Cristina Cordova is a seasoned operator who has scaled some of the most iconic companies in tech. At Stripe, she built and led partnerships that became a foundational revenue engine, including the pivotal deal with Shopify. At Notion, she helped turn viral adoption into a durable distribution strategy powered by community. Today, Cristina is the Chief Operating Officer at Linear, where she’s applying her experience building high-velocity GTM engines to the next generation of developer-first tools.
Discussed in this episode
- Why Cristina joined Stripe without knowing what an API was
- Building Stripe’s early partnerships and salvaging the Shopify deal
- How Notion pioneered community-driven growth
- Lessons on brand, design, and investing for the long term
- What Cristina looks for in exceptional founders and operators
- How Linear is scaling GTM with AI-driven prioritization
- The difference between “keeping the lights on” and transformative leadership
- Cristina’s frameworks for evaluating product resonance and customer love
Episode Highlights
00:43 — The rare superpower behind Cristina’s career: joining breakout companies early
2:46 — Why Cristina joined Stripe without knowing what an API was
12:22 — On Cristina’s first day, Shopify walked away from Stripe’s deal — and how she won them back
16:55 — How Notion scaled by making consumer use free and fueling community-driven growth
20:52 — Why investing in brand early is a leading indicator of durable growth
25:27 — Cristina’s framework for spotting beloved products in the market
37:53 — How Cristina applied lessons from Stripe to build Linear’s GTM from scratch
47:30 — Where AI fits into GTM: prioritizing opportunities, not replacing humans
56:01 — Why Linear built high-quality swag kits for early customers
58:28 — Where to follow Cristina’s journey today
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