LeanKit Kanban, Agile Zen, blossom, flow, FogBugz, GreenHopper, Hansoft, Jam Circle, Kanbanery, Kanbanzie, KanbanPad, KanbanPM, radtrack, Scrumy, SilverCatalyst, Simple Kanban, SmartQ, Trichord, UpstartHQ, (Oh, I could keep going)…
What do these products all have in common? Each one is a web version of the Kanban scheduling system devised by Toyota to help a company manage products and improve productivity by visualizing workflow. Using, you guessed it, Kanbans–billboards or signs.
Think you’re going to find a market ranking or user comparison of them all here? Think again. I’ve already written one master’s thesis, and my liver and lungs refuse allowing me to write another. No, instead, KillerStartups wants you to meet entrepreneurs from a startup location you may not have looked to before–Poland.
Kanban Tool is the latest product from ShoreLabs–a web development company with its home in Katowice, founded in 2009. To date, Kanban Tool boasts over 15,000 worldwide users. Their version of Kanban recently took first prize for “the best startup with global potential” at the Start-up Boot Camp, sponsored by the US-Polish Cooperation Council. As part of the second New Economy Forum, the prize includes a ticket to the 2013 Global Technology Symposium in Silicon Valley.
But don’t wait to meet them there. Here’s what they have to say.
How long have you been involved with the internet? What were your first steps?
I became an Internet fan in 2002. In that year, I made my first web page (it was terrible–and now I’m a web designer.
What time do you usually start work each day?
Around 9a.m.
Do you have an office or work at home?
I work in an office.
When do your best ideas come to you? In bed in the morning? During dinner? After working for 16 hours? On your third beer?
In the bath … or late in the evening.
We want to know about where you spend your day! Tell me exactly what you see when you look to your left.
I see roofs in Katowice.
What’s your office environment like? Is it the kind of place where everyone is bumping away to house music or is it more traditional?
We listen rock music, walk in slippers, and we discuss a lot.
A lot of people have big ideas. What gave you the confidence to actually put your life on hold and realize yours?
First off all, I think that you need to be self-confident to realize your ideas (I am). Secondly, you need to have strong support from your friends. It is also important to be optimistic about the idea and critical about the results.
How do you picture your company in 5 years?
We will definitely enter new national markets. We would like to shorten the innovations development time through new employees, in order to provide our customers with new, complementary products and better quality.
Where can our readers get a hold of you? Facebook? Twitter? Google+? Personal blog?
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kanbantool
Blog: http://kanbantool.com/blog
Also it is easy to find us on Google+ (KanbanTool), Twitter (@kanbantool) or Linkedin (ShoreLabs).
