1 hr 7 min

How Notion leveraged community to build a $10B business | Camille Ricketts (Notion, First Round Capital‪)‬ Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

    • Technology

Camille Ricketts began her career in journalism, at the Wall Street Journal, in 2006. In 2010 she joined Tesla, where she worked in communications alongside Elon Musk. She transitioned into marketing and became the Head of Content and Marketing at First Round Capital and then went on to become the very first marketing hire at Notion. In today’s episode, we dig into community-led growth—what it is, and when and how to pursue it. We get super-specific on how Notion championed their most loyal users and built a passionate community, and the incredible outcome it had for the company’s growth. We also talk about how to create great content, and how content can drive growth for your business and brand.

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-notion-leveraged-community-to-build-a-10b-business-camille-ricketts-notion-first-round-capital/#transcript

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for supporting this podcast:
• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments: https://www.geteppo.com/
• Flatfile—A CSV importer that says yes instead of error: mismatch: https://www.flatfile.com/lenny
• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security: https://vanta.com/lenny

Where to find Camille:
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/camillericketts
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camillericketts/

Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

People referenced:
• Ivan Zhao: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivanhzhao/
• Simon Last: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-last-41404140/
• Lexie Barnhorn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexisbarnhorn/
• Ben Lang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmlang/
• Claire Butler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairetbutler/
• Jessi Craige Shikman at First Round: https://firstround.com/person/jessi-craige-shikman/
• Brett Berson at First Round: https://firstround.com/person/brett-berson/
• Josh Kopelman at First Round: https://firstround.com/person/josh-kopelman/#mystory
• Shaun Young on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaunyou/
• David Pierce at The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/authors/david-pierce
• Francisco Cruz-Mendoza: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franciscocrz/
• Emma Yee Yick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmayeeyick/ 
Additionally, Camille would love to shout out Nate Martins and Andrea Lim, who ran Notion’s content program:
• Nate Martins: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nate-martins/
• Andrea Lim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreawlim/

Content and companies referenced:
• Community & Content Resources: https://tinyurl.com/yrxbb542
• Station F: https://stationf.co/
• Figma: https://www.figma.com/
• Canva: https://www.canva.com/
• Stripe: https://stripe.com/
• Stripe Atlas: https://stripe.com/atlas
• Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/
• First Round Review: https://review.firstround.com/
• Jobs to be done framework: https://jobs-to-be-done.com/jobs-to-be-done-a-framework-for-customer-needs-c883cbf61c90
• The Only App You Need for Work-Life Productivity: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-only-app-you-need-for-work-life-productivity-1521640800
• Product Hunt: https://www.producthunt.com/

Referenced in lightning round:
• Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning So Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It: https://www.amazon.com/Obviously-Awesome-Product-Positioning-Customers/dp/1999023005
• April Dunford on Lenny’s podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/april-dunford-on-product-positioning-segmentation-and-optimizing-your-sales-process/
• April Dunford’s guest post in Lenny’s newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/positioning
• Harry Stebbings’s podcast, 20VC: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/podcast/
• Lenny on 20VC: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/lenny-rachitsky/
• Tár: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14444726/
• Fleishman Is in Trouble: https://www

Camille Ricketts began her career in journalism, at the Wall Street Journal, in 2006. In 2010 she joined Tesla, where she worked in communications alongside Elon Musk. She transitioned into marketing and became the Head of Content and Marketing at First Round Capital and then went on to become the very first marketing hire at Notion. In today’s episode, we dig into community-led growth—what it is, and when and how to pursue it. We get super-specific on how Notion championed their most loyal users and built a passionate community, and the incredible outcome it had for the company’s growth. We also talk about how to create great content, and how content can drive growth for your business and brand.

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-notion-leveraged-community-to-build-a-10b-business-camille-ricketts-notion-first-round-capital/#transcript

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for supporting this podcast:
• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments: https://www.geteppo.com/
• Flatfile—A CSV importer that says yes instead of error: mismatch: https://www.flatfile.com/lenny
• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security: https://vanta.com/lenny

Where to find Camille:
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/camillericketts
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camillericketts/

Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

People referenced:
• Ivan Zhao: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivanhzhao/
• Simon Last: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-last-41404140/
• Lexie Barnhorn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexisbarnhorn/
• Ben Lang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmlang/
• Claire Butler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairetbutler/
• Jessi Craige Shikman at First Round: https://firstround.com/person/jessi-craige-shikman/
• Brett Berson at First Round: https://firstround.com/person/brett-berson/
• Josh Kopelman at First Round: https://firstround.com/person/josh-kopelman/#mystory
• Shaun Young on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaunyou/
• David Pierce at The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/authors/david-pierce
• Francisco Cruz-Mendoza: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franciscocrz/
• Emma Yee Yick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmayeeyick/ 
Additionally, Camille would love to shout out Nate Martins and Andrea Lim, who ran Notion’s content program:
• Nate Martins: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nate-martins/
• Andrea Lim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreawlim/

Content and companies referenced:
• Community & Content Resources: https://tinyurl.com/yrxbb542
• Station F: https://stationf.co/
• Figma: https://www.figma.com/
• Canva: https://www.canva.com/
• Stripe: https://stripe.com/
• Stripe Atlas: https://stripe.com/atlas
• Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/
• First Round Review: https://review.firstround.com/
• Jobs to be done framework: https://jobs-to-be-done.com/jobs-to-be-done-a-framework-for-customer-needs-c883cbf61c90
• The Only App You Need for Work-Life Productivity: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-only-app-you-need-for-work-life-productivity-1521640800
• Product Hunt: https://www.producthunt.com/

Referenced in lightning round:
• Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning So Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It: https://www.amazon.com/Obviously-Awesome-Product-Positioning-Customers/dp/1999023005
• April Dunford on Lenny’s podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/april-dunford-on-product-positioning-segmentation-and-optimizing-your-sales-process/
• April Dunford’s guest post in Lenny’s newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/positioning
• Harry Stebbings’s podcast, 20VC: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/podcast/
• Lenny on 20VC: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/lenny-rachitsky/
• Tár: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14444726/
• Fleishman Is in Trouble: https://www

1 hr 7 min

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