Aha! Blog

July 21, 2013

The Alpha Engineer

The Alpha Engineer rules Silicon Valley and all great technology ecosystems. He holds the highest rank in technical communities worldwide and is rewarded with the…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…