There are a ton of different project management apps and programs out there. If we are being honest about them, 80% of these programs are absolute garbage. However, we just came across a new platform that is quite interesting. Taiga is an open source, agile project management tool. We had a chance to ask the team a few questions about their new tool.
Taiga.io
What does your company do?
We code and design for a living. We’re crazy about Agile; it makes us better at our jobs and our customers love it. We believe in Open Source because we are part of a global community that thrives on sharing creativity and skill.We love our work. And we want to be happy doing it. But the Project Management Tools that are out there weren’t making us happy. In fact we hated the whole lot of them. Bloated, slow, ugly to look at and unintuitive, we just couldn’t stand the sight of them a moment longer. So we banished them from browsers and built our own dream tool.
Why did you build Taiga?
We’re crazy about Agile; it makes us better at our jobs and our customers love it.
We believe in Open Source because we are part of a global community that thrives on sharing creativity and skill.
We love our work. And we want to be happy doing it.
But the Project Management Tools that are out there weren’t making us happy. In fact we hated the whole lot of them. Bloated, slow, ugly to look at and unintuitive, we just couldn’t stand the sight of them a moment longer.
So we banished them from browsers and built our own dream tool.
Taiga is a Free, kick-ass Open Source Agile tool. There aren’t many of those.
Tell us your founding story. Was there an “ah ha” moment?
It all started with a team at Kaleidos a Madrid-based company that builds software for both large corporations and startups. The team there is a lively happy bunch who feel that free & open source is the way to go when choosing tools. These guys and girls are fast-paced, burn with an obsession for failing fast, and demand transparency and certainty in order to be at the top of their game.
Though much of their time is spent working for clients, several times a year they break off for their own Personal Innovation Weeks (?WEEK). These are week-long hackathons dedicated to personal improvement and prototyping internal ideas of all sorts.
It didn’t take long to agree on a project for the first ?WEEK batch. Project Management. For their regular work, the team at Kaleidos used a variety of tools, but they weren’t enamored with any. Either they were bloated with features, slow, ugly to look at, unintuitive, expensive and remarkably in some cases – all of the above.
And so, Taiga (internally code-named project Greenmine) was born. The team wanted a challenge; they wanted the project management tool that sits open on their computers all day long, to serve as a continual reminder of why they love to collaborate, code and design. Month after month, the tool became increasingly more beautiful, flexible, powerful, elegant, simple to use and fun.
In early 2014. The tool was being widely used on all of Kaleidos’ projects. The team was loving it, and the clients were raving. It was time to graduate. Taiga Agile, LLC was formed in Feb 2014. When we turned our attention to raising money to feed this hungry beast, we didn’t have to look far. Kaleidos’ own developers and designers, its customers and its investors all dug deep into their pockets.
We named the tool Taiga after the forest biome because like its namesake, the tool is at the center of an ecosystem – your team, your projects. In our minds, the taiga presented a faithful metaphor for software projects in general: They look great from the outside, but once you’re in, if you’re unprepared it can be pitiless and deadly inside. We built this tool to ensure that you don’t just “survive” the Taiga, but also enjoy its beauty.
Tell us about your founding team and their backgrounds.
Enrique Posner – Co-Founder & Co-CEO – Entrepreneur/Investor – https://www.linkedin.com/
Pablo Ruiz Muzquiz – – Co-Founder & Co-CEO –https://www.linkedin.com/
