Interview with Ivan Zhao, co-founder and CEO of Notion

Entrepreneur Talks by STATION F

Ivan Zhao is the co-founder and CEO of Notion, the all-in-one workspace for your notes, tasks, wikis, and databases. Entrepreneurs rave about it, VCs chase after it, and we simply cannot stop hearing about it.

Notion bundles multiple use cases into one tool and helps teams cut down on their number of applications used. For many users, Notion sparks inner joy — it appeals to the Marie Kondo in all of us, helping us clear out the clutter and organize efficient workflows.

On top of being a product that people love to use, Notion is also a company that entrepreneurs admire, especially in the SaaS space. At the beginning of COVID, it hit a $2 billion valuation after raising a $50 million round — with a relatively small team of 40 people. Notion’s approach to company-building has since been distinguished with two main elements: its lean team and its conscientious attitude towards VC funding.

In this episode, we learn more about the Notion journey — where it comes from and where it's going — with its founder, Ivan Zhao.

Topics:

00:22 — Introduction with Roxanne Varza

01:03 — Ivan Zhao on the market need for Notion

02:13 — Notion’s mission to empower people to create their own tools

03:16 — The 4 main use cases of Notion

03:58 — How Notion built a product that people love so much

05:48 — When Notion exploded in 2018

06:43 — Notion’s approach to building a company: fundraising and team size

09:20 — Raising $50 million at $2B valuation during COVID

11:08 — New offices in Europe and Japan

11:33 — Notion API launch in April

12:02 — New languages, including French!

13:06 — Interesting alternative use cases for Notion 🍳🐉🤓

15:08 — Tools that Notion can replace

16:18 — Ivan on tools that he finds exciting: Figma

16:55 — Bundling vs. unbundling strategy for building product

17:30 — Ivan’s advice for early-stage entrepreneurs

This episode is hosted by Roxanne Varza and produced by Cindy Yang. Art is by Gaëtan Lefebvre.

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