What is the best project management tool for a tech startup?

Not sure there is enough info here to help you. Does it need to integrate with financials? Are you time tracking? Do you need to track expenses along with it? How many people need access to the system? My suggestion is that you have a plan documented on exactly what the project management methodology is. Then you can take that process, send to a couple of vendors and have them demonstrate their tool with your process. The software will help you implement the process you have documented, but I suggest you don't rely on the software to lay the process out. Good luck.

We were using Base Camp and switched to Asana.

For general business usage, I like Asana. It's great for coordinating personal and small to mid-size projects such as prep for a capital raise, accounting close, putting a stock option plan in place, etc.

For software development, SCRUM project management is the only approach to use. Asana isn't a good fit for SCRUM, imho. (If SCRUM is a new term, Google it along with Agile Development. If your VP of Engineering doesn't know what these mean, fire him. Seriously.) I learned SCRUM from my VP Engineering using an open source program called Trac on an open platform called ProjectLocker. But Trac is feeling dated now, though still functional. I'm hearing good things about online scrum pm tools from TargetProcess and VersionOne but haven't used them yet.

It's really hard to tell what's going to suit your business without a detailed description of what particular tools you need. We are using www.teamlab.com in our company as it has a large variety of features in one SaaS solution. You ultimately get a project management tool a CRM system a documents manager and a calendar at the same time. Not sure if that's what you are looking for, but it is definitely worth checking out.

For a tech startup with no money to spend on such software, you should be able to get pretty far with a good excel template.

You may also want to check out smartsheet.com, which is an online spreadsheet that seems geared to project management. It's cheap, but not free.

I'm playing around with PODIO. You can kick the tires for free and it integrates with Google Apps. You can direct emails into Podio and turn them into tasks to be assigned to your team.

Your question is a bit like asking “What is the best shovel to use in digging a subway tunnel?” In my view, it’s relatively unimportant compared to the behavior of the project managers and the culture that supports them. A project management tool can facilitate, but not create, key management attributes like frequent communication, coordination of goals, dependencies and resources, and a commitment to be truthful at all times. For a tech startup, there aren't so many balls in the air that you need a heavy-duty tool.

Depending on what you want to accomplish, an Excel spreadsheet can certainly work, as was suggested earlier. I created Apple’s first company-wide product roadmap using Excel, with some nifty macros to create PERT charts from the data.

I agree with Earl 100% - well said.

Is this the best, I have no idea; I really don't like that question because it is 100% subjective.

I've used aceproject.com. Why, it did what I wanted at the time and was free for my needs (Unlimited Users, 2 Active Projects, 50 Active Tasks, 250 MB of Storage Space).

Not every project management tool is suitable for those entering the business. Even when potent enough to raise productivity, spare time and keep everyone on track, a PM software systems can be quite expensive. Conversely, free online tools often lack appropriate features, possibilities for integration and convenient interface designs that costly ones offer. What startups need is a solution that’s worth their money – an easy project management software tool that’s acceptable in terms of budget, office dynamics and overall objectives like - Asana, Aha!, Podio, ProofHub, ProProfs Project, Smartsheet and many more.

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