26 episodes

Candid conversations with the people shaping the world of technology — from pioneers of computer history to founders at the world’s leading startups. For more information, visit: https://www.notion.so/blog/topic/first-block

Notion Podcast Notion

    • Technology

Candid conversations with the people shaping the world of technology — from pioneers of computer history to founders at the world’s leading startups. For more information, visit: https://www.notion.so/blog/topic/first-block

    First Block: Interview with Ivan Zhao and Simon Last, Co-Founders of Notion

    First Block: Interview with Ivan Zhao and Simon Last, Co-Founders of Notion

    Full video episode here: https://youtu.be/ZMrjvxCIPpY



    To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/rmCdsK

    First Block, a Notion series - hosted by Notion's Co-Founder Akshay Kothari - where founders and executives from some of the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey — and what they learned from that experience.

    In this episode, Akshay sits down with Notion co-founders Ivan Zhao and Simon Last to talk about everything Notion — where we started, how we got where we are now, and where we’re headed.

    Timestamps
    00:00 Intro
    01:06 The Founding Story
    04:55 The Early Days
    11:43 Reaching Product-Market-Fit
    17:53 Building a Lean Team
    19:58 Building for All: The Tradeoffs
    27:09 Creating a Global Community
    30:19 Scaling Company Culture
    37:13 The Future of AI
    44:32 A Day in the Life of Ivan Zhao and Simon Last

    • 49 min
    First Block: Interview with Adeyemi Ajao, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Base10 Partners

    First Block: Interview with Adeyemi Ajao, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Base10 Partners

    First Block, a Notion series - hosted by Notion's Co-Founder Akshay Kothari - where founders and executives from some of the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey — and what they learned from that experience.

    To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/tts9Uf

    In this episode, we have Adeyemi Ajao, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Base10 Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in the automation of the real economy. In this episode, we delve into his early days as a serial entrepreneur, experiences as an immigrant in Silicon Valley, his transition to becoming an investor, and much more.

    For videos, transcripts, and custom Notion Base10 templates, please visit: ⁠⁠https://ntn.so/Hv0nRi⁠

    Timestamps

    00:00 Intro

    01:32 Becoming an Entrepreneur

    05:13 Co-Founder Relationships

    08:58 Growing the Team

    13:53 Building an Authentic Community

    19:57 Learning to Be a CEO

    22:18 Being an Immigrant

    25:09 The Positivity of Silicon Valley

    28:06 The Life after Acquisition

    32:04 Becoming an Investor

    35:40 Base10

    38:55 The Ultimate Diversity

    41:48 A Day in the Life of Ade Ajao

    • 44 min
    First Block: Interview with Vlad Magdalin, Co-Founder and CEO of Webflow

    First Block: Interview with Vlad Magdalin, Co-Founder and CEO of Webflow

    First Block, a Notion series - hosted by Notion's Co-Founder Akshay Kothari - where founders and executives from some of the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey — and what they learned from that experience.

    To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: ⁠https://ntn.so/56lXGm

    In this episode, we have Vlad Magdalin, Co-Founder and CEO of Webflow, the leading visual development platform for building powerful websites without writing code. In this episode, we do a deep-dive into the early days of Webflow and its journey to sustainable growth and financing, their hiring principles, the importance of user feedback, the "no-code" revolution, and much more.

    For video, transcripts, and custom Notion Webflow templates, please visit: ⁠⁠https://ntn.so/QFJPUA⁠⁠

    Timestamps

    00:00 Intro
    03:22 Co-Founder Complimentary Skillset
    07:26 Early Attempts at Webflow
    12:21 Perseverance Despite the Challenges
    17:49 Reaching Product-Market Fit
    21:49 Fundraising
    25:21 Hiring Principles
    29:42 Building in Public & User Feedback
    33:39 First Enterprise Customer
    39:44 No-Code Revolution
    42:44 A Day in the Life of Vlad Magdalin
    47:02 Notion for Startups Special Offer (https://ntn.so/n0Iy5d)

    • 46 min
    First Block: Interview with Daniela Amodei, Co-founder of Anthropic

    First Block: Interview with Daniela Amodei, Co-founder of Anthropic

    First Block, a Notion series - hosted by Notion's Co-Founder & COO Akshay Kothari - where founders and executives from some of the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey — and what they learned from that experience.

    In this episode, we have Daniela Amodei, Co-Founder & President at Anthropic. Anthropic is the AI safety and research company behind Claude — the frontier model used by millions of businesses and consumers for its emphasis on safety and performance. She discusses how to build a strong team of founders, how to navigate role changes, and how feedback is essential to scaling a company.

    For an audio-only podcast, transcripts, and custom Notion Anthropic templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/CHl2rT

    To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/HHuDPC

    • 40 min
    First Block: Interview with Mathilde Collin, Co-Founder & CEO of Front

    First Block: Interview with Mathilde Collin, Co-Founder & CEO of Front

    First Block, a Notion series - hosted by Notion's Co-Founder & COO Akshay Kothari - where founders and executives from some of the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey — and what they learned from that experience.

    In this episode, we have Mathilde Collin, Co-Founder & CEO of Front, a customer operations and communications platform. She discusses how to hire your first ten employees and the importance of radical transparency.

    For an audio-only podcast, transcripts, and custom Notion Front templates, please visit: ⁠https://ntn.so/TuLOgg

    To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: ⁠https://ntn.so/hvXpHh

    • 46 min
    First Block: Interview with Christina Cacioppo, Co-Founder & CEO of Vanta

    First Block: Interview with Christina Cacioppo, Co-Founder & CEO of Vanta

    First Block, a Notion series - hosted by Notion's Co-Founder & COO Akshay Kothari - where founders and executives from some of the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey — and what they learned from that experience.

    In this episode, we have Christina Cacioppo, Co-Founder and CEO of Vanta, discussing her transition from VC to operator and how she has built Vanta into the leading trust management platform.

    For an audio-only podcast, transcripts, and custom Notion Vanta templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/TQf6LA

    To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/2f5lfV

    • 42 min

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