beginner

The Basecamp founders make the case that yes is cheap in the moment and expensive for years, so no should be your default posture. Their advice for a live customer ask is simply to say thank you and never commit on the spot, which is a practical habit you can adopt tomorrow. Useful for the emotional side of not caving in the room.

  • You rarely regret a no, you often regret a yes
  • Say thank you to a request instead of committing on the spot
  • Listen for patterns across requests rather than acting on any single one
Open on 37signals.com ↗

It answers 3 questions

  1. How do I say no to feature requests without losing customers?
  2. When is it right to stop iterating on a feature and just kill it?
  3. How do I set a roadmap when half my revenue comes from one big customer who keeps asking for custom features?

Read with it

  1. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  2. The original, primary source where the RICE framework was introduced, cite this, not the SEO reposts. The clearest way to... Intercom Blog Article · ~12 min read RICE: Simple Prioritization for Product Managers Sean McBride
  3. A punchy, contrarian classic on building a lean, sane, profitable company from the founders of Basecamp. It's the antidote to... 37signals Book · ~288 pages Rework Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
  4. Video · ~25 min How to Talk to Users Eric Migicovsky
  5. Des Traynor makes the case that "no" is the product strategy, and that adding a feature for one loud customer quietly costs... Intercom (Des Traynor) Article · ~8 min read Product Strategy Means Saying No Des Traynor
  6. This gives you the actual checklist a request has to clear before it earns a yes, starting with whether it fits the vision and... Intercom (Des Traynor) Essay · 10 min read Rarely say yes to feature requests Des Traynor
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →