Email’s New Playbook

Hey, I’m Rodney Kuhn, co-founder of Sortd. Picture this: you walk into the office, coffee in hand, ready to tackle the day. You open Gmail, and—bam—200 unread emails hit you like a linebacker. You’re behind before you’ve even started. Sound familiar? It’s not just you. It’s all of us. Email’s a mess, but it’s not the enemy—it’s the game we’re all playing. And the truth is, we’ve been playing it solo when it’s begging to be a team sport.

The Big Swing

When my co-founders Wayne, Bradley, and I sat down to figure out what’s next, we weren’t interested in just tinkering around the edges. We wanted to swing for the fences and solve something huge. What could be bigger than email? It’s the backbone of work for billions—1.8 billion Gmail users alone—yet it hasn’t evolved much since the early days of the internet. People are drowning in it, spending 28% of their workweek just keeping up, losing hours to context-switching. Companies bleed productivity while teams scramble to stay aligned. We couldn’t imagine a future where we’re still stuck in this email chaos. So we built Sortd to fix it—not just for us, but for the world.

Email’s Solo Problem

Here’s the deal: email was built for one-on-one communication, not the fast-paced, collaborative work of 2025. Today, teams are spread across time zones, juggling async tasks and real-time updates. It’s a team sport now, not a solo sprint. But email? It’s still stuck in the ‘90s. So we’ve all cobbled together hacks—marking emails unread, starring them, forwarding them to ourselves. Ever sent the same client reply twice because no one knew who was on it? That’s not a fluke; that’s email stuck playing the wrong game.

Sortd: The New Playbook

We didn’t create Sortd to slap a bandage on email and task management. We built it to redefine how it works. Sortd lives inside Gmail—no new app, no extra login—and turns it into a team huddle. Drag emails into Kanban boards, assign tasks, chat in real-time, all without leaving your inbox. It’s not about piling on more tools; it’s about making email work for the team. Pipelines for sales, workflows for support, visibility for everyone. Sortd is the coach that brings your team together, turning inbox chaos into a winning streak.

Boards That Work: Organize emails, tasks and workflow visually—your Gmail experince becomes a game plan.

Team Moves: Share emails and task, assign plays, track progress. No more dropped balls.

Google Flow: Calendar, Docs, Sheets—all tied in, no switching apps.

AI on Deck: Gemini and our AI spotting gaps and nudge you forward.

Unlike Slack, which owns internal chatter, or CRMs that lock you into rigid boxes, Sortd bridges the gap—handling external work like customer emails while keeping your team tight. It’s Gmail, but for the team sport era.

The Human Play

This isn’t just about tech—it’s about people. Email stress isn’t caused by servers; it’s caused by the way we’re forced to work alone. Sortd flips that: one shared space, one clear playbook. You can see what’s going on, who’s on it, and what’s next. Suddenly, work feels like a team win, not a personal grind.

Our Story So Far

We’ve been at this for years—building, breaking, learning. Sortd isn’t our first rodeo. We’ve launched mobile services, marketing tools, even a dating app. But email? That’s the Super Bowl. We poured our collective frustration—missed replies, duplicate efforts—into creating something better. Wayne and I have long focused on product and the user experience, while Brad and Ronnie brought the technical magic that made it all real. Thousands of users later, with a #1 launch on Product Hunt and features in Fast Company, Wired and TechCrunch, this is only getting started.

The Team Sport Future

Work’s a team sport now, and email needs to catch up. Sortd’s not here to tweak the system—it’s here to reimagine it. A new kind of email platform, built for teams, not lone wolves. If you’re ready to stop playing solo and start winning together, join us. Let’s make email a team thing.