First Block: Interview with Parker Conrad, Co-Founder & CEO of Rippling

First Block: Interview with Ivan Zhao and Simon Last, Co-Founders of Notion

To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/rmCdsK First Block, a Notion series - hosted by Notion's Co-Founder Akshay Kothari - where founders and executives from some of the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey — and what they learned from that experience. In this episode, Akshay sits down with Notion co-founders Ivan Zhao and Simon Last to talk about everything Notion — where we started, how we got where we are now, and where we’re headed. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:06 The Founding Story 04:55 The Early Days 11:43 Reaching Product-Market-Fit 17:53 Building a Lean Team 19:58 Building for All: The Tradeoffs 27:09 Creating a Global Community 30:19 Scaling Company Culture 37:13 The Future of AI 44:32 A Day in the Life of Ivan Zhao and Simon Last

First Block: Interview with Adeyemi Ajao, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Base10 Partners

First Block, a Notion series - hosted by Notion's Co-Founder Akshay Kothari - where founders and executives from some of the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey — and what they learned from that experience.

To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/tts9Uf

In this episode, we have Adeyemi Ajao, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Base10 Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in the automation of the real economy. In this episode, we delve into his early days as a serial entrepreneur, experiences as an immigrant in Silicon Valley, his transition to becoming an investor, and much more.

For videos, transcripts, and custom Notion Base10 templates, please visit: ⁠⁠https://ntn.so/Hv0nRi⁠

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:32 Becoming an Entrepreneur

05:13 Co-Founder Relationships

08:58 Growing the Team

13:53 Building an Authentic Community

19:57 Learning to Be a CEO

22:18 Being an Immigrant

25:09 The Positivity of Silicon Valley

28:06 The Life after Acquisition

32:04 Becoming an Investor

35:40 Base10

38:55 The Ultimate Diversity

41:48 A Day in the Life of Ade Ajao

First Block: Interview with Vlad Magdalin, Co-Founder and CEO of Webflow

First Block, a Notion series - hosted by Notion's Co-Founder Akshay Kothari - where founders and executives from some of the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey — and what they learned from that experience. In this episode, we have Vlad Magdalin, Co-Founder and CEO of Webflow, the leading visual development platform for building powerful websites without writing code. In this episode, we do a deep-dive into the early days of Webflow and its journey to sustainable growth and financing, their hiring principles, the importance of user feedback, the "no-code" revolution, and much more. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 03:22 Co-Founder Complimentary Skillset 07:26 Early Attempts at Webflow 12:21 Perseverance Despite the Challenges 17:49 Reaching Product-Market Fit 21:49 Fundraising 25:21 Hiring Principles 29:42 Building in Public & User Feedback 33:39 First Enterprise Customer 39:44 No-Code Revolution 42:44 A Day in the Life of Vlad Magdalin 47:02 Notion for Startups Special Offer (https://ntn.so/n0Iy5d)

First Block: Interview with Daniela Amodei, Co-founder of Anthropic

First Block, a Notion series - hosted by Notion's Co-Founder & COO Akshay Kothari - where founders and executives from some of the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey — and what they learned from that experience.

In this episode, we have Daniela Amodei, Co-Founder & President at Anthropic. Anthropic is the AI safety and research company behind Claude — the frontier model used by millions of businesses and consumers for its emphasis on safety and performance. She discusses how to build a strong team of founders, how to navigate role changes, and how feedback is essential to scaling a company.

For an audio-only podcast, transcripts, and custom Notion Anthropic templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/CHl2rT

To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/HHuDPC

First Block: Interview with Mathilde Collin, Co-Founder & CEO of Front

First Block, a Notion series - hosted by Notion's Co-Founder & COO Akshay Kothari - where founders and executives from some of the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey — and what they learned from that experience.

In this episode, we have Mathilde Collin, Co-Founder & CEO of Front, a customer operations and communications platform. She discusses how to hire your first ten employees and the importance of radical transparency.

For an audio-only podcast, transcripts, and custom Notion Front templates, please visit: ⁠https://ntn.so/TuLOgg

To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: ⁠https://ntn.so/hvXpHh