Notion's Akshay Kothari on productivity and embracing AI

Notion is a productivity platform that blends all your workplace apps into a single platform, including team projects, wikis, and docs. Last valued at $10bn, Notion’s customers include teams at Amazon, Nike, Uber, Figma, Deel, and more!

In this episode, Sandhya Hegde chats with Akshay Kothari, co-founder and COO of Notion.

Join us as we discuss: 

00:00 Preview: Building Notion 1.0

03:32 How Akshay met Ivan Zhao and invested in Notion

5:21 Lessons from the Pulse Journey

8:09 Building Notion’s first templates

12:43 Why Akshay joined Notion full-time

16:26 Akshay’s first few months at Notion

21:59 Evolution of Notion’s GTM strategy and Enterprise vs SMB

26:13 Akshay’s GTM learnings and challenges 

34:37 Launching AI Features in Notion

38:44 Customer Feedback and Future of Notion AI

Sandhya Hegde is a General Partner at Unusual Ventures, leading investments in modern SaaS companies with a focus on AI. Previously an early executive at Amplitude, Sandhya is a product-led growth (PLG) coach and mentor. She can be reached at sandhya@unusual.vc and 

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Akshay Kothari is the co-founder and COO of Notion. 

Unusual Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm designed from the ground up to give a distinct advantage to founders building the next generation of software companies. Unusual has invested in category-defining companies like Webflow, Arctic Wolf Networks, Carta, Robinhood, and Harness. Learn more about us at https://www.unusual.vc/.