How Podio Brought in Revenue Before Even Finalizing its Product Selling subscriptions during the development phase allowed the company to pay the rent, and what you can learn from it.

Kasper Hulthin and his Podio co-founders knew the approximately $120,000 they'd raised in angel funding wouldn't last long. So in August 2009, while still testing their collaborative work platform, they enlisted dozens of businesses to subscribe to the product, described as "Facebook for the workplace." In addition to keeping the lights on in their cramped basement office, securing paid subscribers at the early stage gave these Danish entrepreneurs invaluable product feedback.

The move paid off. In August 2010, serial entrepreneur Tommy Ahlers invested $500,000 in Podio and came onboard as CEO. In February 2011, Podio received $4 million in venture capital funding; the following month, it launched its collaborative platform to the public.