Key insights

• ⬆️ Have a higher bar than your users and surpass it
• 🚀 Create a compelling product that people can't help but share
• 🌟 Rahul's background and journey to founding Superhuman
• 🤝 Networking and pitching vision to investors
• ⭐ Focus on excellence over mediocrity when building a startup
• ⚙️ Create a minimally valuable product, especially when competing against industry incumbents
• 🗣️ Acquire initial customers through word of mouth and investor networks
• 🔄 Update the product based on customer needs

Q&A

• What is key to succeeding in making people want a product?

  To succeed, it's important to make something people want, make people realize they want it, focus on problem agitation, inject into the press cycle, show thought leadership, and utilize virality for product awareness.

• How did Superhuman increase their product-market fit score?

  Superhuman increased their product market fit score from 20% to 60% by focusing on the main benefit of their product to segment user feedback and investing in building what somewhat disappointed users were asking for.

• How should the main benefit of a product be used to handle user feedback?

  The main benefit of the product should be used to segment user feedback. Feedback from users for whom the main benefit does not resonate should be ignored. It's essential to invest in building what somewhat disappointed users are asking for, balancing time spent on addressing very disappointed and somewhat disappointed users' needs to maintain a lead and increase user satisfaction.

• How can companies improve their product-market fit score?

  Companies can improve their product market fit score by segmenting users, focusing on feedback from those who would be very disappointed without the product, prioritizing the feedback from users who love the product, and avoiding blindly acting on the feedback from somewhat disappointed users.

• How did Superhuman approach building a great product?

  Superhuman focused on fixing bugs, creating exceptionally happy customers, systematic onboarding, and VIP support. The journey to product-market fit was long but led to a special outcome. Early growth at Superhuman was defined by the 'very disappointed' metric.

• What does building a startup require?

  Building a startup requires focusing on excellence over mediocrity, creating a minimally valuable product, acquiring initial customers through word of mouth, updating the product based on customer needs, and deliberately onboarding new customers to fix issues.

• What is the founder of Superhuman, Rahul's background and journey to founding Superhuman?

  Rahul dropped out of his PhD to create successful companies by networking and pitching his vision to investors. He focused on building compelling products that users love and share.

• What is the secret to making a great product that users love and share?

  The secret lies in having a higher bar than the users, working to surpass that bar, and creating a compelling product that people naturally want to share with others.

• 00:00 The secret to making a great product that users love and share is to have a higher bar than the users, work until surpassing your own bar, and create a compelling product that people can't help but tell others about. The founder of Superhuman, Rahul, dropped out of his PhD to create successful companies by networking and pitching his vision to investors.
• 03:56 Building a startup requires focusing on excellence over mediocrity, creating a minimally valuable product, acquiring initial customers through word of mouth, updating the product based on customer needs, and deliberately onboarding new customers to fix issues.
• 07:54 Building a great product requires fixing bugs and creating happy customers. Superhuman focused on systematic onboarding and VIP support. The journey to product-market fit was long but led to a special outcome. Early growth at Superhuman was defined by the 'very disappointed' metric
• 12:35 Companies can improve their product market fit score by segmenting users and focusing on the feedback from those who would be very disappointed without the product. It's important to prioritize the feedback from users who love the product and focus on the main benefit for them. Blindly acting on the feedback from somewhat disappointed users can lead to a muddied product without coherence and vision.
• 16:51 Focus on the main benefit of your product to segment user feedback. Ignore feedback from users for whom the main benefit does not resonate. Invest in building what the somewhat disappointed users are asking for to turn them into fanatics. Balance time spent on what very disappointed users and somewhat disappointed users want to maintain lead and increase user satisfaction.
• 21:04 To succeed, make something people want and make people realize they want it. Problem agitation is key. Inject in press cycle, show thought leadership, and use virality for product awareness.