“I’m pretty oblivious to a lot of things intentionally. I don’t want to be influenced that much.” — Jason Fried
Look, Aku tau apa yang kamu pikirin sekarang: “Aku kan masih kuliah, ngapain sih mikirin founder mindset segala?”
Aku juga pernah mikir gitu. Turns out, salah besar.
Mindset founder adalah soal cara kamu ngeliat masalah dan gimana kamu respond. Jason Fried sama David Heinemeier Hansson (orang Denmark yang lebih sering dipanggil DHH) udah ngebuktiin ini lewat Basecamp. Mereka bangun perusahaan software yang sekarang valuasinya jutaan dollar tanpa investor, tanpa kantor mewah, bahkan tanpa kerja 80 jam seminggu kayak startup pada umumnya.
Ceritanya simpel kok. Dulu mereka punya design agency, terus sering kewalahan manage proyek klien karena informasinya berantakan everywhere. Instead of complaining atau beli software mahal, mereka bikin tools sendiri. Jadilah Basecamp. Thats it. No rocket science.
Mulai dari Masalah Kamu Sendiri
Ini principle paling fundamental dari Basecamp: bikin sesuatu yang kamu sendiri butuh, terus cari orang lain yang punya masalah sama dan willing to pay.
Serius deh, jangan bikin startup cuma karena “kayaknya lagi trend” atau “katanya AI lagi hot nih”. Itu recipe for disaster. Aku udah liat terlalu banyak temen yang bikin sesuatu yang mereka sendiri gak bakal pake, terus shock pas ternyata orang lain juga gak mau pake.
DHH bikin Ruby on Rails soalnya dia frustasi sama tools yang ada buat coding. Basecamp sendiri lahir karena mereka desperate butuh cara organize proyek klien. Notion? Foundernya capek sama tools note-taking yang ribet dan gak flexible.
Pattern-nya sama: they scratched their own itch.
Kamu lagi struggle ngatur jadwal kuliah sama tugas? Bikin sistem sendiri. Susah cari kosan yang decent dengan budget mahasiswa? Ada peluang di situ. Pengen belajar bahasa tapi duolingo bikin ngantuk? Create something better.
Try this: tulis 5 hal yang ngeselin kamu setiap hari. Gak usah mikir “ini bisnis potential gak ya” dulu. Just write. Pilih satu yang paling bikin kamu kesel. Congrats, kamu baru nemu potential starting point.
Aku pribadi lebih percaya sama founder yang solve masalah mereka sendiri daripada yang cuma ikutan trend. Soalnya mereka understand the pain deeply, dan mereka bakal keep going even pas udah stuck karena they actually need the solution.
Kamu Butuh Jauh Lebih Sedikit dari yang Kamu Pikir
Hot take: kebanyakan mahasiswa overthinking soal “modal” sampe akhirnya gak jadi-jadi mulai. Dan Aku pribadi udah capek liat pattern ini berulang terus.
Fried sama DHH ini konsisten banget nolak venture capital. They genuinely believe terlalu banyak uang justru bikin bisnis jadi boros dan lose focus. Dan honestly? Aku 100% setuju after seeing what happens to VC-funded startups.
Ini yang bikin Aku triggered: temen Aku pernah bilang “Aku punya ide keren tapi butuh 500 juta dulu buat mulai”. I was like… what? Mau bikin apa emang, pesawat? Turns out idenya cuma social media app lagi. Could’ve been built in 2 weeks pake no-code tools.
Here’s the truth yang jarang orang bilang: kamu gak butuh kantor. Kamu gak butuh tim 10 orang dari hari pertama. Kamu gak butuh investor dengan slide deck 50 halaman. Kamu gak butuh logo dari desainer yang charge 20 juta (honestly most expensive logos look worse than simple ones). Bahkan kamu gak butuh gelar MBA (unpopular opinion but its true, MBA is overrated for early-stage founders).
Yang kamu butuh cuma laptop, internet, and most importantly: action.
Fried bilang gini: “Embrace the idea of having less mass. Right now, you’re the smallest, leanest and fastest you’ll ever be.” Ini literally kekuatan terbesar mahasiswa. Kamu masih lean, flexible, bisa pivot dengan cepet, belum banyak commitment yang ngiket.
Aku liat terlalu banyak founder wannabe yang spend 6 bulan “planning” dan “research” sampe akhirnya idenya basi atau ada yang duluan execute. Meanwhile kamu bisa mulai hari ini dengan zero rupiah. No joke.
