[ibejoeb]

Maybe for a designer. What about the accounting clerks, administrative assistants, CSRs, etc. that any company of size needs?

It's "unrealistic" because there are social realities that exist outside of the valley and tech blogs. It's true that it's a good company, and it's true that it's a darling company here, but there will be sectors that haven't heard of these kinds of places.

And, again, once you hit something of size, some delineation is a necessity. You don't have to model the Marine Corps, but when you have 30 people arguing over something, the buck has to stop somewhere.

[dhh]

Unrealistic implies that it's not going to actually take place. It is taking place. We've been running like this for years. We've had very little turn-over and remain good friends with people who left. So it seems to be working out excellently for people presently and formerly employed by 37signals.

The buck always stops somewhere. Whether you're two people or three people. At 37signals, the buck stops with Jason and me. Now it happens to be that when you employ smart craftsmen and women who care about what they do, there's very few loose bucks to stop.