GoKawiilWhen was the last time you were actually excited about email? If you’re older, probably back in 2004, when Gmail was rolling out its first beta invites. If you’re younger, probably never. Over the years, numerous startups have tried and failed to reinvent it, with the most successful ones simply bolting new functionality — like improved workflows or AI agents — onto the same basic inbox.
Today, a new company built by a team of former Pinterest designers and engineers is rethinking what an inbox can be from the ground up. And you might actually find this one exciting.
Extra, the first product from the consumer technology company BuildForever, ditches subject lines, folders, and tags in favor of an inbox organized around your life — bringing everything important into a single, actionable overview within its “Today” tab. This tab updates in real time with the most current and critical information extracted from the mountains of email in your inbox.
Image Credits:BuildForever/Extra
The rest of your inbox is then automatically organized into custom categories that become tabs, reflecting your life as determined by what’s already in your inbox. That means you could have tabs for family activities, travel plans, finances, newsletters, and more. The result of this reimagined inbox is a uniquely personalized experience — and one where you finally feel like you have a shot at staying on top of it all.
The idea, like many in the consumer space, emerged from a personal problem the founder wanted to solve: His inbox was a mess.
“I was a religious inbox zero person by day [at work] … you’re just constantly checking this email. And then I would open up my personal email, and it was just this wall of to-dos. And with all the junk in there, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, where do I begin?’” explains BuildForever co-founder and CEO, Naveen Gavini, a former SVP and chief product officer at Pinterest who worked at the consumer tech company for nearly 12 years.
“Honestly, after 12 hours of email all day, I didn’t have the energy, so I just quit.”
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