Rahul Vohra is the founder and CEO of Superhuman. Prior to Superhuman, Rahul founded Rapportive, the first Gmail plug-in to scale to millions of users, which he sold to LinkedIn in 2012. He is also a prominent angel investor, and his fund has invested $50 million in over 120 companies, including Placer, Supabase, Mercury, Zip, ClassDojo, and Writer.
What you’ll learn:
• The unexpected insight about virality Rahul gained from LinkedIn’s head of growth.
• Why Rahul restructured his entire executive team to spend 60% to 70% of his time on product, design, and marketing instead of the typical CEO responsibilities.
• The counterintuitive approach to finding product-market fit using a methodical system inspired by Sean Ellis, and how this algorithmically determines your roadmap.
• How manually onboarding every user (Superhuman had 20 full-time people doing this at peak) created superfans and allowed engineers to focus on product rather than onboarding flows.
• The “Single Decisive Reason” framework for making better decisions by avoiding collections of weak justifications.
• How Superhuman’s AI features have evolved to create a truly intelligent email experience that works while you sleep.
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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/superhumans-secret-to-success-rahul-vohra
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Where to find Rahul Vohra:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulvohra/
• Email: Rahul@superhuman.com
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction to Rahul and Superhuman
(05:00) The most pivotal moment in Rahul's career
(07:01) The secret to virality
(11:02) Superhuman’s product evolution and core values
(13:32) Overcoming slowdowns at scale
(18:06) Time management and meditation
(27:35) The role of a president
(30:56) Attention to detail
(43:00) Finding your unique position
(47:32) The power of manual onboarding
(52:37) Mastering product-market fit
(59:33) Game design in business software
(01:05:35) Contrarian pricing strategies
(01:09:29) Leveraging AI
(01:15:40) Transitioning to enterprise solutions
(01:19:08) The Single Decisive Reason framework
(01:22:32) Conclusion and final thoughts
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Referenced:
• Superhuman: https://superhuman.com/
• Rapportive: https://techcrunch.com/2012/02/22/rapportive-linkedin-acquisition/
• Elliot Shmukler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshmu/
• What Are ‘Whales’ in Video Games: https://gamerant.com/video-games-whales-concept-term-explained/
• Figma: https://www.figma.com/
• Notion: https://www.notion.com/
• Loom: https://www.loom.com/
• How to use Team Comments to reimagine email collaboration: https://blog.superhuman.com/how-to-use-team-comments-to-reimagine-email-collaboration/
• Rajiv Ayyangar’s post on X about Superhuman: https://x.com/rajivayyangar/status/1816176308130570385
• Transcendental Meditation: https://www.tm.org/
• Laurent Valosek on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurent-valosek-18708b5a/
• Peak Leadership Institute: https://www.peakleadershipinstitute.com/
• Ed Sim’s website: https://edsim.net/
• Adelle Sans: https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/adelle-sans
• Comic Sans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_Sans
• Greenfield project: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenfield_project
• Why Mailbox died: https://www.theverge.com/2015/12/8/9873268/why-dropbox-mailbox-shutdown
• Bill Trenchard on X: https://x.com/btrenchard
• How Superhuman Built an Engine to Find Product-Market Fit: https://review.firstround.com/how-superhuman-built-an-engine-to-find-product-market-fit/
• Using the Sean Ellis Test for Measuring Your Product-Market Fit: https://medium.productcoalition.com/using-sean-ellis-test-for-measuring-your-product-market-fit-c8ac98053c2c
• Sean Ellis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanellis/
• The original growth hacker reveals his secrets | Sean Ellis (author of “Hacking Growth”): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-original-growth-hacker-sean-ellis
• The Trouble with Rewards: https://www.kornferry.com/insights/briefings-magazine/issue-13/519-the-trouble-with-rewards
• The art and science of pricing | Madhavan Ramanujam (Monetizing Innovation, Simon-Kucher): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-art-and-science-of-pricing-madhavan
• Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Westendorp%27s_Price_Sensitivity_Meter
• AI-powered email for high-performing teams: https://superhuman.com/ai
• Linear’s secret to building beloved B2B products | Nan Yu (Head of Product): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/linears-secret-to-building-beloved-b2b-products-nan-yu
• Single Decisive Reason: decision-making for fast-scaling startups: https://blog.superhuman.com/single-decisive-reason-decision-making-for-fast-scaling-startups/
• Reid Hoffman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reidhoffman/
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Recommended books:
• Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind: https://www.amazon.com/Positioning-Battle-Your-Al-Ries/dp/0071373586
• Monetizing Innovation: How Smart Companies Design the Product Around the Price: https://www.amazon.com/Monetizing-Innovation-Companies-Design-Product/dp/1119240867
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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.