My Name Is Keith Brown — This Is Why I Joined Aha!
November 19, 2014

My Name Is Keith Brown — This Is Why I Joined Aha!

by Why I Joined Aha!

I just joined Aha! Here’s why. I came from a top-10 SaaS company, where I managed a digital marketing team of 65 people, supported 50 products, and drove $400M in annual revenue. And before that, I was a subject matter expert for the largest provider of local marketing solutions nationwide. I championed best marketing practices for 400,000 clients and an army of 3,000 sales representatives. I’ve accomplished a lot, but I really wanted to help scale a rapidly growing company.

Some people have told me that I’m allergic to boredom, and that’s certainly true. I thrive on executing new ideas and being on the cutting edge of technology. There is a lot more to work than just a paycheck.

I approached Aha! because I could tell that something very special was happening. The company had quietly become the obvious choice for product teams to create brilliant product strategy and visual roadmaps.

And when I connected with the team at Aha!, I saw the opportunity to be a part of something different. More than just another SaaS company, they had pioneered a new approach to building software. And they were growing fast.

Aha! quite simply is product roadmap software. It helps product managers and their teams build what matters and be loved by customers and engineering. It’s not a bug or engineering system or a project management application. Aha! is cloud-based software that enables you to collaborate with your product team to build great products.

When I think of Aha!, I think of every Microsoft PowerPoint presentation I’ve ever put together for a CEO to showcase product strategy and roadmap. I think of every Excel spreadsheet I’ve used to track initiatives and every time I had to take bugs from an engineer tool and put them into a more digestible format. That’s why the top technology companies and over 50,000 of their employees trust Aha!

One of my favorite business books is Good to Great, and in it, Jim Collins talks about the level 5 leader. And if there is one lesson I have learned in my professional career, it is the law of the lid.

Leadership ability is the lid that determines a person’s level of effectiveness. The lower an individual’s ability to lead, the lower the lid on their potential. The higher the individual’s ability to lead, the higher the lid on their potential.

We have a phenomenal team, and that means there is no lid on where this rocket will take us. I wake up each morning happy to do what I know how to do and thrilled to be scaling excellence.

That is why I joined Aha! — and why you should too.