Paul Buchheit

If you're great, you don't have to be good: Gmail bet on 3 things

Shaan recaps Paul Buchheit's essay 'If You're Great, You Don't Have to Be Good': Gmail launched without an address book and chose to be great at just three things - blazing speed, unlimited storage, threaded conversations - and 'dogshit' at the rest.

“He's like, well, we decided we're gonna be great at 3 things for Gmail. We're gonna be blazing fast, we're gonna be unlimited storage, and we're gonna have threaded conversations. And he's like, we're going to be great at those 3 things and we're going to be literally nonexistent or dogshit at the rest. And he's like, when you're great at the right things, you don't even have to be good at the other things.”

Steal thisPick the 2-3 things customers truly care about, be great at those, and consciously let the rest be mediocre.

The YC 'you're in, you're out, you're in' rollercoaster

Webflow's third YC interview ended with a 6pm acceptance call from Paul Buchheit during a movie — then, mid-celebration, a rejection email arrived saying the product was 'too complex for beginners and not powerful enough for pros.' After two hours of limbo, a partner called back: the rejection email was a mistake from their internal tracking board, and they were in.

“And then it buzzes, and I have an email from YC that says, unfortunately, we decided not to fund you because your product is too complex for beginner Beginners and not powerful enough for pros. And we're like, holy crap. So I sort of like signaled to Brian Sergi to step outside”