My last post to HEY World

Recent policy changes announced at Basecamp, the makers of HEY, have caused me to reconsider how I use HEY.

For many years I’ve been a big fan of Basecamp. If you ask my friends to describe my dream job in one word, they’d all say “Basecamp”. Basecamp proudly and publicly stood for something and their principles aligned with my principles, or so I thought. In the past few days there have been a flood of stories from current and past employees of Basecamp that paint a different picture than what Jason or David would have the public to believe. Jane Yang, Head of Data at Basecamp, wrote a particularly disheartening piece that everyone interested should read. It appears as though Basecamp’s guiding principle is “a fun place for Jason and David”, even if that means an unsafe and unwelcoming environment for others. The way Basecamp operates isn’t particularly interesting - it’s how most companies operate - but the delta between what I thought they were and what they are, makes this a particularly hard pill to swallow.

I’m surprised at how much of my head space this ordeal has taken up. I thought of Jason and David as mentors, and of Basecamp as a dream, and I’m not sure what to think anymore. I do know that this will be my last post to HEY World. I’m going to continue to use HEY as my primary email, for now at least, but I don’t think it makes sense to further link my online life with the company.

I’m still trying to figure out where my writing will go next. To get notified when that happens you can subscribe below or check merimerimeri.com in a few weeks.

My heart goes out to the employees of Basecamp hurt by this decision.