When we set out to build Intworks, we weren’t looking to create another startup chasing unicorn valuations or disrupting industries for the sake of disruption. Instead, we wanted to build what 37signals calls a “StayUp”: a sustainable business built on enduring principles that create genuine value for customers while maintaining independence and integrity.
Our inspiration comes from two remarkable companies that have proven there’s a better way to build business: 37signals (makers of Basecamp and HEY) and Zerodha, India’s largest retail stockbroker. Despite operating in vastly different industries, both organizations share remarkably similar values that have driven their success and earned them fierce customer loyalty. These principles didn’t just inspire us; they became the foundation upon which our company is built.
The Foundation: Independence and Customer-First Thinking
Both 37signals and Zerodha built their empires on a fundamental principle: independence over external validation. 37signals emphasizes “An obligation to independence” while Zerodha operates with no external investor pressure, thanks to being bootstrapped and profitable from early days. This independence isn’t just financial, it’s philosophical.
When you’re not beholden to external investors demanding unrealistic growth targets, you can make decisions based on what’s genuinely best for your customers. At Zerodha, employees do not have perverse incentives as they do not impose any metric-based growth targets; be it accounts opened, app install counts, orders placed, or revenue generated". Similarly, 37signals customers fund their daily operations by paying for products. They answer to them, not investors, the stock market, or a board of directors.
The Anti-Hustle Philosophy: Quality Over Quantity
In a world obsessed with “hustle culture,” both companies champion a radically different approach. 37signals advocates to “Bury the hustle” and believes that “Small is often plenty”. Zerodha’s “drive has been an unwavering focus on depth and quality” rather than aggressive expansion.
This philosophy extends to their approach to work-life balance. 37signals practices “8/8/8” - eight hours of work, eight hours of personal time, and eight hours of sleep, while maintaining that “Companies aren’t families” to set healthy boundaries.
Transparency as a Competitive Advantage
Both organizations treat transparency not as a nice-to-have, but as a core competitive advantage. Zerodha introduced their “brokerage calculator in 2011, it was a radical step in price transparency in an otherwise opaque industry”. 37signals publishes their prices “right on our site, and the same no matter who you are”.
This extends beyond pricing to communication. 37signals believes “Poor communication creates more work” and that “Companies don’t have communication problems, they have miscommunication problems”. They’ve built their entire operational philosophy around clear, written communication that reduces misunderstandings.
The Anti-Advertising Approach
Perhaps most remarkably, both companies have achieved massive success without traditional advertising. Zerodha’s growth has been driven by “word-of-mouth referrals” and they practice “not advertising, spamming, pushing, or inducing customers to take actions that are not in their interest”. As Zerodha’s founder notes, “This is also why we don’t spend on advertising. Trading the markets is a serious business with serious risks involved”.
37signals takes a similar approach, focusing on creating products so good that customers naturally recommend them. They communicate “clearly and honestly” without “Buzzwords, lingo, and sensationalized sales-and-marketing-speak”.
Respect for User Privacy and Attention
Both companies treat user privacy and attention as sacred. Zerodha’s mobile apps “only seek permissions that are necessary for their functioning. There is no direct or indirect tracking or profiling of customer behaviour in any form”. They don’t use “third-party marketing ‘pixels’ or trackers” and practice “user-disengagement” rather than aggressive user engagement tactics.
37signals follows the principle that “Communication shouldn’t require schedule synchronization” and that “‘Now’ is often the wrong time to say what just popped into your head”, respecting people’s time and attention.
Decision-Making Principles
Both organizations have developed sophisticated frameworks for making decisions that align with their values. 37signals asks crucial questions like “Will this decision make more work for people that don’t have extra time for that work?” and “How does this decision impact customers vs. impact us?”
The key insight is that good decision-making isn’t about having the right answer immediately,it’s about asking the right questions and considering the long-term implications for all stakeholders.
How to Apply These Principles in Organizations
1. Establish True Independence
- Build sustainable business models that don’t depend on external validation
- Create revenue streams that align with customer value, not investor demands
- Resist the urge to chase metrics that don’t directly benefit customers
2. Embrace Sustainable Growth
- Focus on depth and quality over breadth and quantity
- Build products that solve real problems rather than creating artificial needs
- Measure success by customer satisfaction, not just revenue growth
3. Practice Radical Transparency
- Make pricing, policies, and practices openly available
- Communicate clearly and honestly, even when it’s uncomfortable
- Document decisions and reasoning to build trust and accountability
4. Respect Your Customers’ Time and Attention
- Eliminate unnecessary notifications, emails, and interruptions
- Design products that help users accomplish their goals efficiently
- Resist the temptation to monetize user attention through dark patterns
5. Build for the Long Term
- Make decisions based on what’s sustainable over decades, not quarters
- Invest in your team’s well-being and professional development
- Create systems that can scale without compromising core values
The Competitive Advantage of Doing Good
What makes these principles particularly powerful is that they create a sustainable competitive advantage. As Zerodha’s founder explains, “One of the biggest moats we have is the ability, based on our conviction, to say and to do things that are hard for others to do”.
When you operate with genuine integrity and customer focus, you build something that’s difficult for competitors to replicate. You create a culture that attracts the best talent, customers who become advocates, and a business model that can weather economic storms.
Conclusion: The Path Forward
The success of 37signals and Zerodha proves that there’s an alternative to the traditional playbook of growth-at-all-costs. By prioritizing customer value over shareholder value, quality over quantity, and transparency over marketing gimmicks, these companies have built sustainable, profitable businesses that genuinely improve their customers’ lives.
The question isn’t whether these principles work, the results speak for themselves. The question is whether you’re willing to embrace them, even when they conflict with conventional business wisdom. As both companies demonstrate, the path of principled business isn’t just ethically superior, it’s also more likely to lead to long-term success and genuine fulfillment.
In a world increasingly skeptical of corporate motives, organizations that genuinely put their principles first don’t just survive, they thrive. They become the companies that people want to work for, buy from, and recommend to others. And perhaps most importantly, they create a positive impact that extends far beyond their bottom line.
The choice is clear: continue playing the old game of aggressive growth and customer exploitation, or chart a new course based on integrity, transparency, and genuine value creation. The companies that choose the latter will be the ones that define the future of business.
We’re excited to be part of this movement, and we invite others to join us in building a better way to do business.
