Aakash Gupta

What does it take to build the world's hottest SaaS? And steal share from big tech giants Microsoft and Google? Notion has built one of the most mesmerizing businesses in tech. This is how: 1️⃣   Pivoting to success: Ivan Zhao and Simon Last's first no-code startup failed. So they packed their bags in San Francisco to cheaper Kyoto. Ivan took a $150K loan from his family and the pair "coded in their underwear" for a year. When they re-emerged from code-hibernation, they presented Notion  1.0 in 2016. It was the top app on ProductHunt. The product immediately found PMF for docs, tasks and wikis. 2️⃣   Staying lean as a matter of strategy: Focusing on the idea of future that is "file-free" Notion stayed laser focused on its strategy. In 2017, it focused on expansion of core functionality like commenting on blocks, Slack integration, Windows and iOS apps. These initial launches were magical. They drove Notion to hit 1 million active users with just 10 employees. Notion has stayed lean to this day. With about 600 employees with ~$567M annual revenue, its ARR per FTE is best in class. 3️⃣   Perfecting the PLG engine: After Notion finally took substantive VC funding in 2019, it stayed true to the core of a PLG business. It didn't suddenly hire a huge Sales & Marketing team. Per LinkedIn data, only 10% of its team is in sales. Instead, it focused on hiring and investing product & product growth leaders. These leaders have doubled down on the AI, self-serve, and enterprise parts of the PLG motion. 4️⃣   Building a world-class community flywheel: Notion might have the strongest and most active set of creators of any B2B software on the planet. From Thomas Frank on YouTube to Easlo on TikTok, Notion has world-class creators who make a living selling templates on the product. These creators bring new users in and engage existing one's, making the product as a whole more viral and sticky. Notion's templates library might be copyable, but the quality and depth of templates is not. 5️⃣   Lego blocks vs prescriptive product: Notion can be as simple or complex as you want it. It's the ultimate in customizable.  You can use its database functionalities and run your whole business operating system on it. Or, you can just use its beautiful pages to organize your notes. This customizability permeates every part of the product - from its "blank page" onboarding to its "learning curve" for experienced users.The onboarding just drops you right in, advanced users to love play with databases, automations, and more. We can't all be Notion. But we can learn from them. I go further in the newsletter with my friend Kartik Arora: https://lnkd.in/eNYgx74i