• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster

1

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
TechFuture of Work

These former Facebook execs want to restore balance to your workplace

By
Heather Clancy
Heather Clancy
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Heather Clancy
Heather Clancy
Down Arrow Button Icon
September 30, 2015, 1:30 PM ET
Asana co-founders Dustin Moskovitz and Justin Rosenstein
Asana co-founders Dustin Moskovitz and Justin RosensteinCourtesy of Asana
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Does your team spend 90% of its time requesting status updates, chasing deadlines, or trying to remember exactly who’s responsible for what—leaving just 10% of the workday for actual work?

Asana, the collaboration software company co-created in 2008 by Facebook (FB) co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and well-respected engineer Justin Rosenstein, would like to restore a healthier balance. Its self-serving prescription: Spend less time organizing projects in email and more time using its newly redesigned Web software to manage work tasks.

“No matter how great your tool is, most people can’t answer the most critical questions,” Rosenstein told Fortune in a pre-launch briefing. “What steps are left to accomplish a goal? Who is responsible for what? What’s the status of each task? You as a human run around trying to interpret the world.”

Since setting its sights on larger corporate accounts two years ago, San Francisco-based Asana has picked up subscribers for its work-tracking platform in more than 140,000 companies on every continent (except Antarctica). It adds upwards of 10,000 companies per month. Named references: Bose, Disney (DIS), Tesla (TSLA), and Toys R Us.

Like many eager software startups, the Asana product team raced to add new features requested by those early customers in order to keep them in the fold.

The downside of keeping certain users happy: Asana’s dashboard became overwhelming, an issue that Rosenstein and Moskovitz seek to address with the update rolling out this week. The result is a far less cluttered interface, although no features were actually eliminated. “We’re stressing simplicity by default. It’s like looking at a simple sheet of paper,” Rosenstein said.

Dashboard

The redesign unveiled Wednesday is a nod to the desire for “consumer-feeling” software that serves business needs, said Matt Cohler, general partner with venture capital firm Benchmark and an Asana board member since 2009. “I think everyone in the modern work world expects a combination of power and simplicity in their [software as a service] products,” he said.

That sentiment is echoed by Asana customer Mark Arnoldy, CEO of non-profit Possible Health. More than one-third of his 300-person staff relies on the software to do everything from monitoring fund-raising activities and recruiting new employees to tracking the delivery of medical supplies in rural Nepal. “It’s not hyperbole to say that this is my core system of record. It has fundamentally changed how we work,” he said.

The sheer number of software companies that fall under the $50 billion “business collaboration” category is overwhelming. That’s because the label applies equally well to messaging startups like Slack, one of this year’s hottest unicorns, and cloud file-sharing outfits like Box (BOX), which is prioritizing partnerships with the likes of IBM (IBM) and Apple (APPL) as it seeks enterprise credibility. And everything in-between. Asana views these tools as complementary.

If your brain craves competitive comparisons, Asana’s closest rivals in next-generation project management include Trello, which recently reached the 10 million-user milestone, and IPO-ready Atlassian, which has branched out from its early following among software developers to address the concerns of other teams.

Asana doesn’t share sales figures, but Moskovitz said the company generates annual recurring revenue of “10s of millions of dollars,” with profitability two to three years in the future. The company scored a high-profile hire this week to underscore its credibility with larger businesses: Chris Farinacci previously led the Google for Work team. Asana’s last venture round, led by Peter Thiel, was in summer 2012. It has raised approximately $40 million in total, Moskovitz said.

Subscribe to Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the business of technology.

About the Author
By Heather Clancy
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei pointing to his head.
AIAnthropic
At the heart of Anthropic’s clashes with the U.S. government, a decision not to play by the new rules of Trump’s Washington
By Jeremy KahnJune 30, 2026
3 hours ago
wb
CommentaryLeadership
I grew BDO from $600 million to $3.4 billion. Here’s the 3-part formula that made it possible
By Wayne BersonJune 30, 2026
4 hours ago
vinod
CommentaryData centers
Vinod Khosla: AI’s energy crisis has a fix — and it doesn’t need the grid
By Vinod KhoslaJune 30, 2026
4 hours ago
Jamie Dimon isn’t giving up the top job. That’s turned JPMorgan into a poaching ground for CEO talent
C-SuiteNext to Lead
Jamie Dimon isn’t giving up the top job. That’s turned JPMorgan into a poaching ground for CEO talent
By Ruth UmohJune 30, 2026
4 hours ago
Comcast’s split brings former CFO Michael Angelakis back as CEO
AICFO Daily
Comcast’s split brings former CFO Michael Angelakis back as CEO
By Sheryl EstradaJune 30, 2026
5 hours ago
marc
Commentary250 Years of Innovation
The U.S. Army is opening military bases to private billions — here’s why that changes everything for the next 250 years
By Marc AndersenJune 30, 2026
5 hours ago

Most Popular

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
Success
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
By Sydney LakeJune 29, 2026
1 day ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
5 days ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
3 days ago
'Humanity has chosen to become idiots': This Brown professor switched to take-home exams after a mass shooting and discovered mass cheating
AI
'Humanity has chosen to become idiots': This Brown professor switched to take-home exams after a mass shooting and discovered mass cheating
By Catherina GioinoJune 29, 2026
19 hours ago
The retired college professor fighting a $313 trespassing ticket in Wisconsin thinks he's part of a national struggle
Environment
The retired college professor fighting a $313 trespassing ticket in Wisconsin thinks he's part of a national struggle
By Catherina GioinoJune 28, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of June 29, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 29, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 29, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.