Getting Real: The Smarter, Faster, Easier Way to Build a Successful Web Application

37signals' original book, released free in 2006, that codified the early philosophy of the company: small teams, short cycles, simple products, no meetings, shipped software over polished presentations. The book predates Shape Up and is less systematic, but several of its arguments were ahead of their time and became mainstream — the distinction between features and overhead, the critique of requirements documents, the emphasis on real software over mockups. For product direction it is a short, opinionated read; much of it has been absorbed into common practice without attribution. Use it as historical grounding for the contemporary 37signals output (Rework, Shape Up) that continues the argument in sharper form.