Mailbox founder Gentry Underwood on productivity, collective intelligence and building a $100M email app

Gentry Underwood is the co-founder of Mailbox. In our 12th episode, we talk on design being a “we” vs an “I” issue, how to be your most productive self, and discuss what it took to turn Mailbox into a $100 million acquisition within 30 days of being launched.

Design doesn’t have to be approached as a “we,” according to Underwood. However, when approached as a “we” instead of an “I” the results can be much more impactful due to individual limitations. “Each of us look through our own lens” and the more lenses we look through, the better our overall outlook can be.

Mailbox was created from the realization that people used their email as a terribly primitive form of a to-do list. Throughout our interview with Underwood, he explains how conversation and iteration within the team yielded the product we once knew as Mailbox, an email client that promised the most simple path to Inbox Zero.

Jared Erondu and Bobby Ghoshal are the hosts of High Resolution. This post and episode notes were put together by freelance writer, Gannon Burgett. Watch for High Resolution episodes to drop every Monday on TechCrunch at 8 a.m. PT. You can also listen on iTunes and Overcast.