With Twitter and Facebook changing the way we communicate with friends and family, numerous startups have set out to introduce similar innovations to the work and enterprise space. Denmark-based Podio is an ambitious player in this space that recently came out of stealth mode.
Podio is not quite a "Twitter for business" like Yammer, nor is it a project management utility like Basecamp. Instead, while it has features of both, it wants to be a 'social work platform', and its pitching itself as useful for everything from brainstorming new ideas to managing activities, tasks, customers, decisions, meetings, and even a team blog.
The service is currently in an invite-only private beta. You can request an invite on the site and expect one in the coming weeks.
On initial login, Podio has you appoint an 'organization' (for example, VentureBeat) and 'spaces' (sub-projects in the organization, which in our case would be our sub-blogs like GreenBeat, MobileBeat, and SocialBeat). Each space is essentially its own workspace, with applications like Meetings, CRM system, Brainstorm, Events, and Decisions, which Podio lets you choose to install in each.
Applications are largely what set it apart from a heap of project management tools. Instead of having the software provide features like a group calendar or the ability to manage customers, the service relies on what it calls its 'App Store' to let enterprises choose whatever functions they want.
In addition to letting companies manage and install apps in their spaces, building an app with Podio is as easy clicking on the "Build new app" button, dragging and dropping boxes such as "Text", "Date picker", and "Member Reference", and selecting a bunch of options to manage feedback, interaction, and layout. So far, its App Store features over 2,000 apps created by users.
Podio CEO Tommy Alhers sees the app platform as the cornerstone of the product. "This is the only way we can be serious about giving the power to manage work back to the people who do the job."
Apart from the app platform, another appealing aspect of the product is its integration of social features. Users can, for example, comment on nearly every item in the product -- from a task to a brainstorm idea. Additionally, each item also automatically finds its way into its activity stream, a useful way to stay in touch with all the recent happenings in one's space, not unlike Facebook's News Feed.
While it's a product fairly well conceived, what makes Podio ambitious could also be one of its short-comings. The tool clearly sets out to be an all-in-one, everything-in-a-box solution for enterprises, but most enterprises are usually averse to changing their email clients, let alone the entire way they work.
Startups like Yammer have seen some success because they've only looked to change relatively minor aspects of the way people work, and not the work itself. For example, to incorporate Yammer into your enterprise, you only need to start using the tool to communicate short work-related messages (answering its question, "What are you working on?"). If it gels in the environment, the tool sticks, and if not, there is no downside to try it out.
Incorporating Podio into your enterprise, however, while simple in technological terms, means you need to consider work processes, applications, and the exact areas in which it can be incorporated. This may just be too much of a hassle for some enterprises. Ambitious as it is, the startup could have an upwards climb in terms of attracting and growing a customer base.
Based out of Copenhagen, Denmark, Podio currently have 12 employees, six of whom it recruited from other countries such as Germany, UK, and France. The startup received angel funding from Thomas Madsen-Mygdal and Ulrik Jensen back in May, and recently raised a larger round from Alhers, who also joined as its CEO. Alhers was also previously CEO of ZYB, which sold to Vodafone for $48.7 million in May 2008.