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

Trendingnow

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
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
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Tech

kalshi
CryptoKalshi
Kalshi’s ‘chronically online’ war room figured out World Cup virality — and realized AI might be bringing back the monoculture
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 21, 2026
3 hours ago
fl
North AmericaElections
Trump-backed hopeful to succeed DeSantis unveils plan to protect local water, electricity from data centers
By Matt Brown and The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
4 hours ago
Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow
CommentaryHuman resources
The CEO who fired HR was right. About the wrong thing.
By KeyAnna SchmiedlJuly 21, 2026
4 hours ago
‘We all failed’: Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner on Hollywood, video games and the big question of IP
Arts & EntertainmentDisney
‘We all failed’: Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner on Hollywood, video games and the big question of IP
By Joshua HongJuly 21, 2026
4 hours ago
Jersey Mike's Subs restaurant.
C-SuiteCFO Daily
Jersey Mike’s tests how far investors will stretch on restaurant IPO valuations
By Sheryl EstradaJuly 21, 2026
5 hours ago
all five founders of SkyPilot pose for a photo
Startups & VentureTerm Sheet
SkyPilot, from Databricks’ cofounder, raises $20M to be the Switzerland of AI compute
By Lily Mae LazarusJuly 21, 2026
5 hours ago

Most Popular

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
22 hours ago
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Success
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
1 day ago
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
AI
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
By Jason MaJuly 18, 2026
3 days ago
Current price of silver as of Monday, July 20, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, July 20, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 20, 2026
1 day ago
It’s not just Taco Bell lettuce and possible glass in Pillsbury rolls: Food and drink recall events reached a 6-year year-over-year high
Retail
It’s not just Taco Bell lettuce and possible glass in Pillsbury rolls: Food and drink recall events reached a 6-year year-over-year high
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
1 day ago
The Treasury is walking a tightrope on U.S. debt by relying so much on short-term rates that are at the mercy of a suddenly very hawkish Fed
Economy
The Treasury is walking a tightrope on U.S. debt by relying so much on short-term rates that are at the mercy of a suddenly very hawkish Fed
By Jason MaJuly 20, 2026
23 hours 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.