Motion: A 2019 Startup Case Study – “Automate Your Day, Elevate Your Play!”

Motion

Motion is an AI-driven task, project, and scheduling management platform tailored for creative workflows. Since 2019, it has been helping professionals and teams optimize their day-to-day tasks and automate manual planning.

Founding Year: 2019

Headquarters: Mountain View, California, United States

Industry: Information

Business Model

Type: B2B, One-sided, Product

• Clients:
  • Agencies and Creative Teams: Marketing agencies, design studios, advertising firms, and other creative teams of varying sizes.
  • Individual Professionals: Freelance designers, marketers, writers, and other creative professionals.
  • Professionals: such as busy entrepreneurs, CEOs, project managers, service-based business owners, coaches, consultants, and creative professionals.
  • Teams: Small, especially remote-first teams.
  • Individuals: Those who have trouble focusing and/or are easily distracted.

It’s Like: Asana or Monday.com, but With a Stronger Emphasis on Automation and AI-Based Features

While Asana and Monday.com offer broader project management capabilities, Motion focuses on the nuances of agency and creative project management.

• Asana and Monday.com cater to a wider range of industries and team structures, while Motion specializes in the needs of agencies and creative teams.
• Motion prioritizes AI-driven automation for scheduling and task management, setting it apart from competitors that may offer more manual control.
• Motion’s focus on creative workflows is reflected in its features and integrations, catering to the specific demands of creative professionals.

Key Problems Addressed

• Overwhelm and Distractions: Professionals today, especially those in creative fields, often face information overload and constant distractions, making it challenging to stay focused and manage their time effectively.
• Inefficient Scheduling: Traditional calendar and scheduling tools often require manual input and adjustments, leading to wasted time and missed deadlines.
• Difficulty Prioritizing Tasks: Without a clear system for prioritization, important tasks can get lost in the shuffle, impacting productivity and project timelines.
• Lack of Visibility: Individuals and teams may struggle to maintain a clear overview of their commitments and deadlines, leading to potential conflicts and delays.

Key Features

• Automated Task Scheduling: Motion dynamically time-blocks tasks on users’ calendars, ensuring that high-priority tasks receive attention and deadlines are met.
• Intelligent Task Prioritization: Motion analyzes various factors such as deadlines, priorities, and dependencies to guide users on what to focus on next, promoting efficient task management.
• Comprehensive Project Management: Users can organize complex projects, and Motion’s AI turns extensive task lists into optimized plans, allowing users to concentrate on execution rather than planning.
• Automated Meeting Scheduling: Motion creates booking pages, displays availability, and schedules meetings at optimal times, reducing the back-and-forth typically associated with setting up meetings.

Founding Story

When and How Founded: Motion was founded in 2019 by Harry Qi, Omid Rooholfada, and Ethan Yu. The company participated in Y Combinator in the spring of 2020.

Problem-Solving Approach: Motion was designed to address the challenges of time management and productivity by using AI to automate scheduling, task prioritization, and project management.

Challenges: There is a need to refine their core value proposition and messaging to resonate more effectively with their target audience.

Innovation and Technology: Motion leverages AI as its core technology to automate scheduling, prioritize tasks, and optimize project management workflows. This focus on AI-driven automation is key to their value proposition of enhancing productivity and reducing manual planning efforts.

Key Growth Milestones

• 2019: Founding of Motion by Harry Qi, Omid Rooholfada, and Ethan Yu.
• Spring 2020: Participation in Y Combinator’s accelerator program.
• September 2022: Secured $13 million in Series A funding led by SignalFire.
• Present: Surpassed 40,000 users across 30 countries.

Market & Competition

Target Market

Geography: Global reach, with users in over 30 countries.

Primary Market:

• Agencies and creative teams of varying sizes, including marketing agencies, design studios, and advertising firms. This is Motion’s primary revenue stream.
• The global productivity management software market was valued at approximately $59.88 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 14.1% from 2024 to 2030.

Secondary Market:

• Individual professionals, such as freelance designers, marketers, writers, and other creative professionals.
• The global workforce comprises approximately 3.6 billion employed individuals as of 2025, representing a substantial potential user base for productivity tools.

