If..Else Log

I'm a big fan of 37signals so I'm happy to hear Jason's announcement on Jeff Bezos' private investment. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, the responses have generally been of two types; there's the typical congratulatory comments that accompany such announcements like heartache and the England team¹ and nestled in between were some disappointly negative snap responses.

Missing the point

Now don't get the wrong idea, the reason I'm disappointed isn't anything to do with the fact that the comments are negative ² or that I disagree with them and more because I wish people would put a bit more thought into what they write.

We don’t need their money to run the business and our little black book is full. We’re looking for something else. What we’ve been looking for is the wisdom of a very special entrepreneur who’s been through what we’re going through.

What a lot of people don't realise is that there's a lot more behind such an investment. To flip the story around; how much would you have to pay for private consulting with Jeff Bezos? Put it another way, how much do you think it would cost for advice from someone who's been there and done that; an entrepreneur who's raised a company from nothing to the market-leader nay market catalyst; a multi-billion dollar company that's still responsive, agile and innovative.

Investment is all about providing capital in the hope of future return; usually the main investment is in the form of financial capital but the successful deals generally also involve the investment of social and/or human capital. In doing this deal, Jason and the rest of 37Signals have appear to have managed to secure all three; of those, I wouldn't be surprised if the latter were the more significant.

1. I know, I really should be over it. [back]
2. Though I feel that such comments would be better communicated on their own blog or privately [back]

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