Solution Deepening vs. Market Widening
Classify every build as deepening the product for current users or widening it to new ones — to diagnose 'why we feel slow'
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 85%
A diagnostic mental model that sorts everything a company builds into two buckets: solution deepening (making the product better for existing users without reaching new ones) and market widening (making the product available to more users without making it better). It explains perceived product-velocity slowdowns: early-stage focus pours everything into deepening (which users feel), but scaling forces investment in widening (which existing users don't feel), making the company seem slow even while shipping hard, moat-building work.
Origin
Rahul Vohra's framing at Superhuman, used to answer public perception that the company had 'slowed down'.
Core principles
- 01Every build is either solution deepening or market widening
- 02Solution deepening improves the product for existing users but adds no new users; market widening adds reach but no new value for current users
- 03Early product/market fit comes from pouring R&D into solution deepening
- 04In some markets (e.g. email) market widening is inherently slow and hard — new platforms, OS apps, APIs
- 05Perceived velocity drops during widening because existing users don't feel the new work — yet it can become a durable moat
How to run it
- 1
Separate real slowdown from perceived slowdown
When you or the market senses you've slowed, first distinguish avoidable slowdown (e.g. org/management structure) from unavoidable slowdown (the nature of your market).
- 2
Classify each initiative
Label every project as solution deepening (better for existing users) or market widening (available to more users).
- 3
Recognize the widening tax
Accept that market-widening work (mobile apps, new OSes, Office 365 across desktop/iOS/Android) doesn't improve life for existing users, so perceived product velocity will drop even as you ship hard things.
Pro tip Superhuman now runs on every combination of Gmail, Outlook, Mac, Windows, web, iOS, Android — an accumulated moat almost no rival can match, and the basis for enterprise sales.
Watch out In hard-to-widen markets like email you mostly just have to grind through it; smart architecture only softens the cost.
- 4
Communicate and sequence deliberately
Explain to users and team that quiet widening work is necessary for growth, and sequence deepening vs widening so the business keeps expanding without appearing stalled.
In the wild
Superhuman started narrow — Gmail only, web only — pouring all R&D into solution deepening to reach PMF. Growth then required market widening: iOS, macOS, Windows, Android apps and Office 365 across three platforms. Existing Gmail users felt none of this, so the product seemed to slow down.
→ A rare technology moat (works everywhere) that became a main reason Superhuman can sell into the enterprise, despite years of low perceived velocity.
Common mistakes
Mistaking widening work for stagnation
Judging velocity only by features existing users feel hides essential market-widening investment and can trigger misguided course corrections.
Avoiding widening to keep users happy
Refusing to widen keeps perceived velocity high but caps growth, since the market for a new front-end without mobile/other platforms is small.
Is it for you?
Best for
Scaling founders and product leaders diagnosing why velocity feels slow and deciding where to invest R&D
Not ideal for
Very early products still hunting for product/market fit, where nearly all effort should go to solution deepening
From the transcript
“you can classify anything that you build in a company into one of two categories. Solution deepening and market widening”
“solution deepening means making your product better for its existing users but not making it available to more users”
“this actually turns out to be a really great technology moat. Almost no other email app can claim this”
From the episode
Superhuman's secret to success: Ignoring most customer feedback, manually onboarding every new user, obsessing over every detail, and positioning around a single attribute: speed
Rahul Vohra (CEO)