Season 2 of the ProducTea! In this episode, we’re looking at how awful or delightful it is to work with your sibling.
There's a deep dive into Superhuman and my disdain for email, along with the importance of creating defensible moats in product development. We elaborate on what it means to be "exceptional" and give a glimpse into Superhuman’s unique "Delight" team and its unusual structure emphasizing an oversized customer success component.
We reflect on how to attract investors for a product reliant on another product's survival. The conversation then shifts towards security vs convenience in product positioning, anchored by the founding thesis of Superhuman. We conclude it by discussing the rapid progress of underlying technology against the backdrop of regulation and how productivity tools enable more efficient utilization of time, aligning with individual aspirations.
Listen / Watch it now:
Audio:
Youtube:
Timestamps:
03.00 How is it to work with a sibling?
05:25 What do people get wrong about Gaurav?
08:00 Superhuman and Leah’s Disdain for Email
11:24 Defendable moats and what your product should do
15:15 What does being “Exceptional” mean?
18:30 Superhuman’s “Delight” team
20:05 Customers in dire need
23:15 Superhuman’s unusual structure with an “oversized” customer success part
26:45 How to convince investors to invest in a product that depends on the survival of another one
33:20 Security vs convenience positioning products
35:20 The founding thesis of Superhuman
39:30 AI as proof that people put convenience before accuracy, security
44:25 The breakneck pace of the underlying technology development vs. regulation
47:08 Productivity tools free up time to do more useful things, wherever your aspirations may lie
Connect!
Gaurav’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gvohra/
Gaurav’s website: https://www.gauravvohra.com/
Leah: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahtharin/
Really nice range of topics in this one, eg investing in customer success in a PLG model.
Leah, could you elaborate on your thoughts about the role/value of product ops as the company grows?
Is it an inevitable trade off between “speed of GTM” and “standardization of GTM for scale”?
Any advice on dealing with launching a new product in a new market with the “baggage” of a legacy GTM engine at a mature company?