Aha! Named One of the Best Places to Work by Inc.
May 23, 2018

Aha! Named One of the Best Places to Work by Inc.

by Brian de Haaff

I recently shared some good news with you — Aha! was named Company of the Year in the Stevie Awards’ 2018 American Business Awards. I also shared that this recognition was a perfect moment for the Aha! team. It is humbling when others recognize your success. And I am excited to announce that we just won another prestigious award.

Our team loves working at Aha! — and now it is official. Aha! is one of the best places to work.

We are included on Inc. magazine’s list of Best Workplaces for 2018. The list looks at private U.S. companies that have created exceptional workplaces through vibrant cultures, deep employee engagement, and stellar benefits. More than 1,800 companies applied for the award. From that group, Inc. and the research team at Quantum Workplace singled out fewer than 300 winning companies that are raising the bar in hiring and retaining the best people.

But here is what makes the recognition of Aha! as a winner even more rewarding for our team — we are building a very different kind of software company. Aha! is self-funded, highly profitable, and has no office or salespeople.

Dr. Chris Waters and I founded the company in 2013. And within a few short years, Aha! became the world’s #1 product roadmap software. We now serve thousands of enterprise customers and more than 150,000 users at leading companies, such as LinkedIn, AAA, Siemens, TIBCO, and Swarovski. These companies rely on Aha! to help set brilliant company and product strategy, capture ideas, and create visual roadmaps.

It is a huge honor to see our innovative approach to company building win us a spot on one of the most coveted lists of top workplaces.

We earned this distinction not only because of the great benefits and growth opportunities we offer, but because the team agrees that we are changing how our customers innovate and build products that their customers love. It is obvious that we are creating something great and lasting.

Inc. surveyed every team member at Aha! and 100 percent of employees said they were engaged in their work. Wow. They also said they feel valued by the organization and company leaders. Better still, “flexible” was the top word used by our employees to describe the Aha! culture. It was closely followed by “responsive.” I cannot think of two better words to describe a company that pioneered and is powered by The Responsive Method (TRM).

Here are a few comments that team members at Aha! shared with Inc. during the awards process:

“I’m still relatively early in my career but retiring from Aha! doesn’t sound so bad right now. Aha! isn’t a best place to work… it’s THE best place to work.”

“Aha! is the only organization I have worked for that is truly authentic about the values that it espouses… I feel so valued and appreciated — and that in turn inspires me to give more back. Add to that the explosive business success of Aha! and it is clear that we have a winning recipe.”

“It is rare to find a company that is growing fast and profitable at the same time. It allows us to focus on serving our customers and fellow team members — not growth at all costs. At the same time, the fact that the company allows employees to work from home is a huge benefit to each one of us, as well as our families, friends, and personal well being.”

“Aha! puts learning at its core, which helps everyone grow, and continues to meaningfully improve the benefits it offers employees about every six months.”

Aha! continues to grow quickly — we now have more than 75 teammates working across four continents, six countries, and eight time zones.

We do our best to make every person feel valued through our framework for success — TRM — and our shared commitment to building an exceptionally high-quality product. We demand the best from each other because nothing great was ever accomplished without big effort. And we know that when our team is happy, the company thrives.

If you are interested in learning more about our values and story, you may enjoy our bestselling book, Lovability. We are proud to be a different kind of software company — one that is what we call grandpa-inspired because it puts people and relationships first.

Being named an Inc. Best Workplace is more proof that you can truly do right by people and grow a business exceptionally fast at the same time.

Our team is (obviously) happy, productive, and we are hiring — join us!

Brian de Haaff

Brian de Haaff

Brian seeks business and wilderness adventure. He is the co-founder and CEO of Aha! — the world’s #1 product development software — and the author of the bestseller Lovability and The Startup Adventure newsletter. Brian writes and speaks about product and company growth and the journey of pursuing a meaningful life.

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