How Superhuman Built a $825M Company Through High-Touch Onboarding
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.
Breaking the Rules
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.
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.
Earned Access
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.
The $30 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.
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.
Educated Customers
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.
Personal Connection
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.
Built-in 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.
Key Elements of The 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
Rather than eliminating barriers, Superhuman strategically added them. However, each barrier served a specific purpose in their user acquisition funnel.
- Waitlist: Using a watilist created scarcity and built up hype.
- 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
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.
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.
High-Touch Onboarding
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.
Quality Over Quantity
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.
Premium Positioning
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
The Results
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!
The Tools You Need
Ready to build your own high-touch waitlist? Waitlister provides everything you need:
- Easy, customizable waitlists
- Surveys
- Built-in referrals
- Analytics dashboard
- And more...