Superhuman reimagines Gmail by making it a faster, cleaner experience

A person can choose from a variety of different email providers; however, a lot of them feel the same with a few select differences. Superhuman wants to make email a seamless experience. The startup was created by Rahul Vohra, founder of Rapportive, a Gmail add-on that was bought by LinkedIn in 2012.

Superhuman allows a user to go through their interactions quickly through a simple browser design. The program follows the 100 ms rule laid down by Paul Buchheit, creator of Gmail, that every interaction should happen in under 100 milliseconds. Additional features include users being able to see when a recipient has opened their email, insights from social media pages, undo sent mails, follow-up reminders and more. The program also works offline—a nice bonus for those who spend a lot of time traveling and don’t always know when they have access to Wi-Fi.

Vohra thought up Superhuman during his time at LinkedIn. He wanted to create a browser-based Gmail program to reflect the modern era of the internet, with a user who wants things to happen quickly. To make this work, he focused on a stronger browser service to run the program rather than making it server-based. This leans on the fact more users have stronger computers with modern CPUs and hard drives in their possession.

Due to the premium service of Superhuman, Vohra plans to target the business market, whose users spend hours going through email. His success could depend on how much time a professional spends going through their emails, and how much time they could save by moving away from Gmail or another service to Superhuman. If they save enough time, it could make paying for the service seem worthwhile. However, a typical email user might not want to use it.

Anyone interested in trying out Superhuman has the chance to send their email directly to Vohra to receive early VIP access, but there is a large waitlist.

Superhuman