I found this gem over at the 37 signals corporate blog, its a presentation David Heinemeier Hansson did at the Startup School conference called The Secret to making money online.

Its a great video about how 37 signals has become a profitable business over the last 4-5 years without taking any venture capital funding or outside investment. Certainly a strange topic to discuss at a conference that is geared towards helping start up companies raise vc funding!

The tone of the video borders on hilarious at times with my absolute favorite part coming about 5 minutes just after David explains their business model (make a product, get some people to pay for it, make it better), he exclaims that its not rocket surgery!

Its really refreshing to see this kind of attitude in the high stakes work of internet businesses, and it goes to show that a commitment to your business, product and customers can make you just as successful as a huge exit to google or microsoft.