Sunsama: Revolutionizing Daily Planning for Busy Professionals
Company profile
Company business details
Motivation to build the product
The founders were motivated by the need to help professionals manage their time more effectively and reduce feelings of overwhelm. They recognized that many productivity tools were not meeting the needs of users who struggled with task management and daily planning.Problem that their product solves
Sunsama solves the problem of task overload and poor time management for busy professionals. The end users are individuals who juggle multiple responsibilities and need a way to organize their tasks and schedules efficiently. Solving this problem is important as it helps users enhance their productivity and maintain a healthy work-life balance.Their unfair advantage
Sunsama's unfair advantage lies in its unique approach to daily planning, which combines tasks from various tools and emphasizes a mindful workload to prevent burnout, setting it apart from traditional productivity apps.Strategies
Pre-Launch (Product Development & MVP)
Iterative Product Development
Ashitosh and his co-founder Travis went through six or seven iterations of different products before landing on Sama. They started with a broad intention to help users be more mindful and in control of their time. They built various tools, including a meeting documentation tool and a scheduling tool similar to Calendly, but none resonated with users. Through this iterative process, they gained deep insights into customer needs and workflows, ultimately leading to the development of Sama as a daily planner that integrates tasks and calendars, which was well-received by users.
Personal Onboarding for New Customers
Ashutosh Priyadarshy, the founder of Sunsama, implemented a strategy where all new customers were required to be personally onboarded by a founder after paying for the service. This approach was inspired by the Superhuman playbook and involved having 30-minute calls with customers to understand how Sunsama could become an indispensable part of their daily routine. This strategy not only filtered for high-quality customers but also fostered meaningful conversations that provided valuable insights into customer needs.
Concierge Onboarding
Sunsama's founder, Ashutosh Priyadarshy, implemented a concierge onboarding process to engage directly with customers, allowing them to learn about user needs and pain points during their initial product experiences. This approach was inspired by a recommendation from Michael Siebel at Y Combinator, who highlighted the success of Superhuman's onboarding. The team conducted numerous 1:1 onboarding calls, which provided valuable insights for product iteration. However, as demand grew, they realized the need for scalability and transitioned to a self-service onboarding model.
Launch Stage
Product Launch on Product Hunt
When they launched the daily Kanban version of Sama on Product Hunt, the response was overwhelmingly positive. Users expressed that it was a product they had been searching for, and instead of asking for additional features, they wanted existing features to be enhanced. This feedback indicated that they had found a product-market fit, which encouraged them to continue developing and improving Sama.
Guided Daily Planning Flow
Sunsama's team recognized a significant opportunity to enhance user experience by orienting the product around a guided daily planning flow. They observed that users often had overwhelming task lists, which led to confusion about daily priorities. By introducing features like time estimates for tasks, they helped users visualize their workload more realistically. This shift not only clarified the product's use case but also served as a reference point for future feature development, ensuring that every new addition aligned with the goal of facilitating a calm and focused workday.
Learn more about Sunsama
Rethinking Productivity with Sunsama Founder Ashutosh Priyadarshy
Raising $3M & building a product people love
