Iris

What do they actually do

Iris is an iOS app that combines a calendar UI with an assistant you can ask (by text or voice) to schedule or reschedule meetings, draft and send emails tied to events, summarize meeting context from your inbox, and suggest places/routes. It currently integrates with Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Maps, and is available for iPhone/iPad via the App Store (homepage, App Store).

Actions are proposed for review and require user approval; the app emphasizes granular permissions and privacy controls with the ability to disconnect or delete data. The product launched publicly with a small early user base and is YC‑backed (homepage, App Store, YC Launch, YC profile).

Who are their target customer(s)

• Google‑centric knowledge workers (PMs, engineers, PMMs): They spend time switching between email and calendar to gather context and reschedule, which breaks focus. They want quick summaries and one‑step rescheduling so meetings and prep don’t eat into productive time.
• Founders and solo operators coordinating with investors, partners, and users: Availability coordination and prompt follow‑ups steal attention from building. They want fast, reliable drafting and rescheduling so outreach and logistics don’t become a bottleneck.
• Consultants, freelancers, and sales reps juggling multiple client schedules: They handle back‑and‑forth across time zones and risk double‑booking. They need a single place to see availability and draft client messages without manual copying and context hunting.
• Managers and small‑team leads who act as unofficial schedulers: They repeatedly find times, protect focus blocks, and chase responses across threads. They want safe automation that reduces coordination work but still lets them review actions before anything is sent.
• Frequent travelers and remote workers moving between time zones: They lose time converting times, finding places between appointments, and keeping context straight on the go. They need context‑aware scheduling and quick route/place suggestions from their phone.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Personally recruit from founders’ networks (YC contacts, friends at startups, early interested users) and provide white‑glove onboarding, even manually handling a few scheduling/email tasks to prove value and collect precise feedback.
• First 50: Expand into targeted communities (PM/founder/freelancer Slack/Discord groups, relevant subreddits, YC forums) with short before/after demos; optimize the App Store listing and run a small paid test to iOS Google Calendar users, paired with a one‑click referral for connected accounts.
• First 100: Do a coordinated public launch (Product Hunt / YC Launch / focused PR) using case studies from early users, and offer limited pilot slots to small teams. Open a lightweight web/Android beta waitlist and convert inbound signups with direct email onboarding and short task‑focused walkthroughs.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

Gmail has about 1.8B active users (upper bound), while Google Calendar exceeds 500M monthly users (a tighter proxy for calendar users) (Statista, Exploding Topics).

Bottom-up calculation:

SAM: assume 10–30% of Google Calendar’s >500M users are calendar‑heavy professionals → ~50–150M users. SOM (initial, iOS‑only and Google‑first): reach ~10–30% of SAM given device/platform mix → ~5–45M users, i.e., single‑ to low‑two‑digit millions (Exploding Topics, StatCounter US iOS share).

Assumptions:

• 10–30% of Google Calendar users are calendar‑heavy knowledge workers likely to use/purchase an assistant.
• Initial iOS‑only distribution can reach ~10–30% of the SAM due to device and platform mix.
• Early product targets Google accounts only; Microsoft/Exchange/iCloud support expands SAM later.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Calendly: Booking‑link scheduler that syncs with Google/Outlook calendars to share availability or insert time slots in emails; it reduces back‑and‑forth but doesn’t read your inbox or act within threads like Iris (features).
• Reclaim.ai: AI calendar that auto‑defends focus time, auto‑schedules tasks/habits, and finds meeting slots; overlaps on automatic scheduling, but centers on proactive time‑blocking rather than inbox summarization/outbound email automation (features).
• Motion: All‑in‑one AI work platform that auto‑plans your day, schedules meetings, and offers AI helpers for tasks/messages; broader project/task scope and desktop/web focus vs. Iris’s lightweight mobile calendar+inbox assistant (product, auto‑scheduling docs).
• Superhuman: Email client with AI to draft replies, summarize threads, and insert scheduling options or create events from email; competes on inbox summarization and scheduling‑from‑email but is an email‑first paid client rather than a unified mobile assistant (AI, calendar).
• Clara: “CC‑me” style assistant (historically hybrid human+AI) that conducts back‑and‑forth over email to place invites; overlaps on hands‑off scheduling, but uses a thread‑centric service model vs. Iris’s immediate, phone‑first assistant UX (product, starter guide).