Specific User Demographics:

• Professionals: Busy entrepreneurs, CEOs, project managers, service-based business owners, coaches, consultants, and creative professionals.
• Teams: Small, especially remote-first teams.
• Individuals: Those who have trouble focusing and/or are easily distracted.

Growth: The productivity management software market is experiencing significant growth, with a projected CAGR of 14.1% from 2024 to 2030. This growth is driven by factors such as the increasing adoption of remote work, the growing need for efficient time management, and the rising popularity of AI-powered tools. Motion is well-positioned to capitalize on this growth with its focus on automation and AI-driven features.

Potential New Markets:

• Larger Enterprises: While Motion currently offers an Enterprise plan, there is potential to further penetrate the enterprise market by developing features and integrations tailored to the needs of large organizations.
• Specific Industry Verticals: Motion could explore expanding its focus to target specific industry verticals beyond creative agencies, such as healthcare, finance, or education.
• Non-Professional Users: While Motion’s current focus is on professionals and teams, there may be opportunities to adapt its features for personal use cases, such as managing family schedules or personal projects.

Growth Trends in Potential New Markets:

• Enterprise Software Market: Expected to continue growing, driven by the increasing adoption of cloud-based solutions and the demand for digital transformation initiatives.
• Industry-Specific Software Solutions: There is a growing trend towards industry-specific software solutions that cater to the unique needs of different verticals. Motion could leverage its AI capabilities to develop tailored solutions for specific industries.
• Consumer Productivity Market: The consumer productivity market is also expanding, as individuals seek tools to manage their time and tasks more effectively. Motion could explore adapting its platform for personal use cases.

Number of Clients and Suppliers:

• Clients: Motion has over 40,000 users across more than 30 countries.

Competitor Landscape

Motion operates in a competitive market with established players and emerging solutions in the productivity and project management software space. Some of its competitors include

• Asana: A widely used project management platform with a broad range of features.
• Monday.com: A visual work operating system offering customizable workflows and project tracking.
• Trello: A Kanban-style project management tool known for its simplicity and flexibility.
• ClickUp: A comprehensive platform offering project management, time tracking, and other productivity features.

Motion differentiates itself from these competitors through AI-driven scheduling and a focus on automating creative workflows.

Marketing & Sales

Main Positioning Values: Motion aims to minimize the time users spend organizing their schedules, allowing them to focus more on actual work.

Website & Socials

• The official website at usemotion.com sees roughly 1.75 million monthly visits. Most traffic (over half) arrives directly, with the remainder coming from referrals, organic searches, paid searches, social networks, and ads.
• Top countries include the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands.
• Key social media sources are over 300k total followers: Predominantly Instagram (264k), Facebook (38k), and LinkedIn (6k). The brand has smaller audiences on X and YouTube.

Media Coverage

• CNET: Explores Motion’s AI-driven scheduling capabilities and user experience, noting its potential benefits and learning curve.
• Metapress: Provides a comprehensive review of Motion, highlighting its strengths in scheduling, planning, and task management while also addressing factors like cost and user commitment.

Marketing Strategies

• Target Audience: Motion primarily targets busy professionals and teams, particularly those in creative fields like agencies, design studios, and marketing firms. They also cater to individual professionals such as freelancers and consultants.
• Customer Acquisition: Motion employs a multifaceted marketing strategy:
  • Content Marketing: The company’s website features informative content, including blog posts and user testimonials, to educate potential users about the platform’s benefits.
  • Free Trials: Offering free trials allows users to experience the platform’s capabilities firsthand before making a purchase decision.
  • Social Media Engagement: Motion maintains an active presence on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to engage with its audience and share updates.

• • Paid Advertising: Their website traffic analysis indicates they utilize paid search and ads to drive traffic.

• Demographic Detail: While Motion targets a global audience, its primary user base is concentrated in the US, followed by the UK, Canada, and Australia. Demographically, their largest age group is 25-34, followed by 35-44 and 45-54. Their user base skews slightly towards male users (51%).

