My Name Is Tyler Knappe — This Is Why I Joined Aha!
The universe is vast. And I have always wanted to explore it. Art, business, philanthropy, astronomy — I am interested in it all. When it came time to enter college, I was interested in two distinct areas: creativity and problem-solving. Computer science and astronomy seemed like an ideal blend, so I chose both as a double major.
I love seeking out obscure complexities and then finding new and interesting solutions.
Once I graduated college, I joined a healthcare startup as a software engineer. The company’s vision was to bring more transparency to medical pricing and diagnoses for consumers. My job was to help turn that idea into a full-fledged product. The company was eventually acquired by Aetna and I felt proud to play a role in its success.
Over the next few years, I did engineering and consulting work at two different startups — first at a software company and then at a digital agency. This gave me new insight into my own career aspirations. I realized that I was not interested in solving just any problem. I wanted to solve problems that actually improved people’s lives.
I found the opportunity to do this at TeamSnap. The company created a top-rated app that helps amateur sports team managers organize the rosters and games, while also keeping the players and their families looped in on key details — game locations, what gear they need, etc. Our user count grew from 7 million to 20 million while I was there. But even better was knowing my work was making a difference for kids and the people who supported them.
After a few years, I was ready to solve a new problem where I could impact even more people. As I was searching for opportunities, two of my former co-workers separately told me that I might want to look into this company called Aha! — it felt serendipitous.
Immediately, I knew that Aha! was doing something special. So, I set out to learn everything I could about the product and the team behind it. I studied the company history, read a great portion of the blog, and even started a free trial of the software. I was impressed with the complexity of the app and the leadership role of Aha! in the product management space.
The company’s vision resonated with me: a world of lovable software created by happy product builders.
I liked that Aha! was doing something different — something I had not seen before. During the interview process, I enjoyed in-depth technical discussions with several members of the engineering team. It was clear that everyone really cares about what they are working on.
I had to join — I knew this was the kind of place where I could make the kind of impact I was searching for. Our remote team works hard together, and we also really connect. On my second day, I remember having a very deep and technical discussion on a fundamental computer science problem during an engineering meeting. Moments like this solidified the feeling that I had chosen the right place to work.
Every day, I get to work on projects that directly help our customers and team. A project that stands out for me was our latest integration with Trello, using our new 2.0 framework. We introduced a lot of new functionality, like reusable templates, new record type mappings, and importing (to name a few). We worked hard to make sure it was all well-architected.
At Aha!, I am surrounded by fellow explorers. Our team is curious about the world around us and how to take on complex problems. And it is up to us to discover the right solutions.
That is why I joined Aha! — and why you should too.
