Announcing our Investment into Kadence
Problem: The “Future of Work” is a term of growing popularity with few definitions.
Oftentimes, we talk about the future of work when we’re talking about growth in productivity- the ability of enterprise software, for example, to streamline workflows. After the pandemic, we saw a dramatic series of cultural upheavals in the workplace regarding how work is done, and the role that work plays in people’s lives. We saw the transfer to remote work and how it created a lot of flexibility in the workplace, although less oversight. We saw the Great Resignation, where people realized that they didn’t feel valued at work, and no longer wanted to continue as they had been. More perniciously, we saw the rise of “quiet quitting,” where remote work enabled employees to slack on their responsibilities, anticipating that they might get fired. Finally, we see the “your bosses want you at work” development, with people such as Elon Musk saying things like “come in or you’re fired,” and “we only want the hardcore people.”
Enter: Kadence is built upon the best impulses and practices around both working from home and in person. Its platform is designed for modern, innovative teams to more effectively collaborate, realizing that both working from home and working from the office alongside others is where true productivity, as well as a healthy workplace culture will thrive, addressing issues of morale, retention, and productivity. Kadence, which is a platform that coordinates people, projects, and spaces, allows teams to collaborate through transparency around where they choose to work on a given day. Kadence (and its founder Dan Bladen) is a company that is building a positive vision of what work can be, reflecting a deep understanding of the driving forces around our shared future workplace.
With Kadence, you can create a productive remote work environment that fits your company’s specific needs. Kadence helps teams collaborate with colleagues, reserving flexible spaces, organizing events, and enabling them to discover their perfect hybrid rhythm. Kadence then allows managers to draw insights around their employee’s work habits, enabling them to concretely determine the appropriate culture and expectations around collaboration both in and out of the office. Studies have told us that the highest-performing teams are hybrid teams, and Kadence is the singular solution in the market that allows managers to unlock that growth potential within their teams. Whether you're just starting out with remote work or you're looking for ways to improve your current setup, Kadence has something to offer.
Why We Invested: We recognize that the future of work has not only changed, but it is here.
We ourselves have lived the trends that we are investing into, and Kadence is no different. We firmly believe that all types of organizations will benefit from the transparency and accountability that Kadence will enable. From a technical perspective, we also found the Kadence product to be miles ahead of competitors, and the customers we have introduced to Dan have said the same – current enterprise solutions are not cutting it, and building native solutions are inefficient and costly. Kadence shines through with beautiful UI, easy implementation, and wide integrations across existing collaboration platforms.
As hybrid work only becomes more entrenched, and the benefits of both working at home and at work become more defined, Kadence will sit at the nexus of this important and relevant cultural development. As a firm that is built on putting the human in human performance, we recognized that Kadence’s human-centered approach is something that we connected with. Furthermore, we were especially impressed by the drive and vision of the founder, Dan Bladen, who deeply understands these issues and is building software for his team, and for everyone else’s.
Team: Dan Bladen, Co-Founder & CEO
Dan Bladen is Co-founder & CEO at Kadence. Dan is a patent author, keynote speaker and has served on the leadership teams of international standards bodies. Dan is married to his wife, has three children. He studied at St Mellitus College, London, where received a degree in Theology.
Massive Market Opportunity:
The pandemic represented a decisive inflection point in the way that we are going to work in the world. We know that companies that are able to create a flexible work environment that allows employees to work remotely will be able to attract top talent and improve productivity.
Advances in technology have made it easier for people to work remotely, creating a delineation in tasks that need to be done in person, rather than virtually. Second, the rise of the gig economy has made it more attractive for people to work on a freelance basis- increasing worker flexibility. Finally, the increasing cost of living and the desire for a better work-life balance are motivating more people to seek out flexible work arrangements. The hybrid work model is poised to become the new normal.
While we have seen that these evolutions in work will entrench themselves, we also saw a market that was worth investing in to, because the current tech stack does not enable the type of collaboration and insights that tools like Kadence can provide.
To learn more about Kadence, visit their website at https://kadence.co/
For more info on TXV Partners, visit txv.partners or email us at connect@txvpartners.com