Superhuman Waitlist Case Study: How They Got 180K Users at $30/Month
Superhuman built a waitlist of 180,000+ people for a $30/month email client by doing the opposite of what most startups do. They required a 30-minute onboarding call for every user, rejected applicants whose needs didn't match their features, and let existing users control who got access next. The result: an $825 million valuation, high retention, and a user base that actively evangelized the product.
When Superhuman launched their waitlist, they did something that seemed impossible to scale: they required every single user to complete a 30-minute onboarding call. Yet, they grew a waitlist of 180,000+ people.
This unusual strategy helped them build a premium email client that users happily pay $30/month for — a price point that would make most email apps blush.
Why Superhuman Made It Hard to Join
Most startups focus on fast growth and reducing friction in their signup process.
But Superhuman did the opposite. Not only did they make it difficult to join, but they also required a significant time commitment from each user. This approach flew in the face of conventional startup wisdom that emphasizes making it as easy as possible for users to get started.
The conventional wisdom isn't wrong — for most products, reducing friction is critical. But Superhuman recognized something important: when you're building a premium product for a specific type of user, the regular rules don't apply.
Understanding why your product launch needs a waitlist helps founders decide when to embrace friction versus eliminate it.
Their target market wasn't the average email user; it was busy professionals who valued their time so much that they would gladly pay $30 monthly for a better email experience.
How Superhuman's Waitlist Worked
Superhuman created a dynamic where access had to be earned. Their process worked in several stages, each designed to build anticipation and user commitment.
First, you had to request access through their website.
But unlike most waitlists where you simply wait your turn, Superhuman added another layer: existing users could see who was waiting and choose to refer them. This created a social dynamic where your professional network became your ticket to access.
This visibility feature was brilliant in multiple ways. For waitlist members, it meant their professional reputation and network could help them skip the line. For existing users, it turned them into curators, giving them the power to help colleagues and friends get faster access. And for the company, it made sure new users were being vouched for by existing customers who understood the product's value.
Even after getting referred, you still weren't guaranteed access. Superhuman would send you a survey about your email needs and usage. If your needs didn't align with their current features, they would actually deny you access. This step served multiple purposes: it helped them understand their market better, made sure users would get value from the product, as well as made the product even more desirable through exclusivity.
This referral-driven access model shares principles with Dropbox's referral program, which grew them to 4M users using two-sided rewards.
Superhuman's Mandatory 30-Minute Onboarding Call
The most counterintuitive part of Superhuman's strategy was their mandatory 30-minute onboarding call.
While your typical company tries to reduce customer acquisition costs, they invested heavily in each new user.
If we break down the economics of this, it'll look like this:
- Cost: $30 (assuming $60/hour for training staff)
- Potential lifetime value: $1,800 ($30/month × 12 months × 5 years)
- ROI: 60x on customer acquisition cost
But the real genius was in what this process created.
How the Onboarding Call Qualified Users
This requirement acted as a qualification tool: only users who valued their email productivity enough to invest time in learning a new system would join.
In other words, any user willing to schedule and attend a 30-minute call was likely serious about using the product.
Teaching Users Advanced Features From Day One
The onboarding call helped make sure users understood all key features from the start.
This was important for a product with powerful features that might otherwise go undiscovered. Users learned keyboard shortcuts, workflow optimizations, and advanced features that would have taken weeks or even months to discover on their own.
Building a Personal Connection With Every User
Each user had a human interaction with the brand.
This personal touch transformed Superhuman from just another email client into a premium service with a face and personality.
Using Onboarding Calls for Product Feedback
Every call became an opportunity to learn from users.
Superhuman's team could observe how users reacted to different features, understand their pain points, and collect immediate feedback. This direct line to users was extremely valuable for product development.
These insights helped Superhuman master engaging and retaining subscribers before they even became paying customers.
5 Key Elements of Superhuman's Waitlist Strategy
Superhuman's strategy was designed to reinforce their premium positioning and ensure user success. Let's look at the five key elements that made their approach so effective.
1. Strategic Friction: Waitlist, Survey, and Onboarding
Rather than eliminating barriers, Superhuman strategically added them. However, each barrier served a specific purpose in their user acquisition funnel.
