Brian de Haaff's Blog, page 13

The Founder’s Paradox: How Do You Respond Instantly When You Are Super Busy?

You are so busy that you are tired. Really tired. Seven-days-a-week, 12-hours-a-day tired. And you still have more to do, more than seems possible for just one person. But you are not the only one — this is how it always is for company founders. You are consistently on the edge of too much, but you will go until you cannot go anymore. And then you do it again the next day.

No one is playing any sad music though. This is how you like it — it is why you founded a company to begin with. You cho...

4 Signs That Your Company Is About to Reorganize Product Management

“Reorg.” This word tends to spark a ripple of fear at work. But there is a type of organizational change that is happening at many of the world’s largest enterprises and it is not scary at all. In fact, it is something we can all get behind. I am talking about a transformational effort to better serve customers.

According to research by Gartner, 80 percent of formerly IT-centric organizations will experience radical restructuring as they adopt product management by 2023. Of course, I did not...

How to Stay Motivated at Work When No One Else Cares

Were you the kid who loved or hated group assignments in school? If you dreaded working in groups, I think I know why — you were probably the one doing all the work. While the rest of the kids disappeared to do something more fun, you toiled away with your poster board and glue stick to make the project just right.

Even more frustrating? You are still that same maximum-effort person today — doing all the work while everyone else is playing.

Yes, you might feel like you are the only one putti...

How Product Managers Deal With a Meddling CEO

Oh boy. The CEO is back from a weeklong trip. After meeting with customers and sales leaders in the field — now back in the office with a vengeance. You know what is coming next. A slew of emails and new feature requests scribbled hastily on a whiteboard. Sure, there are some good ideas up there. But the one thing that is lacking? A stable product strategy behind it all.

It is exhausting fielding requests from a CEO who is deeply invested in the product yet has no clear vision of where it sho...

No One Has a Vision for Your Product — Now What?

“Why are we building this?” This is a painful question for product managers. Maybe you have mumbled it when sales pushed through a new feature to close a deal. Or when leadership decided to pivot plans based on one big, angry customer. The reason for your “what are we even doing” inner monologue — there is no clear vision for what you should and should not invest in.

Leading product without a clear vision is like walking through a foreign city without a map. You might be moving, but you are g...

Hey Product Manager: Stop Listening to the Sales Team

Being a product manager is a balancing act. You need to be super responsive to the requests of colleagues and customers. But you also need to give them what they actually need — the things that will help you deliver more value to more customers in the long run.

What happens when your product starts being predominantly driven by requests from sales and support, not vision and strategy? It starts becoming less valuable.

Yes, this may sound harsh. But it is true. It is dangerous to set your pro...

The Founder’s Paradox: How to Create Space for New Ideas in a Company That Is Already Wildly Successful

What does it mean to “create space”? It is interesting because the word “space” is both vague and specific. It can be a blank area or a boundless expanse or even the physical distance between objects. But even when you think about it in these esoteric terms, it is clear that creating it requires action — make room for it.

For company founders, the space you create can be double-edged. Because how you choose to use that space can impact the team more than anyone.

You see, this ability to creat...

What I Learned From My LinkedIn “Ask Me Anything”

I asked for questions. You did not disappoint. Last week, LinkedIn invited me to do an “Ask Me Anything” event as part of Aha! being named to their top startups list for 2018. I knew the community would come up with good questions for me to respond to. But the range and thoughtfulness you showed was really inspiring.

Aha! being ranked among the top 25 most attractive companies to work for in 2018 was a great honor.

And it was great to continue the conversation with the LinkedIn community. Th...

LinkedIn Asked Us to Tell You How We Became One of the Top 25 Startups of 2018 — So, Ask Me Anything

Aha! was named a LinkedIn “top startup” for 2018 last week. We came in at #23 on the list, joining some big-name companies like Lyft and Coinbase. It was an honor to be included — especially since Aha! is not your typical startup. For example, we have no venture capital, no salespeople, and no offices. We are also highly profitable.

As you can probably imagine, our approach leads to questions. (Lots of questions.) So, I was happy when the team at LinkedIn asked me to do an “ask me anything”...

Meet 15 Furry Animals at the World’s Most Pet-Friendly Company

Little work, loads of praise. Too many snacks. This is how I feel about some of our Aha! teammates. Yep, I am calling these co-workers out — the ones who seemingly lie around all day. I have even spotted a few taking a nap during a video meeting. But I cannot possibly stay mad. How could I? They are simply too lovable.

As you can probably guess, I am talking about our pets.

Aha! is a fully remote company, so we work where we are happiest — often right next to our favorite animal friends.

Rem...