Asana vs Smartsheet: Founders, CEOs and History
Asana was founded in 2008 by Dustin Moskovitz, Justin Rosenstein and is led by Dan Rogers. Smartsheet was founded in 2005 by Brent Frei, Mark Mader, Eric Browne and is led by Rajeev Singh.
Company facts
Asana
- Founded
- 2008
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California, United States
- Current CEO
- Dan Rogers
- Employees
- 1,767
Smartsheet
- Founded
- 2005
- Headquarters
- Bellevue, Washington, USA
- Current CEO
- Rajeev Singh
- Employees
- 3,300
Founders
Asana
Dustin Moskovitz
Dustin Moskovitz is a US entrepreneur, a co-founder of Facebook, and the co-founder of Asana, which he ran as chief executive officer from 2008 until July 2025.
Justin Rosenstein
Justin Rosenstein is a US software engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded Asana with Dustin Moskovitz.
Smartsheet
Brent Frei
Brent Frei co-founded Smartsheet in 2005 in Bellevue, Washington, after founding Onyx Software, a CRM vendor he took public. He led Smartsheet in its first year before Mark Mader became CEO in 2006, and later served on the board.
Mark Mader
Mark Mader joined Smartsheet as CEO in 2006, a year after its founding, and is counted among its founding team.
Eric Browne
Eric Browne is a member of Smartsheet's 2005 founding team and an Onyx Software alumnus who worked on the early product.
John Creason
John Creason is a member of Smartsheet's 2005 founding team who worked on the early engineering of the cloud platform.
CEOs and their tenures
Asana
- Dustin Moskovitz2008–2025
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Ran Asana for its first 17 years, from incorporation in December 2008 to a platform with more than 180,000 paying customers, and retains a majority of the company's voting power through its dual-class structure.
Source - Dan Rogers2025–present
Chief Executive Officer
Second chief executive in Asana's history, brought in to restart growth by rebuilding the platform around AI agents while holding the margin gains that produced non-GAAP operating income of $56.7 million in fiscal 2026.
Source
Smartsheet
- Brent Frei2005–2006
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Co-founded Smartsheet in 2005 after building Onyx Software.
Source - Mark Mader2006–2025
Chief Executive Officer & President
Led Smartsheet through its 2018 NYSE IPO, its pass of $1 billion in ARR in fiscal 2024 and its $8.4 billion sale to Blackstone and Vista; retired at the end of September 2025.
Source - Rajeev Singh2025–present
Chief Executive Officer
Concur co-founder and former Accolade CEO; named CEO on October 6, 2025, succeeding acting CEO Sunny Gupta.
Source - Sunny Gupta2025–2025
Executive Chair and Acting CEO
Apptio co-founder who stepped in as acting CEO during the 2025 leadership transition and remains executive chair.
Source
Timeline: Asana and Smartsheet side by side
2005Smartsheet
Smartsheet founded in Bellevue, Washington: Brent Frei and a small founding team start Smartsheet to make spreadsheets collaborative.
2008Asana
Asana incorporated in Delaware: Dustin Moskovitz and Justin Rosenstein left Facebook and incorporated the company in Delaware on December 16, 2008, initially as Smiley Abstractions, Inc., renamed Asan…
2009Asana
$9 million Series A from Benchmark and Andreessen Horowitz: Asana raised a $9 million Series A round in November 2009 led by Benchmark, with Andreessen Horowitz participating and Benchmark's Matt Cohl…
2011Asana
Product opens to the public for free: After about three years of building a custom web framework called Luna and the Work Graph data model behind it, Asana opened its platform to the public at no char…
2012Asana
Paid plans and a public API: Asana began charging for the platform in April 2012 and released its API to third-party developers the same month, with Twitter and LinkedIn among the early companies runn…
2012Asana
$28 million raised to expand the team: Asana raised $28 million in July 2012 to build out engineering, support and sales as paid usage started to grow.
2016Asana
$50 million Series C led by Sam Altman: Asana raised $50 million in Series C funding led by Sam Altman, then president of Y Combinator, at a valuation of about $600 million.