Product & Innovation

AI-Powered Scheduling

Motion’s core innovation lies in its use of artificial intelligence to automate and optimize scheduling. The platform analyzes user data, priorities, and deadlines to create personalized schedules that maximize productivity.

Contextual Task Management

Unlike traditional to-do lists, Motion considers the context of tasks, such as deadlines, dependencies, and available time, to provide users with a prioritized and actionable workflow.

Automated Meeting Coordination

Motion streamlines meeting scheduling by integrating with users’ calendars, suggesting optimal meeting times, and automating invitations and reminders.

Focus on Creative Workflows

Motion is specifically designed to address the needs of creative professionals and teams, with features tailored to manage the unique demands of creative projects.

Financials & Metrics

Revenue Streams

Motion operates on a subscription-based model with four tiers:

Type of plan	Billed monthly	Billed annually
Basic Individual Team	$34 $20/user	$19/month $12/user/month
Pro Individual Team	$69 $42/user	$41/month $25/user/month
Pro with AI Individual Team	$135 $82/user	$81 $49/user/month
Enterprise	Custom pricing	Custom pricing

Metrics

• Funding and Investments:
  • $150,000 from Y Combinator (undisclosed round).
  • $13 million Series A in September 2022, led by SignalFire.

Structure & Culture

Structure

• Leadership: Founded by Harry Qi, Omid Rooholfada, and Ethan Yu.
• Team Size: Employs approximately 95 individuals.
• Private Company: Operates as a private entity.

Culture

Motion’s company culture is built upon several core values that guide their daily operations and interactions:

• Take Personal Ownership: Employees are encouraged to take pride in their work and own the product, fostering a motivating and efficient atmosphere.
• Disagree & Commit: Team members are urged to voice differing opinions during discussions but fully support final decisions to maintain unity and progress.
• Raw Hours Make a Difference: The company believes that dedicated time and effort are crucial to achieving excellence and driving success.
• Straightforward Communication: Open and honest dialogue is promoted to ensure clarity, build trust, and enhance collaboration.
• Look for Opportunities to Grow: Continuous learning and personal development are emphasized, encouraging employees to seek growth in their roles.

Impact & Success

Customer Feedback

• Ease of Navigation: Many users find the navigation straightforward and appreciate the ability to create projects quickly. The AI scheduling and project management features are well-received.
• Increased Productivity: Users report being productive for 6 hours daily (vs. the average worker’s 2 hours 53 minutes) and saving at least 2 hours daily.
• Positive User Experience: Users praise the platform’s ease of use, particularly its AI scheduling and project management features.

Growth & Future

Challenges and Risks

• Competition: Motion operates in a highly competitive productivity software market, facing established players like Asana, Monday.com, Trello, and ClickUp.
• User Adoption: Persuading users to shift from traditional planning methods to an AI-driven platform requires effective education and demonstrating value.
• Data Privacy: As Motion handles sensitive user data, including schedules and tasks, maintaining data privacy and user trust is crucial.

Future Plans

• Expand User Base: Aims to grow its user base globally, targeting both individuals and organizations.
• Enhance Features: Plans to integrate more advanced AI capabilities to further automate and optimize task management and scheduling.
• Explore Partnerships: Intends to collaborate with other productivity tools and platforms to create a more integrated user experience.

Key Takeaways for Entrepreneurs

• Embrace AI, but Focus on User Needs: Motion’s success lies in leveraging AI not for the sake of technology, but to solve real user problems (scheduling woes, task overload). Don’t chase trends, solve pain points.
• Sharp Positioning is Key: Motion initially struggled with messaging. Having a crystal-clear value proposition is crucial. What’s the ONE thing your startup excels at?
• Niche Down for Venture Scale: While Motion targets a broad audience (busy professionals), their focus on creative workflows is a smart niche move. Investors love large markets, but a defined starting point is key.
• Content & Trials Drive Early Adoption: Motion’s reliance on content marketing and free trials is a classic SaaS playbook. Offer value upfront to build trust and demonstrate your product’s worth.
• Constantly Evolve Your Value Proposition: The world changes, and user needs evolve. Motion’s journey from “25% more done” to nuanced value propositions is a lesson. Stay agile, and keep iterating your messaging.