Topic
14 facts from 1 episode, in date order. These are what speakers said on the shows, each linked to the moment it was said. They aren't independently verified.
1970s
In a 1970s Stanford study described by Rahul Vohra, children with no expected reward spent 17% of their time drawing, versus 8% for children who expected a reward.
“The children with no reward spent 17% of their time drawing. But the children who expected a reward, the ones who had received compensation, so to speak, they only spent 8% of their time drawing.”
Undated
Rahul Vohra defines a game as simply something you play, following Jesse Schell's book The Art of Game Design.
“But in my mind, Jesse puts it best, a game is simply something that you play.”
Undated
Rahul Vohra's stack of definitions ends with fun as pleasant surprise, because he says the brain is hardwired to enjoy surprise.
“So you end up with this stack of definitions. A game is something you play. A good toy is an object that is fun to play with. And fun is pleasant surprise.”
Undated
Rahul Vohra taught himself to code from children's books about the BBC microcomputer, the predominant computer in the United Kingdom at the time, starting around age eight.
“pretty quickly found the coding section, because the predominant computer at the time in the United Kingdom was the BBC microcomputer.”
Undated
After studying computer science at the University of Cambridge, Rahul Vohra joined Jagex, creator of RuneScape, then the world's largest free online role-playing game, as a game designer.
“that was when I joined Jagex, which some people will remember as the creator of RuneScape, which at the time was the world's largest online free role-playing game.”
Undated
Rahul Vohra sold his earlier company, Reportive, to LinkedIn before founding Superhuman.
“So as you know, I sold my last company, Reportive, to LinkedIn.”
Undated
After the Reportive sale, Rahul Vohra bought a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera with 570 horsepower and zero-to-60 acceleration in under three seconds.
“I acquired a rather special car. It was a Lamborghini Gallardo, a superleggera, 570 horsepower, zero to 60 in less than three seconds.”
Undated
Superhuman co-founder and CTO Erwin (called comrade) was the first employee hired at Reportive and was recruited by Rahul Vohra to join Superhuman.
“co-founder and CTO comrade Erwin, who was, by the way, the first employee that we hired at Reportive to join me at Superhuman.”
Undated
Rahul Vohra pitched Superhuman as bringing programmer-grade tools such as fast response times, instant search, command palettes and keyboard shortcuts to everyone.
“Hundred millisecond response times, instantaneous search, command palettes, keyboard shortcuts, beautiful layouts, typography as a first class citizen”
Undated
Rahul Vohra distinguishes intrinsic motivation, doing things because they are interesting and satisfying, from extrinsic motivation, doing things to earn rewards and external goals.
“With intrinsic motivation, we do things because they are inherently interesting and satisfying. With extrinsic motivation, we do things to earn rewards and achieve external goals.”
Undated
Rahul Vohra says he could not reach Inbox Zero himself before Superhuman invented Split Inbox, which took years to build.
“So before we'd invented Split Inbox, which took years to get to, it was an impossibility for me to actually hit Inbox Zero.”
Undated
In Plutchik's wheel of emotions, combining joy with anticipation gives optimism and combining joy with trust gives love, according to Rahul Vohra.
“So when you combine joy and anticipation, you get optimism. And when you combine joy and trust, you actually get love.”
Undated
Rahul Vohra says he puts a vanilla scent in the kitchen of rental properties to evoke memories of baked goods and lavender in the lounge to suggest a relaxing meadow.
“I would put a vanilla scent in the kitchen to evoke memories of baked goods”
Undated
Rahul Vohra said Superhuman's waitlist exceeded 350,000 people at the time of recording.
“We do have a big waitlist. It's more than 350,000 people at this point.”
Episodes