Discover why Blue's self-funded, customer-focused approach delivers unmatched simplicity, affordability, and flexibility in project management.
July 24, 2024
At Blue, we know that customers have options when it comes to project and process management software.
Customers typically ask themselves three key questions when they are navigating a buying decision:
Value propositions are the answer the second question: Why should I buy from you?
And so this write up today is going to answer precisely this: Why should anyone buy from Blue?
After all, competitors such as Airtable, Asana, ClickUp, Monday, and Notion have cumulatively raised $3B+. Surely they are the ones that customers should go for?
Sure, we may not have access to the same vast engineering teams or large marketing budgets that come from billions in funding. But being self-funded actually strengthens our commitment to customer satisfaction. We’re free from the pressures of outside investors, which means our goals are entirely in sync with your needs.
Every decision we make—whether it's about developing new features or improving our products—focuses solely on what's best for you, our users. We’re not chasing after rapid growth or quick profits at your expense. Instead, we’re dedicated to providing real value that meets your needs and listens to your feedback.
This freedom helps us innovate effectively. We’re not racing to diversify or expand unnecessarily; we can channel our efforts into refining what we already offer. Our development process is streamlined, ensuring you get a product that’s easy to use and works well.
We’re not creating features just to impress investors or satisfy a competitive checklist; we’re building what you really need and want.
Being self-funded also means we can grow sustainably, with an emphasis on maintaining quality and building personal relationships with our customers. We’re not fixated on meeting arbitrary growth targets. Instead, we’re focused on creating a reliable platform you can trust over the long haul.
This strategy gives you a sense of stability that often disappears in the world of venture-backed startups.
One of the biggest benefits of being self-funded is our ability to adapt quickly. When market needs or customer feedback shift, we can respond without waiting for lengthy approval processes.
Our pricing model reflects this approach, too. Without the need to inflate prices to satisfy investors or fund lavish marketing campaigns, we can offer straightforward pricing that’s 50% to 70% more affordable than many competitors. You can trust that you’re paying for quality—not for venture capital overhead.
Most importantly, our self-funded status creates a culture deeply focused on customer satisfaction. With no outside pressures pulling us in different directions, our entire team is committed to delivering value to you.
This fosters an environment where everyone cares about your success, understanding that our growth is tied to your satisfaction.
So, while we may not have the extensive resources that some venture-backed companies do, our self-funded model lets us offer something even more valuable: a product and a company genuinely dedicated to your best interests. When you choose Blue, you’re not just selecting a tool—you’re partnering with a company that’s wholeheartedly invested in your success, both now and in the future.
So let's think about it — these companies that raise hundreds of millions.
What do they do with it?
Simple — you hire hundreds of engineers to build more feature so you can attract a wide variety of customers across many use cases, and then you spend a crazy amount of money on "performance marketing" to aquire new customers.
However, if a venture-funded organisation goes out and hires 100s of engineers, you have to give them something to do. This means feature bloat, and often over-complicated features because teams are trying to be clever, not useful.
Once you start down the path of complexity, it's extremely difficult to turn back. Generally, you cannot start removing features, you can only add.
Our advantage is that we do not have 100s of engineers, and so we have to pick and choose our battles carefully.
A feature really has to be a YES to get built.
We do less, but better.
This means that our product is simpler to use and understand.
From a customer's perspective, this means:
Most of our competitors operate from some of the world's most expensive cities, and their base costs reflect this. In the end, customers pay for all the inflated costs.
Blue offers an 80/20 approach: 80% of their Enterprise feature set at 20% of the price.
This value proposition is especially attractive in the current economic climate, where companies are trying to save costs and ensure they can continue operating.
A team of 30 people using Asana using the business edition can expect to pay $10,976/year (30 users * $30.49 per user * 12 months).
The same team would only pay $2,520 (30 users * $7 per user * 12 months). Blue is only 22% of the cost of Asana — and that does not even count for Asana's more expensive plans, whose prices are not available on their website.
Aspect | Blue | Asana (Business Edition) |
---|---|---|
Monthly price per user | $7 | $30.49 |
Annual cost for 30 users | $2,520 | $10,976 |
Percentage of Asana's cost | 22% | 100% |
Free user types | Yes | Limited |
Blue also has a generous amount of free user types.
From a customer's perspective, this means:
The key point to drive home here is that an organisation should not have to change their processes to fit a platform, but the platform should change to fit their processes. This is important because the way that businesses (i.e. our clients!) differentiate themselves in their markets should be through their unique business processes.
After all, if they are just following "best practices" like everyone else, how can they serve their customers any better than their competition?
Blue provides a flexible toolset that does not create a straight-jacket for an organisation. Teams can add custom fields and define their process steps and project management automations to achieve their business objectives precisely.
From a customer's perspective, this means:
As we've explored throughout this article, Blue stands apart in the crowded field of project management solutions. Our unique combination of simplicity, affordability, and flexibility isn't just a set of features—it's a reflection of our core mission:
To organize the world's work by building the best project management platform on the planet—simple, powerful, flexible, and affordable for all.
And this mission drives everything we do.