Speaking of email apps…

Superhuman’s email app is overhyped and overpriced - The Verge

Part of the point of Superhuman is the exclusivity. It’s the email app for the 1 percent of people who use email in a very particular way for very particular business purposes. It’s built for the founders and CEOs and executives who are featured prominently on the company’s site and who’re willing to pay the price to be part of the VIP club.

This lines up pretty well with my understanding of the service. People who use Superhuman seem to love it, and that's great, but it really seems like something where half the appeal is that you're using something special that not everyone gets to use.

In a way I respect it, actually. They have a small (by Silicon Valley terms) user base who's paying them $30/month each, and all of their customers love them. They haven't gone mainstream, they haven't gone free to grow market share, they're just making a focused product that appeals strongly to a specific market (although I don't dig their tracking features).

My guess is we'll know things are going south for them if they start opening up to way more people all at once. Exclusivity isn't a bug, it's most definitely a feature, and if they do it right, it could be their way to a long running, sustainable business.