I’ve been reading 37signals’ “Getting Real” and I like what I’ve read so far. The most striking passage so far is this one:

All the cash, all the marketing, all the people in the world can’t buy the agility you get from being small.

This is one of the reasons I don’t worry about growth. I intentionally keep my needs modest so that they don’t conflict with my desire to be free from overcommitment. The more committed you are to longer-term courses of action, the more money you need, the more you need to do what you’ve been doing (but better, faster, cheaper) and the less intentional your work becomes.

Have you ever looked at a child and said, “Don’t be in a hurry to grow up; it’s not as great as it looks”? I feel the same way about small companies: don’t be in such a hurry to grow up; it’s not as great as it looks.