Odo

What do they actually do

Odo is an early-stage email assistant in private beta. The public site directs most visitors to an invite-only waitlist, and YC lists a two-person S24 team, indicating an early launch rather than a broadly available product (site, YC profile).

Today, users connect Gmail and Google Calendar via Google’s official APIs. Odo reads the necessary email and event data to generate tone‑matched drafts and replies, provide natural‑language search/Q&A over the inbox, and create automatic meeting follow‑ups (site, privacy policy). The privacy policy details data handling, deletion options, and Google API Limited Use commitments, and the homepage highlights a security posture (including a “CASA Tier 2” claim) (site, privacy policy).

Public materials also mention optional voice features (opt‑in) and strict AI vendor restrictions (no training on user data), suggesting a roadmap of deeper automations and enterprise‑friendly controls as they move from waitlist to paid plans (privacy policy, terms).

Who are their target customer(s)

• Busy individual knowledge workers (founders, PMs, consultants): They spend too much time triaging email and rewriting replies. They need quick, tone‑consistent drafts and a faster way to find prior threads (site, privacy).
• Sales and business‑development reps: Frequent meetings create follow‑up risk. They need dependable automatic follow‑ups and editable reply drafts so opportunities don’t slip (site, privacy).
• IT/security or procurement buyers at startups and SMBs: They must ensure Gmail/Calendar access complies with Google Limited Use, data deletion, and security controls before approval (site, privacy).
• Government procurement and proposal teams: Proposal drafting and research are slow and manual; they want faster drafting and assistance rooted in prior contracting workflows (prior YC launch).
• Small business owners and customer‑facing operators: They lose time hunting for past threads and rewriting common messages; they want quick, consistent replies and simple natural‑language search (site, privacy).

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

• First 10: Invite 10 busy professionals (founders, PMs, consultants, sales reps) from personal/YC networks off the waitlist, do 1:1 onboarding, and provide white‑glove support to shape workflows and collect testimonials (site, YC profile).
• First 50: Ask early users for 1–2 referrals each, run short demos for small sales/BD teams and PM meetups, and outbound to reps/consultants on LinkedIn with examples of meeting follow‑ups and draft time‑savings; use security/compliance messaging to close IT‑sensitive buyers (site, privacy).
• First 100: Publish a short self‑serve funnel (signup, demo, trial) with in‑app guides and referral credits; test targeted LinkedIn/newsletter placements for sales/startup operators, and publish compliance artifacts to support SMB/IT pilots and admin controls (site, privacy).

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

Gmail reports roughly 1.8B active users, which is an upper‑bound on technical reach but includes many consumer accounts not likely to buy a paid assistant (Statista).

Bottom-up calculation:

A practical U.S. anchor is ~65M knowledge workers (≈40% of ~164M employed) who do email/meeting‑heavy work (BLS, McKinsey), plus ~5.9M employer SMBs as company buyers and ~1.27M U.S. sales pros as a natural early segment (SBA, Forbes Advisor).

Assumptions:

• Knowledge workers ≈40% of U.S. employment is a reasonable proxy for email/meeting‑heavy professionals.
• Initial monetization focuses on U.S. professionals, SMB employers, and sales teams before broad consumer uptake.
• Illustrative revenue uses ~$25/user/month as a benchmark based on public competitor pricing (Superhuman).

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Superhuman: Premium email client with AI drafting, one‑line summaries, and natural‑language search; overlaps on fast, tone‑matched drafts and inbox search for high‑volume professionals (product, plans).
• Gmail (Google / Gemini): Built‑in AI features like Smart Compose/Smart Reply, Help me write, summaries, and natural‑language search reduce the need for third‑party assistants (Smart Compose, Gemini in Gmail).
• Front: Shared inbox and workflow automation (routing, rules, SLAs) for teams; competes where reliable team follow‑ups and operational workflows matter more than personal assistance (workflows).
• Lavender: AI sales‑email coach and drafting tool for Gmail/Outlook; overlaps for sales/BD reps seeking on‑brand drafts and structured follow‑ups to improve reply rates (product).
• Gmelius: Gmail‑integrated shared inboxes, sequences, templates, and AI assistants inside Gmail; appeals to teams wanting in‑Gmail automation and scheduled follow‑ups (features).