EO 9-Year Hustle to Achieve a Single GoalㅣNotion's Cofounders | EO
Oct 23, 2025
In this engaging conversation, Akshay Kothari, COO of Notion and former LinkedIn product wizard, teams up with co-founder and CEO Ivan Zhao, a designer passionate about creativity in tech. They delve into Notion's fascinating journey, from its initial failures to achieving product-market fit. The duo shares lessons learned from early startups, the importance of modular building blocks, and how they approached the monumental task of rewriting their product. Their long-term goal? Empowering a billion knowledge workers to create their own software.
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Class Project Became A Hit
- Akshay built Pulse as a class project that unexpectedly topped the App Store and became a company overnight.
- Releasing early let them gather feedback, iterate fast, and launch a real business.
Ship Fast, Then Win Distribution
- Shipping quickly beats endless polishing because real user feedback reveals product fit.
- Distribution matters as much as product quality for actual adoption.
Design Roots Shaped Notion's Mission
- Ivan studied cognitive science and art, then built websites for artist friends who couldn't code.
- That experience shaped his belief that computing should be a creative medium for everyone.