A sales rep at a B2B software company has Salesforce open in one tab, Gmail in another, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator in a third. A prospect replies to his email. He reads it in Gmail, switches to Salesforce to log the activity and update the deal stage, switches to LinkedIn to check the prospect's recent posts for context, then switches back to Gmail to reply. Repeat this 50 times a day. He spends more time switching between tools than actually selling.
Salespeople live in their inbox. 80% of B2B communication still happens over email. Yet CRMs are designed as databases you update, not workspaces you work from. The modern sales tech stack — Salesforce, Outreach, LinkedIn, ZoomInfo — creates a fragmented experience where reps constantly context-switch. Each switch costs 23 minutes of productivity according to UC Irvine research. For a 10-person sales team, that's thousands of dollars in lost productivity daily.
Superhuman ($30/mo) made email fast but isn't a CRM. Streak ($15-49/mo) puts a CRM in Gmail but feels bolted-on. Front ($19-59/user/mo) is team-focused, not sales-focused. The gap is an inbox-first sales workspace at $25-49/mo: Gmail-native (or works with Gmail), with deal pipeline, contact intelligence, and sales actions all accessible without leaving the inbox. Think 'Superhuman meets lightweight CRM' — not a database you update, but a workspace where you sell. Target SDRs and AEs at startups who hate their CRM but live in email.
💰 Revenue Blueprint
Three-tier value ladder to monetize from day one
Gmail integration, pipeline view, contact profiles, email tracking, keyboard shortcuts
Sequences, templates, meeting scheduler, LinkedIn integration, team features (up to 5)
Unlimited team, Salesforce sync, analytics, coaching insights, API access
📊 Market Evidence
The Market Gap
Superhuman is email-only, no CRM. Streak is CRM-in-Gmail but clunky. Front is team inbox, not sales-focused. No inbox-first sales workspace at $25-49/mo combining email speed with pipeline management.
🏆 Competitor Landscape
How existing players stack up in this market
| Competitor | Pricing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Superhuman | $30/mo | Fast email client, keyboard shortcuts |
| Front | $19-59/user/mo | Team inbox, CRM integrations |
| Streak | Free / $15-49/mo | CRM inside Gmail |
| Mixmax | Free / $29-69/mo | Email productivity + scheduling |
| Mailbutler | $4.95-14.95/mo | Email tracking, scheduling, tasks |
Fast email client, keyboard shortcuts
Team inbox, CRM integrations
CRM inside Gmail
Email productivity + scheduling
Email tracking, scheduling, tasks
🛠️ Recommended Tech Stack
Suggested tools and technologies to build this idea
Score Breakdown
Good market signals with room for growth
Market (20%) + Revenue (20%) + Trend (15%) + Competition (15%) + Build (15%) + Pricing (15%)
🚀 Start Building
Copy a prompt into your favorite AI coding tool and start building this idea right now.
Build a SaaS product called "Inbox-First Sales Workspace". ## Product Overview CRM that lives in your email with auto-contact pulling ## Problem CRM that lives in your email with auto-contact pulling ## Solution Build Inbox-First Sales Workspace ## Target Audience indie hackers, small businesses, and solopreneurs ## Tech Stack - Next.js 15 (App Router) with TypeScript - Tailwind CSS v4 for styling - Supabase for auth, database, and storage - Vercel for deployment - shadcn/ui for UI components - Framer Motion for animations ## MVP Features to Build 1. Landing page with clear value proposition 2. User authentication (sign up, sign in, forgot password) 3. Core product functionality based on the solution above 4. Dashboard for users to manage their data 5. Pricing page with at least 2 tiers (free + paid) 6. Basic settings/profile page ## Known Competitors Superhuman, Front, Streak, Mixmax, Mailbutler ## Key Risks to Address Standard market entry risks ## Deployment 1. Set up Supabase project and configure environment variables 2. Deploy to Vercel with `npx vercel --prod` 3. Set up custom domain 4. Configure Supabase RLS policies for security ## Instructions Start by creating the project structure, then build the landing page first. Use server components where possible. Make it mobile-responsive from the start. Focus on getting the core value loop working before adding polish.