This Company Turned People Away and Ended Up with a Waiting List of 180,000

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Everyone wants more leads, more clicks, more sales. So the usual advice?
Shout louder. Pitch harder. Cast a wider net.

But one company did the opposite, and their growth exploded.

They disqualified leads. They made people wait. They told the wrong people: “This isn’t for you.”

And it worked. Big time.

Let’s talk about Superhuman, the email app that built one of the most hyped product launches in tech… by flipping the pitch.

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Superhuman: The Email Client That Said “No” to Most People

When Superhuman launched, it wasn’t your average SaaS rollout. There was no free trial button. No instant sign-up. No “start for $1 today!” offer.

Instead, users had to apply to get in. And even then, most were told to wait.

How did they do that? A simple onboarding survey.

Before you could access the product, you had to answer questions like:

• What email service do you use?

• How many emails do you receive per day?

• What do you struggle with most in your inbox?

If your answers didn’t line up with their ideal user profile, busy professionals drowning in email who cared deeply about speed and design, you didn’t get in. At least not yet.

And people loved that.

Disqualification Creates Desire

Think about it: when was the last time a product made you apply to use it?

Superhuman turned the traditional sales funnel upside down. Instead of lowering the barrier, they raised it.

And it triggered something powerful in human psychology: scarcity + self-selection.

When you’re told something isn’t for you, or that you have to qualify to access it, your brain does a double-take. It activates curiosity, ego, and FOMO all at once.

You start thinking:

Now compare that to the usual sales pitch: “Sign up now! Everyone’s welcome!”

Which one feels more compelling?

Why This Works (Even If You’re Not Superhuman)

You don’t need venture funding or a massive waitlist to use this approach. You just need the courage to say:

That single line reframes your entire sales message. Instead of trying to convince people to say yes, you’re giving them permission to opt out.

And in doing so, you attract the people who lean in, the ones who self-identify as the right fit, who feel like they’ve earned a spot, who are emotionally invested before the sale even starts.

That’s not selling. That’s filtering.

And filtering, when done right, builds trust and demand at the same time.

How to Apply the Superhuman Strategy to Your Sales Emails

If you want to adapt this for your next campaign, here’s how:

1. Define your ideal customer clearly
Who do you actually want to work with? Be honest. Not everyone is your customer. Get specific, then write to that person.

2. Use disqualification up front
Start your email by saying who this isn’t for. Example:

3. Replace the pitch with a filter
Instead of pushing your offer, invite them to raise their hand if they think they qualify.

That’s the modern version of selling: quiet confidence, clear boundaries, and a willingness to walk away from the wrong fit.

Stop Pitching, Start Filtering

What made Superhuman stand out wasn’t a flashy feature list or aggressive growth hacks.

It was their willingness to say, “This isn’t for everyone.”

And in a world full of loud pitches, that kind of honesty cuts through the noise.

So next time you write a sales email or build a landing page, don’t try to convince everyone. Instead:

• Disqualify the wrong fit

• Create space for the right ones to step forward

• And let curiosity do the heavy lifting

Because the most powerful message you can send isn’t “Buy now.”
It’s:

Cheers
The InBoXer team