Shift mindset kamu dari “Aku butuh X juta buat mulai” ke “gimana caranya Aku bisa mulai hari ini tanpa modal”. Trust me, constraints ini yang bakal bikin kamu creative and resourceful.
Keterbatasan itu Blessing in Disguise
Counterintuitive banget tapi this is real: constraints malah bikin kamu lebih creative.
Jason Fried ngadvokasi ini terus-terusan. Instead of liat keterbatasan as roadblock, treat them as guideposts. Ini yang bikin Aku appreciate mahasiswa founders. Kamu punya constraints yang jadi superpower:
Waktu terbatas. Kamu gak bisa ngabisin 6 bulan buat “planning”. Harus bikin MVP cepet, harus iterate cepet. This forces focus. Gak ada waktu buat bikn fitur yang nobody asked for.
Budget nol or close to zero. Nggak bisa bayar developer? Learn to code. Nggak bisa hire designer? Belajar basic Figma. Can’t afford office space? Who needs one anyway, it’s 2025. Semua keterbatasan ini maksa kamu develop skills yang eventually jadi competitive advantage.
Pengalaman minimal. Plot twist: ini justru kelebihan. Kamu gak punya “industry baggage”. Gak ada suara di kepala kamu yang bilang “we’ve always done it this way”. Fresh perspective yang kamu punya is valuable. Orang yang udah lama di industri sering stuck di cara lama. Lo? Kamu bisa challenge status quo tanpa rasa bersalah.
Case study favorit gue: pas Basecamp pertama kali dibuat, DHH cuma available 10 jam per minggu karena masih freelancer. Brutal constraint. Tapi this forced them to “hammer the scope” dan fokus cuma ke fitur essential. No bloat. No nice-to-haves. Pure value.
Hasil? One of the most successful project management tools ever made.
Jadi sekarang: list 3 keterbatasan terbesar lo. Untuk setiap satu, brainstorm gimana kamu bisa turn it into advantage. Bukan cari cara ngilangin constraint-nya, tapi gimana make it work FOR you.
Done Beats Perfect, Every Single Time
Aku punya temen yang brilliant. Seriously smart. Tapi dia stuck di “perfection paralysis” sampe sekarang idenya belum launch juga. Udah 2 tahun.
”Logo Aku belum perfect.” “Website masih keliatan simple banget, nanti orang judge.” “Tunggu Aku belajar dulu 6 bulan lagi.” Excuses after excuses.
Meanwhile competitors launched, got feedback, iterated, dan sekarang udah punya paying customers.
This is where Basecamp philosophy hits different. They ship stuff in 6 weeks, not 6 months. They launch dengan 10 fitur yang actually work, instead of promising 100 fitur yang buggy everywhere. They iterate based on real user feedback, not assumptions.
Ini mindset shift yang susah buat perfeksionis (Aku tau soalnya Aku juga gini dulu): perfect is the enemy of done.
Kamu bisa polish logo sampe kinclong, tapi kalau gak ada yang pake produk lo, what’s the point? Kamu bisa belajar terus sampe “merasa ready”, tapi truth is you’ll never feel ready. Imposter syndrome itu real dan gak akan ilang meski kamu udah belajar 10 tahun.
Challenge buat lo: bikin MVP dalam 48 jam. Yes, dua hari. Gak usah fancy. Could be a simple landing page, Google Form buat survey, atau even just Instagram account dengan 10 posts buat validate idea.
Tujuannya bukan bikin yang sempurna. Tujuannya adalah SELESAI dan di tangan real users.
Aku personally lebih respect founder yang launch product “jelek” tapi dapat feedback real dari 100 users, dibanding founder yang masih “planning” dengan mockup cantik di Figma tapi gak ada yang pernah pake.
Ship now, improve later. That’s the way.
Punya Prinsip & Build Your Tribe
Jason Fried punya quote yang stuck di otak gue: “When you don’t know what you believe, everything becomes an argument. Everything is debatable. But when you stand for something, decisions are obvious.”
Real talk: kamu gak bisa please everyone. Dan honestly, you shouldn’t even try.
Basecamp controversial as hell dengan approach mereka. No VC funding? Banyak yang bilang impossible to scale. 40-hour workweek doang? Dianggap gak ambitious. No meetings culture? People said it won’t work. Remote-first sebelum COVID? Dianggap crazy.
They got criticized constantly. Tapi guess what, mereka juga dapat fanbase super loyal yang share values yang sama. Dan fanbase itu yang eventually jadi paying customers.
