The Buck Stops Here — refunds in 2017 come out of my pocket

Harry’s famous sign

This year I’ve decided to take Harry Truman’s famous “The BUCK STOPS here” sign literally.

So in 2017, all refunds requested by Basecamp customers will come out of my paycheck.

If a customer is unhappy with Basecamp to the point where they request a refund, it should be my penalty. We didn’t make them happy, and, as co-founder and CEO, ultimately that’s my responsibility. So it should be on me.

Logistically, we’re still figuring out how to implement it — a quarterly tally and then a subtraction, some sort of total by the end of the year that reduces an end-of-year dividend, etc. But however we do it, I’ll make my pay net of total refunds for 2017.

Will this continue into 2018 and beyond? We’ll see — this is pure experimentation. No set goals other than I want to see and feel this year’s refunds as a personal responsibility.


It’s 2017 — get back on top of your business again with Basecamp 3. We just surveyed 10,000 Basecamp 3 customers and 89% said they have a better handle on their business because of Basecamp. And 84% said their teams are more self-sufficient since switching to Basecamp. Break bad habits, establish great ones, and run a better business in 2017 and beyond with Basecamp.