Kayak Co-Founder Paul English Launches Supercal to Rival Calendly
Paul English, renowned for co-founding travel site Kayak, has introduced Supercal, a new scheduling platform targeting the popular Calendly service. Addressing the persistent challenge of coordinating meetings, especially among busy professionals, Supercal offers a free alternative that incorporates AI-driven group scheduling.
AI-Powered Group Scheduling and Calendar Integration
English’s experience serving on eight boards highlighted the complexity of arranging group meetings. Supercal’s solution enables users to email a group and CC the platform’s AI, which then accesses all participants’ calendars, identifies mutually available times, schedules the meeting, and replies with the confirmed details. The service supports syncing up to six calendars, allowing users to consolidate work, personal, and other commitments.
Varied Meeting Types and Future Enhancements
Supercal offers eight meeting types, ranging from standard durations (15, 30, 60 minutes) to specialized categories like VIP access and social meetings such as breakfast or coffee. English indicated upcoming integration with OpenTable, enabling seamless restaurant or café reservations linked to meetings.
Focus on Meeting Effectiveness and Premium Features
While Supercal is free, the company plans to introduce subscription-based premium features aimed at enhancing meeting productivity. English envisions functionalities such as transcription-based feedback, analyzing speech pace, volume, and filler word usage to coach users toward more effective communication. Additionally, Supercal aims to reduce unnecessary meetings by identifying sessions with low engagement or minimal outcomes, thereby promoting more impactful interactions.
Availability and Future Plans
Currently accessible via web browsers, Supercal intends to develop browser extensions, email plugins, and mobile applications for iOS and Android to broaden its reach.
English emphasized the platform’s long-term goal: not just to facilitate scheduling but to ensure meetings deliver meaningful results.
FinOracleAI — Market View
The launch of Supercal introduces a free, AI-powered competitor to established scheduling tools like Calendly, potentially disrupting the market by lowering barriers to entry for users seeking comprehensive meeting coordination features. The inclusion of advanced meeting effectiveness tools could differentiate Supercal and attract professionals focused on productivity. However, monetization through premium features remains a key risk factor, as user conversion rates will determine financial viability. Investors and market watchers should monitor user adoption rates, feature rollout, and competitive responses from incumbents.
Impact: positive
