The Email Startup Graveyard: Why 80%+ of Email Companies Fail

The Email Startup Graveyard: Why 80%+ of Email Companies Fail

While many email startups have invested millions in solving perceived problems, we at Forward Email have focused on building reliable email infrastructure from scratch since 2017. This analysis explores the patterns behind email startup outcomes and the fundamental challenges of email infrastructure.

Note Key Insight: Most email startups don't build actual email infrastructure from scratch. Many build on top of existing solutions like Amazon SES or open-source systems like Postfix. The core protocols work well - the challenge is in the implementation.

Building Modern Infrastructure for Existing Email Protocols: Our Approach

Before diving into the failures, it's important to understand what actually works in email. The challenge isn't that email is broken - it's that most companies try to "fix" something that already works perfectly.

The Email Innovation Spectrum

Email innovation falls into three categories:

Infrastructure Enhancement (What works): Building better servers, delivery systems, and developer tools Workflow Integration (Sometimes works): Adding email to existing business processes Protocol Replacement (Always fails): Trying to replace SMTP, IMAP, or POP3

Why We Focus on Infrastructure

We chose to build modern email infrastructure because:

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