Jadi sekarang kamu harus tanya ke diri sendiri: kamu stand for apa?
Aku pribadi punya non-negotiables buat anything Aku kerjain. Misalnya Aku gak akan sacrifice sleep buat deadline (unpopular opinion di culture startup Indonesia yang toxic). Aku juga gak akan pake dark patterns cuma buat boost metrics. Produk Aku harus bisa diakses sama mahasiswa dengan budget terbatas.
Define your non-negotiables. Write them down. 3-5 aja cukup. Ini bakal guide SEMUA keputusan kamu ke depan.
Terus soal build audience, ini underrated banget.
Kamu punya luxury sebagai mahasiswa: waktu untuk build audience SEBELUM kamu butuh jual sesuatu. Fried melakukan ini lewat blog Signal vs Noise yang eventually punya ratusan ribu pembaca. Pembaca itu jadi pelanggan paling receptive yang bisa kamu minta.
Aku liat banyak mahasiswa yang langsung pengen jualan pas launch. Wrong approach. Better spend 3-6 bulan dulu share insights, document journey lo, provide value. Build trust dulu.
Platform yang bisa kamu mulai literally hari ini: Twitter/X untuk share quick insights, LinkedIn kalau kamu mau professional network, atau blog kalau kamu suka nulis panjang. YouTube atau TikTok kalau kamu visual learner. Podcast kalau kamu suka ngomong.
Content ideas yang simple: “Hari ke-30 belajar coding autodidact”, “5 kesalahan Aku pas bikin startup pertama”, “Behind the scenes gimana Aku juggle kuliah dan side project”.
Jangan takut share “secrets” atau “recipe” lo. Chef terkenal publish cookbook. Mereka share resep lengkap. Tapi restaurant mereka tetep rame. Kenapa? Trust dan authenticity beats information hoarding.
Start small. Post consistently. Engage genuinely. Your tribe will find you.
40 Jam Focused Work > 80 Jam Scattered Nonsense
This might be the most controversial take dari Basecamp, but it’s also the most important: you don’t need to be a workaholic to succeed.
Basecamp literally has 40-hour workweek policy. Fried sama DHH actively fight against hustle culture. Dan kamu tau apa? They’re incredibly successful.
Aku capek liat culture startup Indo (dan honestly global juga) yang glorify begadang, tidur 4 jam, “rise and grind”, hustle porn bullshit. It’s toxic dan counterproductive.
Here’s what people don’t tell you: 40 jam of uninterrupted deep work lebih produktif daripada 50-60 jam yang constantly interrupted sama meetings, chat notifications, dan “urgent” emails yang sebenarnya bisa nunggu.
Pas Aku kuliah dulu, Aku sempet kena trap ini. Kerja sampe jam 2 pagi tiap hari, merasa “productive” karena jam kerjanya banyak. Tapi output? Pas dilihat-liat, mediocre. Kenapa? Because I was exhausted, creativity Aku nol, decision-making Aku jelek.
Terus Aku switch approach: work 4-5 jam focused time per hari, no interruption. Block notifications. Gak terima meeting unless absolutely necessary. Rest properly. Hasilnya? Output Aku actually meningkat significantly.
Mindset shift yang kamu butuhin: stop counting hours. Start counting what you actually accomplished.
Practical tips yang Aku apply sendiri: time-block 2-4 jam untuk deep work, no phone, no social media. Communicate asynchronously whenever possible (not everything needs instant reply). Say no to meetings that bisa diselesaikan lewat email. Protect your time like you protect your money.
Long hours kill creativity. Rest is part of productivity. Ini bukan lazy talk, ini science dan proven by successful companies kayak Basecamp.
Stop Learning, Start Building
Fried bilang something yang hit hard: “Business isn’t something you learn in books. Or posts. Or threads. You can’t read your way to the right hire. You can’t consume enough content to produce a product.”
Aku guilty of this pas awal-awal. Nonton YouTube tutorial sampe 100 video. Baca artikel startup sampe mata perih. Follow 200 entrepreneur di Twitter. Save 30 tabs Chrome tentang “how to start a business”. Beli online course sampe 10 lebih.
Tapi kamu tau Aku bikin apa? Literally nothing.
This is tutorial hell. Content consumption addiction. It feels productive karena kamu “belajar”, tapi sebenarnya cuma procrastination dengan extra steps.
Basecamp lahir dari necessity. They needed a solution, so they built it. Trial and error. Real problems, real solutions. Gak ada lecture 6 bulan dulu sebelum mulai.
