Brian de Haaff

Professional background

Brian de Haaff is the co-founder and CEO of Aha! — the world's #1 product development software. He has spent two decades building market-leading software companies. Brian writes and speaks about product and company growth and the journey of pursuing a meaningful life.

He co-founded Aha! in 2013 with Dr. Chris Waters to develop a goal-first approach to helping enterprises build software their customers would love. They coined terms such as the Minimum Lovable Product, Complete Product Experience, and The Responsive Method, which have become industry standards. They also chose an unconventional path: self-funding the company, hiring product experts to work with customers, and building a totally remote team long before it was common.

Aha! defined an entirely new category — product roadmapping — and now offers a complete suite of products covering the entire development lifecycle:

• Aha! Roadmaps: Set strategy, prioritize features, and create visual roadmaps

• Aha! Discovery: Centralize meeting transcripts, uncover key product insights, and link them to your roadmap

• Aha! Ideas: Crowdsource feedback, engage your community, and prioritize what drives revenue

• Aha! Whiteboards: Define user flows, create mockups, and collaborate on roadmaps

• Aha! Knowledge: Craft documents, add visuals, and share everything in a central place

• Aha! Teamwork: Choose how you work, manage all tasks, and stay aligned with strategic plans

• Aha! Develop: Ensure product and engineering seamlessly work together

The company also established Aha! Academy to help teams develop strategic roadmapping skills and deepen their product development knowledge.

Brian has led Aha! to serve more than 1 million product builders worldwide — across companies of every size, from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises — and to grow well past $100 million in annual revenue. Under his leadership, Aha! has achieved remarkable growth milestones, ranking #143 on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies, #50 on Deloitte's Technology Fast 500, and in the top 100 on Forbes' 2021 list of best startups.

Brian has been a founder or early employee of five companies that were acquired by public corporations. He graduated with honors from UC Berkeley (B.A.) and Northwestern University (M.S.).