Balancing Leadership and Innovation

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:

• X: https://x.com/rahulvohra

• 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.

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