Look, Aku gak bilang learning itu gak penting. Tapi there’s a point where consuming more content doesn’t help anymore. You need to get your hands dirty.
Exercise yang Aku challenge ke kamu sendiri: minggu ini, reduce content consumption 50%, increase action 200%.
Build something, even if it’s ugly. Launch something, even if it’s small. Talk to 5 potential users and get real feedback. Write about what you learned (not what you read).
Aku jamin kamu bakal learn more dari 1 minggu building and failing daripada 3 bulan watching tutorials.
Knowledge without action is just trivia. Action creates real learning.
Question Everything & Keep It Stupidly Simple
Buku Rework basically is one giant middle finger to conventional business wisdom. Dan honestly, that’s refreshing.
”Kamu butuh co-founder.” “Harus raise funding ASAP.” “Launch dengan bang atau jangan launch.” “Target market harus sebesar mungkin.” “Business plan minimal 50 halaman.”
Bullshit. Semua bullshit yang people repeat tanpa mikir.
Solo founder bisa sukses (Aku liat plenty examples). Bootstrapping actually gives you more control. Soft launch dan iterate beats big bang yang flop. Niche market yang loyal beats mass market yang cuek. Business plan panjang often just fiction yang nicely formatted.
Basecamp melanggar semua “rules”. Buku Rework mereka cuma 27,000 kata (konvensi bilang minimal 40,000). Ada ilustrasi everywhere (business books supposedly gak pake illustration). Pakai bahasa casual, even cursing (professionals don’t curse, right?). Hasilnya? Business book of the year.
Yang Aku pelajari: just because everyone doing it, doesn’t mean it’s right.
Terus soal simplicity. Oh man, this is where most founders fuck up.
”App Aku harus punya 50 fitur biar bisa compete.” “Aku perlu AI, blockchain, IoT, AR, VR, semua technology buzzwords!” “Website Aku harus super fancy dengan animation everywhere.”
Stop. Just stop.
Basecamp gak trying jadi “everything app”. They focus on project management. Period. Gak ada HR module built-in, gak ada accounting, gak ada CRM. Just pure project management done really well.
Result? Millions of people use it as their single source of truth.
Complexity is easy. Simplicity is hard. Any fool bisa add features. It takes discipline to say no and keep things simple.
Kalau kamu lagi develop something: list semua fitur yang “mau” kamu masukin. Circle yang absolutely essential. Delete sisanya. Yes, delete. Kamu bisa add later, but if you launch dengan terlalu banyak, users overwhelmed dan leave.
Last thing soal profit. Jason Fried quote favorit gue: “Profit is the ultimate flexibility because it buys you the ultimate luxury: time.”
Jangan terjebak mindset “nanti mikir monetization belakangan”. That’s recipe for disaster.
Wrong approach: bikin app gratis, chase 1 juta users, raise funding, figure out monetization later, hopefully exit or IPO. This is stupid and rarely works.
Basecamp approach: bikin product yang solve real problem, charge dari early, iterate based on paying customer feedback, stay profitable and independent.
Kalau produk kamu gak ada yang mau bayar, berarti problem yang kamu solve gak cukup painful, solution kamu gak cukup good, atau target market kamu salah. Better tau ini dari awal daripada setelah burn 2 tahun dan a ton of money.
Charge small, charge early. $5/month? Fine. $10 one-time? Sure. $100/year? Why not. Yang penting: someone willing to pay means you’re onto something real.
Be Real, Seriously Just Be Real
Look, Aku capek liat founder yang pretend.
Pretend punya kantor fancy padahal work from kosan. Pakai “we” everywhere padahal Solo founder. Bikin LinkedIn post tentang “my team” padahal cuma freelancers projekan. Overstate company size di pitch deck.
Jason Fried sama DHH consistently advocate for authenticity. “Talk like you really talk. Reveal things that others are unwilling to discuss. Be upfront about your shortcomings.”
Dan honestly? This is where mahasiswa founder punya advantage. Kamu belum terbiasa sama corporate bullshit. Kamu masih bisa be yourself.
Personal take: pas Aku mulai first project, Aku totally honest. “Hi, Aku Solo founder, masih kuliah, might make mistakes, but Aku all-in on this.” People actually appreciated the honesty more than if Aku pretend punya tim 10 orang.
Authenticity is magnetic. People support underdogs yang honest. They don’t support people yang obviously lying atau exaggerating.
