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- Superhuman's Product Market Fit Addiction 🦹
Superhuman's Product Market Fit Addiction 🦹
Finlay Williams
November 18, 2024
2 minute wacky businesses, you can tell your buddies about 🧠
Superhuman isn’t just an email client, it’s a productivity flex. Designed for people who treat every second like it’s gold, this $30/month app claims to be the world’s fastest email client, and judging by its cult-like following, it’s living up to the hype. Think of Superhuman as the Ferrari for email.
Exclusivity and the hunt for PMF 🧐
One of the more interesting aspects of the launch was that Superhuman didn’t want everyone. When they launched, over half of the applicants were rejected. Meaning you literally had to apply to use your email.
Why would a business deliberately say no to potential customers? And how did that move help build a $850M+ empire?
What are the nuggets? 💎
🦹 Origin: Rahul Vohra’s first startup, Rapportive, revolutionised Gmail by embedding contact data directly into email threads, earning an acquisition by LinkedIn in 2012. But despite his success, Rahul couldn’t ignore the nagging truth that email was still painful to use. Rahul spent years obsessing over how to fix email entirely. Superhuman was the result of that obsession - two years of iterative design before a single user logged in.
🦹 The Superhuman Vision: Rahul envisioned a product so fast, so intuitive, and so beautifully designed that users wouldn’t just use it, they’d love it. Superhuman wasn’t just a tool, it became a status symbol for power users who wanted the best of the best.
🦹 Exclusivity as a Growth Strategy: Superhuman didn’t try to attract the masses. When it launched, over 60% of applicants were rejected. This wasn’t about scarcity for its own sake. it was a branding masterstroke. By making access feel exclusive, Rahul created a sense of privilege around using the app.
🦹 The Personal Touch: Getting in wasn’t the end of the story. Every user had to go through a mandatory one-hour onboarding session with a Superhuman team member. This wasn’t scalable, but it was strategic. It ensured that users understood the product inside and out, becoming loyal advocates and even evangelists.
🦹 The Viral Growth Hack You Didn’t See Coming: Rahul didn’t rely on traditional ads to grow Superhuman. Instead, he baked marketing right into the product. Every email sent through Superhuman carried a small signature: “Sent via Superhuman.” For users in tech and venture capital, this subtle branding turned every email into free advertising. It worked so well that 50-60% of web traffic came from this feature alone.
🦹 Measuring Product-Market Fit Like a Scientist: Most startups talk about product-market fit like a gut feeling. Rahul turned it into a science. He asked users a single, powerful question:
“How would you feel if you could no longer use this product?”
When 74% of users said they’d be “disappointed,” Rahul knew he had a hit. This framework wasn’t just useful, it became a blueprint for startups worldwide.
🦹 Design Before Code: While most startups rush to launch, Rahul took a different route. Before writing a single line of code, he spent six weeks perfecting Superhuman’s landing page. By the time the product launched, its image as a premium experience was already firmly established.
🦹 Premium Pricing as a Statement: While competitors leaned on freemium models, Superhuman charged $30/month from day one. The high price wasn’t a deterrent—it was part of the appeal. It reinforced the product’s position as a premium tool for high-performers.
🦹 The Domain That Elevated the Brand: Rahul didn’t settle for a second-rate domain. He acquired superhuman.com for $175,000, negotiated over seven years of interest-free payments.
🦹 Theta Mode: Speed Meets Innovation: Rahul introduced a new operational model called Theta Mode, embedding executives directly into development teams. This eliminated bottlenecks and allowed Superhuman to roll out features like predictive replies and AI summaries at lightning speed.
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