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Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career
How Notion leveraged community to build a $10B business | Camille Ricketts (Notion, First Round Capital)
Dec 11, 2022
01:07:35
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Quick takeaways
- Align content with audience needs to provide value and address pain points.
- Nurturing a passionate community can drive product ubiquity through word-of-mouth recommendations.
- Successful content marketing requires identifying content market fit and providing valuable insights for the target audience.
Deep dives
The Importance of Content Market Fit
When creating content, it is crucial to consider the audience and their specific needs and pain points. Content should aim to provide value and address these needs, whether it is helping people get promoted, avoid failure, or reduce anxiety. By aligning content with the audience's needs, it becomes a valuable resource that can attract and engage the target audience.
Building a Community-Driven Growth Strategy
Community-led growth is a powerful approach to achieve product ubiquity and drive brand awareness. By nurturing a community of passionate users, businesses can tap into the network effect and benefit from word-of-mouth recommendations. Notion, for example, successfully created an ambassador program, hosted in-person events, and collaborated with influencers to amplify their reach and foster a sense of belonging within their community.
Unlocking the Potential of Content Marketing
Content marketing plays a vital role in creating brand awareness and driving growth. The key to successful content creation lies in identifying content market fit, understanding the target audience's needs, and providing valuable insights or solutions. By focusing on pain points and offering a unique perspective, businesses can create content that resonates with their audience and helps build trust and credibility. Content marketing can be a powerful tool in attracting and engaging potential customers.
Building Community for Long-Term Success
Building a strong community can be valuable for long-term success. Startups should consider the benefits of community-driven growth versus immediate revenue generation. Companies like Figma and Stripe have successfully leveraged communities to fuel enthusiasm and momentum. Notion, for example, has used an ambassador program to create a network of vocal and engaged users. It's important for founders to find the right approach to community building that aligns with their product, audience, and goals.
The Role of Comms, Press, and PR in the Digital Age
While direct communication channels like social media and newsletters are powerful, traditional comms, press, and PR still have value. Establishing relationships with journalists and media outlets can provide credibility and help reach a broader audience. Positive press coverage and strategic product launches on platforms like Product Hunt can make a significant impact. However, founders should also embrace owned media efforts and personalized approaches that align with their unique personalities and authenticity.
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.
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Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-notion-leveraged-community-to
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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
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Where to find Camille:
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/camillericketts
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camillericketts/
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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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://camnotes.notion.site/Community-Content-Resources-f18fb1db2d094ec2a4140a7737fae362
• 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.hulu.com/series/fleishman-is-in-trouble-710e51f8-3387-404d-8b07-e7c9b766d11c
• Notion: https://www.notion.so/
• Arc: https://arc.net/
• Superhuman: https://superhuman.com/
• Cron: https://cron.com/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Camille’s background
(05:43) What it was like working with Elon Musk
(07:38) Working at Notion in the early days
(12:16) What is community-led growth?
(15:48) How Notion measured the impact of marketing efforts
(16:35) The most successful community efforts at Notion
(18:24) Why metrics aren’t always necessary for community growth
(19:52) When it makes sense to invest in community-led growth
(21:34) How creators make money using Notion
(23:12) The Ambassador Program and Champions Program at Notion
(27:20) Why founders should consider investing in community and delay monetizing some features
(31:03) Companies that have done well in building community
(32:54) How to determine the level of community engagement appropriate for your company to invest in
(34:00) Using Camille’s 2x2 grid to implement community
(36:42) How to launch an ambassador program
(41:22) Advice for founders who want to build community
(47:17) How Lenny got his first 500 newsletter subscribers
(48:58) Examples of Camille’s most impactful content marketing
(51:20) Content-market fit: how to determine the needs of your reader
(53:37) Content categories and the time it takes to create top-notch content
(57:02) The future of comms and how the press helped Notion grow
(1:01:35) Lightning round
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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
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