2018Asana
Portfolios and the Asana Business tier: Asana launched Portfolios alongside a new Business plan in November 2018, giving executives a single view of progress and resourcing across many projects and pu…
2018Asana
$125 million raised at a $1.5 billion valuation: Asana raised $75 million in Series D funding led by Generation Investment Management and a further $50 million in November 2018 that valued the company…
2018Smartsheet
NYSE IPO (SMAR): Smartsheet lists on the NYSE at $15 per share, raising about $150 million.
2019Asana
Workload capacity planning ships: Asana released Workload in August 2019, letting managers see how individual team members were staffed across projects and rebalance assignments without leaving the pl…
2020Asana
Asana Goals links execution to strategy: Asana released Goals on July 15, 2020, a goal-tracking layer that connects company objectives to the projects and tasks underneath them so progress updates aut…
2020Asana
Direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange: Asana went public on September 30, 2020 through a direct listing rather than an IPO.
2020Smartsheet
Brandfolder acquired for about $155 million: Adds digital asset management to Smartsheet workflows.
2022Asana
Workforce cut by 9%: In November 2022 Asana cut about 9% of its global workforce in a restructuring aimed at operating costs after two years of rapid hiring during the remote-work boom.
2023Asana
Asana Intelligence brings generative AI into the Work Graph: Asana announced its first generative AI features in June 2023 and packaged them as Asana Intelligence on October 3, 2023, covering smart st…
2024Asana
AI Studio opens agent building to non-developers: Asana launched AI Studio in October 2024, a no-code builder that lets teams embed AI agents in a workflow and deploy them inside Asana.
2024Smartsheet
Passes $1 billion in ARR: Smartsheet crosses $1 billion in annualized recurring revenue in fiscal 2024.
2025Asana
Dan Rogers succeeds Dustin Moskovitz as chief executive: Moskovitz announced his retirement as chief executive in March 2025.
2025Smartsheet
Blackstone and Vista complete $8.4 billion buyout: The take-private closes on January 22, 2025, and SMAR is delisted.
2025Smartsheet
Rajeev Singh named CEO: Singh succeeds acting CEO Sunny Gupta after Mark Mader's retirement.
2026Asana
StackAI acquired for $75 million: Asana completed its acquisition of StackAI, a no-code AI workflow platform, on May 28, 2026 for $75 million.
2026Asana
Repositioned as an operating system for human-agent teams: At its Work Innovation Summit in June 2026 Asana unveiled a product suite built so employees and AI agents work from the same plan, context a…
2026Asana
Dan Rogers named board chair: Effective September 25, 2026 Rogers added board chair to the chief executive role, Dustin Moskovitz moved to director, and Jerry Ting and Tom Berquist joined the board.
Acquisitions
Smartsheet
- Brandfolder Inc.2020$155M
- 10,000ft (Resource Planning)2019Undisclosed
- Converse.AI2018Undisclosed
Questions about Asana vs Smartsheet
Who is the CEO of Asana, Inc. and Smartsheet?
Asana, Inc. is led by Dan Rogers and Smartsheet is led by Rajeev Singh. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Asana, Inc. founded vs Smartsheet?
Smartsheet was founded in 2005 — 3 years before Asana, Inc., which was founded in 2008. Smartsheet's longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Asana, Inc..
How many employees does Asana, Inc. have compared to Smartsheet?
Asana, Inc. employs approximately 1,767 people, while Smartsheet employs approximately 3,300. Smartsheet has the larger workforce at 3,300 employees, compared to Asana, Inc.'s 1,767. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Asana, Inc. and Smartsheet headquartered?
Both Asana, Inc. and Smartsheet are headquartered in United States, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.
Who founded Asana, Inc. and Smartsheet?
Asana, Inc. was founded by Dustin Moskovitz, Justin Rosenstein. Smartsheet was founded by Brent Frei, Mark Mader, Eric Browne, John Creason.
Which company has a longer operating history — Asana, Inc. or Smartsheet?
Smartsheet has been operating for approximately 21 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Asana, Inc. has been in operation for around 18 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Asana vs Smartsheet overview