Show behind the scenes, even the messy parts. Share your struggles, not just highlights. Use “I” kalau emang kamu sendirian (it’s completely okay!). Admit when you don’t know something.
Less pressure to maintain a facade. More genuine connections. Sustainable in the long run.
Basecamp literally calls things “shit” when it’s shit, instead of corporate speak “this can be optimized”. That directness builds trust.
So, What Now?
Kalau kamu take away one thing aja dari filosofi Basecamp, Jason Fried, DHH… it’s this:
You don’t need permission. You don’t need perfect conditions. You just need to start.
Seriously. Stop waiting for the “right time”. Stop waiting sampe kamu “ready”. Stop overthinking sampe analysis paralysis.
Filosofi Basecamp basically boils down to: scratch your own itch, you need less than you think, embrace your constraints, ship fast and iterate, have principles, build in public, work smart not hard, do more and learn less, question bullshit, keep it simple, charge money, and be yourself.
Sounds simple? It is simple. Tapi simple doesn’t mean easy.
Implementation is where most people fail. They read this, agree dengan everything, terus… nothing happens. Jangan jadi orang itu.
Oke, here’s what you’re actually gonna do. Not “someday”. This week.
Week 1 - Foundation shit Write down 1 problem yang kamu personally experience dan pengen solve. Cari tau apakah ada yang udah trying to solve ini (probably ada). How can you do it better or different? Define 3 core principles kamu gak akan compromise. Pick satu platform (Twitter, blog, LinkedIn, whatever) dan commit to post there.
Week 2-4 - Build phase Bikin MVP. Rough tapi functional. Give yourself 2 minggu max. Show ke 10 orang, minta honest feedback (not from your mom, she’ll say it’s perfect). Iterate. Post progress updates. Build in public.
Week 5-8 - Launch & reality check
Soft launch ke small group. Setup monetization even if it’s tiny. Talk to actual users, figure out apa yang work dan apa yang complete waste of time. Adjust. Keep going.
Week 9-12 - Refine Double down on what’s working. Cut apa yang gak work (be ruthless). Think sustainable growth, not explosive growth yang unsustainable. Reflect, learn, decide what’s next.
Gak usah perfect. Gak usah fancy. Just start.
Kalau Kamu Mau Deep Dive Lebih Jauh
Baca “Rework” by Jason Fried & DHH. Seriously, baca ini dulu sebelum buku business apapun. It’s short, straightforward, no bullshit. Terus ada “Remote: Office Not Required” kalau kamu interested in remote work culture (which should be everyone at this point). “It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work” debunks hustle culture. “Shape Up” by Ryan Singer dari Basecamp team adalah modern take on project management. Oh, dan “Getting Real” available gratis online tentang building web apps the smart way.
Online, follow Signal v. Noise blog (signalvnoise.com). Jason Fried personal blog di world.hey.com/jason. Follow mereka di Twitter/X (@jasonfried dan @dhh). Brutal honesty dan hot takes everywhere.
Podcast-wise, Basecamp punya podcast namanya Rework. Jason Fried pernah di The Knowledge Project sama Tim Ferriss Show yang worth listening.
That’s it. Gak usah overwhelm yourself dengan 100 resources. Pick 2-3, actually read/listen to them, then go build something.
Real Talk Before You Go
Jason Fried’s books are basically calling out ke everyone that building something successful dan running yourself ragged adalah dua hal yang completely different. Kamu gak perlu satu buat dapet yang lain.
Kamu gak harus sacrifice health, mental wellbeing, atau relationships buat build something great. Kamu gak harus jadi workaholic. Kamu gak harus raise millions.
Yang kamu actually butuh: clear problem to solve, willingness to take action, patience to iterate, courage to be different.
Status kamu sebagai mahasiswa is an advantage. Kamu punya time flexibility, low opportunity cost, fresh perspective, network of peers, access to student discounts and free stuff. Use it.
Dunia gak butuh satu lagi “aspiring entrepreneur” yang stuck di planning phase forever. Dunia butuh doers. Builders. Problem solvers.
So stop reading this. Go build something this week.
Rework the way you think about entrepreneurship. Prove that mahasiswa bisa jadi founder tanpa toxic hustle culture drama.
Your turn to take action.
(Dan kalau kamu actually build something, DM gue. Aku pengen tau.)
Disclaimer: Ini bukan sponsored atau affiliate. Pure appreciation buat wisdom yang Basecamp team share. All quotes dan principles from official sources: books, blogs, interviews from Jason Fried, DHH, and Basecamp team.