- Waitlist: Using a waitlist created scarcity and built anticipation.
- Survey: The survey went beyond basic qualification. It asked detailed questions about email usage, pain points, and workflow needs.
- Onboarding call: An initiation into the Superhuman way of managing email.
2. Network-Based Growth Through Power Users
Superhuman's growth strategy was cleverly targeted. Instead of trying to appeal to everyone, they focused on well-connected tech professionals who could spread the word organically.
When someone like Camille Ricketts (Head of Marketing at Notion) became a user, their signature line became a marketing tool. Every email they sent exposed the brand to other potential power users, which created a viral loop where each new user could potentially bring in dozens more from their professional network.
Similar viral mechanics have been successfully implemented by companies like Harry's and Dropbox.
The genius of this approach was about reaching the right people. Tech professionals and executives who received dozens or hundreds of emails daily were exactly the people who would see the most value in the product.
3. High-Touch Onboarding as a Growth Strategy
The mandatory onboarding call was perhaps the most controversial element of their strategy, but it achieved important goals.
- Feature education: Users learned keyboard shortcuts and workflows that made them immediately productive
- Personal connection: The human touch created emotional investment in the product
- Immediate feedback: Every call provided valuable user insights
- Premium justification: The high-touch service helped justify the $30/month price point
That's customer success, user research, and brand building all rolled into one 30-minute call.
4. Choosing Quality Users Over Fast Growth
In a world obsessed with growth metrics, Superhuman took a radically different approach. They weren't afraid to turn away users who weren't a perfect fit for their product.
This focus on quality manifested in several ways:
- Careful user screening through surveys
- Selective access based on use cases
- High-touch onboarding to ensure success
- Premium pricing to maintain exclusivity
Every user who made it through the process was likely to become a long-term customer. This focus on quality demonstrates the importance of tracking the right key metrics for waitlist success beyond just signup numbers.
5. Premium Pricing Justified by Premium Access
Every aspect of Superhuman's strategy worked together to reinforce their premium positioning.
- Selective access: Not everyone could join, creating exclusivity
- Personal onboarding: Each user got white-glove treatment
- High-Touch support: Continued personal attention after onboarding
- Premium price: $30/month signaled premium value
Superhuman Waitlist Results and Growth Metrics
This careful curation paid off.
Growth metrics:
- 180,000+ people on their waitlist
- Strong word-of-mouth growth
- Successful $30/month price point
- $825 million valuation
Qualitative wins:
- Passionate user base
- High user retention
- Strong brand reputation
- Industry recognition
What's also noteworthy is that they managed to charge $30/month for an email client in a world of free alternatives!
For more examples of waitlist-powered launches, see how Robinhood built a 1M-user waitlist using position-based gamification, or browse all our waitlist case studies.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big was Superhuman's waitlist?
Superhuman's waitlist reached over 180,000 people. Despite requiring a 30-minute onboarding call and screening users with surveys before granting access, demand for the $30/month email client continued to grow through word-of-mouth and referrals from existing users.
Why did Superhuman require onboarding calls?
Superhuman required a 30-minute onboarding call for every new user to ensure they understood keyboard shortcuts, workflow optimizations, and advanced features from day one. This reduced churn, justified the $30/month price point, created personal connections with the brand, and provided direct product feedback. At roughly $30 per call, the ROI was approximately 60x based on estimated customer lifetime value.
How did Superhuman's referral system work?
Existing Superhuman users could see who was on the waitlist and refer people they knew, moving them up in line. This created network-based growth where your professional connections became your ticket to access. It also ensured new users were vouched for by existing customers who understood the product's value.
Why did Superhuman reject waitlist applicants?
Superhuman sent surveys about email usage and needs before granting access. If a user's needs didn't match the product's current features, they were denied access. This ensured every user who got in would actually benefit from the product, leading to higher retention and more positive word-of-mouth.
What was Superhuman's valuation?
Superhuman reached a valuation of $825 million. Their waitlist strategy of deliberate friction, high-touch onboarding, and premium positioning helped them maintain a $30/month price point for email — a category dominated by free alternatives — while building a passionate, loyal user base.
The Tools You Need
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