When I turned 30, I made it a goal to summit the highest point of the 48 contiguous U.S. states within the next 10 years. I celebrated achieving that goal (plus one) at the highest point in Hawaii, Mauna Kea, on my 40th birthday. As I write this, I am packing for a trip to Alaska. And while I do not plan to attempt Denali, I will feel an extra sense of accomplishment when I can say I have been to all 50 states. Read more…
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. Read more…
894,591 messages. That is the number of chat messages our team at Aha! sent internally last year. The instant dialogue helps everyone move quicker and encourages collaboration. No matter which chat app you choose, one thing is certain — team messaging is dramatically changing the way we communicate at work.
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“A high-growth software company where I can stay close to the customer.” The hiring managers asked me what kind of company I saw myself working for and I gave this response. This was a number of years ago, before I joined Aha! The panel smiled knowingly before replying that those jobs simply do not exist — not everybody gets to work with customers. While that may be true in some organizations, I knew that it would never be true for me. Read more…
“I love the new strategic models!” This was a note that a happy customer shared with us last week after we launched the new templates. We are always delighted when people take the time to send a note of thanks. And we are glad to see the enthusiasm for the new strategy capabilities.
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We are building a different kind of technology company at Aha! No venture funding, no offices, and no salespeople. A company that has been highly profitable from the start. We are proud of the value that we have created for customers and the team. And it fills us with gratitude when others recognize this as well.
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It started with hand-drawn comic books. Most starred my dogs, but the occasional space pirate made an appearance. Although I loved writing and drawing as a kid, as I got older, I found my aptitude for math pulling me towards the technical and pushing me further from the creative path. So in college, I pursued computer science — at first. Read more…
“So… what is our strategy?” I was once asked this at a quarterly executive review meeting. Twenty different answers raced through my head. The product strategy or the business strategy? Our strategy for this year or longer term? Of course, we were thinking strategically and had big plans. But the truth is that, considering someone had to ask that question, we really did not have a strategy at all.
For as long as I can remember, three questions have guided how I look at most things in the world. How does this work? Why do we do it this way? Could we do it better? As a kid, I spent hours taking apart electronics (small radios, flashlights, whatever could be disassembled with a screwdriver and determination) to learn how they worked, why they worked that way, and to see if my tinkering could make them better. Read more…
Flexibility and consistency. These words can seem to be at odds with each other — especially when applied to product management practices. You want to make your processes your own. But you also want everyone to follow the same approach. It is a good thing that Aha! allows you to do both.
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Language has always fascinated me. It is a tool for communication that allows people to convey their ideas, needs, and wants. I studied modern languages (French and Japanese) at university — it gave me a deep appreciation of what it takes to understand others and made me more intentional about how I communicate in English as well. Read more…
T-shirt sizes. Planning poker. Bucket system. These are just a few of the techniques that agile teams use to estimate work. However, no matter which method used, there is one commonality — it is important to tie those estimates back to your roadmap so that you always have a clear picture into the effort required and the impact on your product plan. Read more…
Engineering just shipped the latest release. The UI team finalized three designs. Marketing has a new blog post ready for product review. And it all happened this morning. Yikes. How do you keep track of every change — without being tied to your inbox for updates? You need something that notifies you in real time without taking you away from your most meaningful work.
It was my first year of high school. I was doing fine scholastically, but I did not yet have a passion — my “thing.” So I decided to pursue two things that genuinely interested me at the time: the soccer team and the school musical. Turns out, I am really bad at soccer. But I did get the lead in the high school musical. Read more…
What brought you to this blog today? Was it curiosity? Your desire to be a better leader? Probably both — those two are inseparable. Technology changes so fast these days. And that affects everything from customer preferences and expectations to how we guide and engage team members. To stay on top of all these developments, you have to be tenaciously curious. Read more…