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Soft openings aren't just for restaurants episode artwork

Nov 12, 2025 14 min

Soft openings aren't just for restaurants

from REWORK Hosted by 37signals

This week, the team shares a behind-the-scenes look at how they bring in outside beta testers before a product launch. Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson share how they invite early users into the mix, what they’re looking for, and how it all shapes the final version. It’s a rare peek into the “guests are coming over” phase of building Fizzy. Key Takeaways 00:12 – Inside Fizzy’s early access phase 02:28 – Selecting beta testers 03:05 – Treating early access as a real-world dry run 07:11 – Cutting the to-do list down to what truly matters 09:59 – Why early access is different from beta testing Links and Resources Record a video question for the podcast Books by 37signals Sign up for a 30-day free trial at Basecamp.com HEY World | HEY The REWORK podcast The Rework Podcast on YouTube The 37signals Dev Blog 37signals on YouTube @37signals on X

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This week, the team shares a behind-the-scenes look at how they bring in outside beta testers before a product launch. Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson share how they invite early users into the mix, what they’re looking for, and how it all shapes the final version. It’s a rare peek into the “guests are coming over” phase of building Fizzy. Key Takeaways 00:12 – Inside Fizzy’s early access phase02:28 – Selecting beta testers03:05 – Treating early access as a real-world dry run07:11 – ...

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Soft openings aren't just for restaurants

0:00 14:48

Chapters

  1. 0:00 Introduction
  2. 2:28 Selecting beta testers
  3. 3:05 Treating early access as a real-world dry run
  4. 7:11 Cutting the to-do list down to what truly matters
  5. 9:59 Why early access is different from beta testing

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This episode is 14 minutes long.

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This episode was published on November 12, 2025.

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