I worked at Superhuman. I agree with this somewhat.
What makes Superhuman so powerful is that it invokes a feeling of freedom. For those of us that manage email inboxes with 50+ new emails piling on a day, it becomes impossible to manage and cuts into other areas of our lives.
Take an executive that take off work at 6pm to see his kids and, after they go to bed, catches up on email until midnight just to not fall behind. Miserable at best.
Superhuman solved a huge problem in the market and they did it so eloquently that people started to identify with the brand. It became a bit of a secret club, one that you will certainly invite your friends to (I’ve referred over 30 people personally over the 3 years I’ve been a user. Not including during my time working there)
Couple that with the fact that Rahul is well respected in the product/startup community and wrote some viral posts on how superhuman achieved PMF, and you have recipe for a die-hard fan base.
So to put a bow on this all, I do think that Superhuman is a luxury brand (it’s $30/month for email ffs) but that alone won’t make a successful company. You have to solve a problem and then build a brand (and maybe even a cult-following!) around yourself.
Moats will dry up in this age of AI, especially after GPTs just rolled out. But brand and a vision that invokes a sense of belonging is irreplaceable.
I worked at Superhuman. I agree with this somewhat.
What makes Superhuman so powerful is that it invokes a feeling of freedom. For those of us that manage email inboxes with 50+ new emails piling on a day, it becomes impossible to manage and cuts into other areas of our lives.
Take an executive that take off work at 6pm to see his kids and, after they go to bed, catches up on email until midnight just to not fall behind. Miserable at best.
Superhuman solved a huge problem in the market and they did it so eloquently that people started to identify with the brand. It became a bit of a secret club, one that you will certainly invite your friends to (I’ve referred over 30 people personally over the 3 years I’ve been a user. Not including during my time working there)
Couple that with the fact that Rahul is well respected in the product/startup community and wrote some viral posts on how superhuman achieved PMF, and you have recipe for a die-hard fan base.
So to put a bow on this all, I do think that Superhuman is a luxury brand (it’s $30/month for email ffs) but that alone won’t make a successful company. You have to solve a problem and then build a brand (and maybe even a cult-following!) around yourself.
Moats will dry up in this age of AI, especially after GPTs just rolled out. But brand and a vision that invokes a sense of belonging is irreplaceable.