Basecamp Gets The Basics Rights- It’s All About Customers

Tech leader Basecamp and its executives recently got in political hot water for publicly declaring that they are putting customers before politics in the workplace. Basecamp asked its employees to avoid discussing politics in the office and on company communications platforms. Taking this position garnered media controversy, but our founder argued at Real Clear Markets that the decision was in line with Basecamp’s goal to continue growing as a dynamic company while breaking business “norms.”

Dustin pointed out that some companies that took a side on political issues have come to regret it after dividing their customer base and backtracking to avoid even more controversy. Basecamp’s approach to this problem is to avoid the controversies entirely, and by making its statement public, Basecamp was able to get ahead of selective or misleading narratives that would inevitably emerge.

There’s no guarantee that Basecamp’s strategy will succeed – or whether the company will live up to its own commitment to not let politics impact its work. But the company has weathered much more serious storms, and so this is probably the right move.

Read the full article at Real Clear Markets here.