From our CEO

Uncensored advice about product development and building a high-growth software company from Brian de Haaff, co-founder and CEO at Aha!

Collection884 articles
Help! — My Product Manager Lost His Mojo
July 14, 2013
Help! — My Product Manager Lost His Mojo

Brief periods of misdirection and confusion have happened to me and every product manager I have managed or worked with. When it happens, it’s everyone’s responsibility…

Why Do We Build Products That Suck?
July 7, 2013
Why Do We Build Products That Suck?

Is your product unsatisfying to customers? Worse, do you hate working on it? It’s one thing for your customers who probably only need to tolerate it for less than an hour…

Hey Engineers — Your Product Manager Needs a Hug
June 30, 2013
Hey Engineers — Your Product Manager Needs a Hug

My engineering friends, please consider the following sentences as a heartfelt plea. I know that we are taught in business to focus on the rational and ignore the…

Hey Product Managers — Stop Pissing Off The Engineers
June 23, 2013
Hey Product Managers — Stop Pissing Off The Engineers

Do you know a product manager who always makes the development team mad? Learn the 5 things all product managers should avoid saying to engineers.

All I Needed to Know I Learned at a Startup
June 16, 2013
All I Needed to Know I Learned at a Startup

I wanted to pause to consider all that I am grateful for and what — if any — advice I could pass along to my kids. And I had a revelation. My most important life lessons…

Should Your Startup Take a Moonshot?
June 10, 2013
Should Your Startup Take a Moonshot?

The moonshot is the purported antidote to incrementalism. It is about great aspirations and what happens when smart people do not worry about what’s possible today. To…

The Holy "Scrum" War
June 3, 2013
The Holy "Scrum" War

One of our generally mild-mannered beta customers caught me by surprise recently when he said, “Scrum zealots are like vegans and barefoot runners who keep trying to…

"Goal First" — A Product Roadmapping How-To
May 28, 2013
"Goal First" — A Product Roadmapping How-To

A goal-first mindset is key to success. Learn how to use our product roadmapping tool as a framework for setting goals and sharing your product strategy.

Great Beta Programs — A Contrarian View
May 20, 2013
Great Beta Programs — A Contrarian View

If your goal is great customer feedback during beta, people actually need to use it, and that means they need to sacrifice to make the time. And people only sacrifice if…

What You Can Learn from Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate"
May 14, 2013
What You Can Learn from Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate"

Have you seen the movie the Graduate? While in 1967, plastics might have looked like the future, it’s clear more than 40 years later that software is having the greatest…

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