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37signals
Inside the Silicon Valley bubble, it's easy to get conceited. Technology happens here, and anyone who wants to do anything important in technology needs to come here. Except as any good technologist knows, innovation isn't about where you are. It's about breaking free from the status quo.
More Companies You Wish You Worked For:
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The 10 San Francisco Tech Companies You Wish You Worked For
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The 10 Silicon Valley Companies You Wish You Worked For (Or Started)
It's in that spirit that we bring you this final installment of our trilogy on companies you wish you worked for. All of the companies on this list (except one) were selected by veteran Silicon Valley venture capitalist and Stanford Graduate School of Business instructor Andy Rachleff, who in both of those roles and as CEO of Wealthfront helps young tech stars manage their money and careers.
In a recent blog post, Rachleff says aspiring tech workers should be wary of the hype surrounding startups. Instead, he says the best career move you can make is to hook up with a mid-size company that's growing quickly. Their success, he says, becomes your success.
In our first two installments, we highlighted companies in San Francisco and Silicon Valley that Rachleff says best exhibit the kind of momentum that job seekers could ride to career success.
As the private companies on this list show, Rachleff doesn't believe Northern California has exclusive rights to that momentum. The first nine on this list are his picks; the last is ours to make an even 10.
"The odds are that your startup is going to fail. Why take that chance early in your career?" Rachleff asks. "If you’re willing to take three years to work for a company with momentum, then your experience at the midsize company will allow you to do something more amazing in the future."
Above: 37signals — Chicago, Illinois
"Emulate drug dealers." "Meetings are toxic." "Planning is guessing." These are among the mantras for running a successful business proposed by 37signals' co-founders Jason Fried (pictured above) and David Heinemeier Hansson in their bestseller Rework, which should give you some idea of how working for them might be a little different than your typical 9-to-5 (though the two also don't believe that success is a function of working longer hours).
37signals' business centers on three collaboration web apps — Basecamp, Highrise, and Campfire. But the Chicago-based company, whose sole investor is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has in its 13 years helped to cement a certain minimalist, practical yet pleasing approach to web design that has heavily influenced the medium as a whole. 37signals also happened to invent a little something called Ruby on Rails, one of the world's most popular web development platforms.
Photo: CreativeMornings Chicago/Flickr
<noscript></noscript>
The 10 San Francisco Tech Companies You Wish You Worked For
<noscript></noscript>
The 10 Silicon Valley Companies You Wish You Worked For (Or Started)
It's in that spirit that we bring you this final installment of our trilogy on companies you wish you worked for. All of the companies on this list (except one) were selected by veteran Silicon Valley venture capitalist and Stanford Graduate School of Business instructor Andy Rachleff, who in both of those roles and as CEO of Wealthfront helps young tech stars manage their money and careers.
In a recent blog post, Rachleff says aspiring tech workers should be wary of the hype surrounding startups. Instead, he says the best career move you can make is to hook up with a mid-size company that's growing quickly. Their success, he says, becomes your success.
In our first two installments, we highlighted companies in San Francisco and Silicon Valley that Rachleff says best exhibit the kind of momentum that job seekers could ride to career success.
As the private companies on this list show, Rachleff doesn't believe Northern California has exclusive rights to that momentum. The first nine on this list are his picks; the last is ours to make an even 10.
"The odds are that your startup is going to fail. Why take that chance early in your career?" Rachleff asks. "If you’re willing to take three years to work for a company with momentum, then your experience at the midsize company will allow you to do something more amazing in the future."
Above: 37signals — Chicago, Illinois
"Emulate drug dealers." "Meetings are toxic." "Planning is guessing." These are among the mantras for running a successful business proposed by 37signals' co-founders Jason Fried (pictured above) and David Heinemeier Hansson in their bestseller Rework, which should give you some idea of how working for them might be a little different than your typical 9-to-5 (though the two also don't believe that success is a function of working longer hours).
37signals' business centers on three collaboration web apps — Basecamp, Highrise, and Campfire. But the Chicago-based company, whose sole investor is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has in its 13 years helped to cement a certain minimalist, practical yet pleasing approach to web design that has heavily influenced the medium as a whole. 37signals also happened to invent a little something called Ruby on Rails, one of the world's most popular web development platforms.
Photo: CreativeMornings Chicago/Flickr
