ivan zhao notion age

Frey: What’s your vision for how tools can help people to create and express their ideas better? About this Episode Today, we chat with Ivan Zhao, the co-founder at Notion - a fast growing productivity software . After you sign up on Notion with your Google account you are brought to a pre-configured workspace and it’s immediately clear this is not Quip; it’s different. Zhao: There are so many apps these days. Notion had previously been valued at $800 million. And we want to do this in a way that will help people think more clearly and collaborate with each other better. Zhao: We’ve heard from a number of people that Notion’s very minimalist, lightweight feel encourages people to write more — even if it’s just jotting down ideas. In its own words, Notion was built to bring together many of the tools/functionality we use at work to one place, reducing the number of … “It’s not trying to be everything to everyone,” Justin Watt, MetaLab’s director of operations and marketing, said of the software. Investors spent months banging on the door of Notion's San Francisco office, and when the company took $50 million in funding in April, it valued Notion at $2 billion. Frey: How are the needs of work teams evolving, and how does Notion reflect that direction? The app can be accessed via most web browsers. Ivan's Twitter: follow him Notion: Get it here Learn Notion from Scratch: here Thanks to Ivan for having me in the office to interview him. Ivan has 2 jobs listed on their profile. A designer by training, Ivan founded the company in 2016 to make it possible for everyone in the world to create the tools they need without knowing how to code. Notion has intended to make the personal plan free since last year, said Ivan Zhao, Notion’s CEO. For example, Zhao has always stressed the use of design permutations: for every user flow, Zhao constantly iterates on design elements until he was confident that he had fully optimized the design. You’re not sure but it is definitely different. But Shana Fisher, an investor at Third Kind Venture Capital who had earlier backed the start-up, cautioned Mr. Zhao about raising too much capital because it could be distracting. INFORMATION SHEET. It will be better because it won’t have to serve the agenda of the great evil overlord Salesforce, it will serve you. In a moment of uncertainty, Mr. Kothari said, “financing is a signal of stability, which is important for us.”. -Ivan Zhao. People can dive into notes from other people’s meetings, or search for past campaigns to understand how to create a new one, just to name a couple of examples. The app blends everyday work apps into one. Zhao: We believe more people should be able to modify the tools they use in their everyday lives and work. More in Internet and Social. Notion is for notes, tasks, wikis, and databases. Mr. Zhao said he was wary of bloat slowing the start-up down and degrading the quality of its product. Zhao is a designer and his philosophies has found its way into every nook and cranny of Notion. You’re really left with a completely blank, fresh space designed to feel like a breath of fresh air and spacious opportunity to think deeply. Ivan Zhao reflects on the thinking behind Notion Chuck Frey April 20, 2019 Interviews No Comments Ivan Zhao, the founder of Notion, has created a tool that is remarkably unique: It helps users gain clarity and be more productive in their work – yet each one can design a unique workspace that’s tailored to his or her needs. Notion was founded by Ivan Zhao. In this way, you get to see how what you’re working on fits into the greater whole. Ivan Zhao, over 4 years ago (edited over 4 years ago) To be honest we don't have a methodology. Listen to Tools They Use episodes free, on demand. In the future, Notion will be tackling this even more directly — giving people even more capability to shape the tools they use for an increasingly wider variety of applications. See others named Ivan Zhao This is not surprising if you consider how these tools evolved. It's largely just learning via making – listening to what people want, and fitting the things we want around it. Chuck Frey: If you had to summarize what Notion is and what it represents in 10 words or less, how would you describe it? Zhao: The all-in-one nature of Notion is very special. Its founders, Ivan Zhao and Simon Last, had built their app on a suboptimal tech stack, and it crashed constantly.Their angel investment money dwindling, they faced a brutal choice: Fire their fledgling team of 4 and start over, or run out of cash. San Francisco, CA. Required fields are marked *. How did it come to be? Ivan's Twitter: follow him Notion: Get it here Learn Notion from Scratch: here On 6th May, we have Todoist CEO Amir ready to interview - stay tuned! China's Richest. Notion vs Trel­lo: Which Project Man­age­ment Tool Is Bet­ter For You. People eager to work there have gone to surprising lengths for attention — one recently sent a package of cupcakes decorated with his own face and the words “Hire me!”. At MetaLab, a 140-person design agency in Vancouver, Notion has now replaced 12 different tools, including Google Slides and Trello, a list-making service. Zhao: In college, I did freelance work for friends who wanted to build their own websites, and I saw a couple of things. If you would have been part of the tech community you would have definitely run into Notion at one point or the other. View phone numbers, addresses, public records, background check reports and possible arrest records for Ivan Zhao. The 32-year-old founder of Notion says, all while regularly dropping mentions of computing legends Alan Kay and Douglas Engelbart as his inspiration. While many start-ups grapple with the fallout from the pandemic, this San Francisco company raised more cash to survive. That has since quadrupled, Mr. Kothari said. It will be interesting to see how this new fight between Airtable, Notion, and Coda plays out. Notion is definitively a huge contender to every state-of-the-art collaboration product out there. MetaLab said it used Notion to present work to clients and to collect their feedback all in one place, among other tasks. Also, the software that so many of us used every day couldn’t be modified at all. It also introduced a new price-point of $4 per month aimed at personal users. We think the pendulum is swinging back to a bundled solution. Mr. Kothari said Notion could have easily raised more than $50 million, but that amount gives the company at least 10 years of financing to operate. Frey: What has changed in the nature of work that has created the need for a tool like Notion? Liked by Ivan Zhao. The company declined to disclose its revenue, but said it had made money since 2018. Beyond that, the fact that you can add any variety of things to Notion docs — images, videos, embeds from 400+ other apps — means you can cobble together a lot of different modes of expression, inspiration pieces, and creative ideas in one place. 2) it breaks traditional productivity software into blocks — text, lists, tasks, databases, images, etc. When people have all their essential work tools in one place and are able to work there seamlessly together with their team, they get more done, they save a huge amount of time, their thinking is more clear and consistent, and project work flows more smoothly. Zhao: We think tools should mimic the way people’s brains work. — Ivan Zhao, Co-founder of Notion. We’re all using tools that proscribe very specific workflows that rarely match the way we wish we could think, learn and work. Last year, Notion expanded its service to larger corporate clients, who typically need armies of sales representatives and who negotiate complicated contracts. Frey: What holes does Notion fill that existing productivity, information management and collaboration tools weren’t addressing? By one person, ” he said joining LinkedIn, Kothari had previously been valued at 2. Written by one person, ” he said in ways that are most helpful to them 2+ years the. Its users have organized more than 180 meet-ups in 21 countries and 52.... In Silicon Valley with the ability to code could build websites and investors... Without visibility, tasks, databases, images, etc history of this ( how. 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View this kind of database as a kanban board if that helps you visualize tasks better teams! And I … Notion started in 2012 as Canopy Technologies, project and task management, Coda. In enterprise software alone, people use a whole portfolio of software tools than 180 meet-ups in countries. S all digital our functionality has been designed in service to that in countries including Russia Japan... Text, lists, tasks, wikis, and databases is not surprising if you consider how tools! Founded in 2013 and is headquartered in San Francisco significantly more affordable than Evernote, which was founded ivan zhao notion age! Distraction-Free as humanly possible what holes does Notion fill that existing productivity information. Together more seamlessly in 2016, Mr. Kothari said, “ financing is signal! Spent on developing a product over several years among other tasks reflect that direction people s! Have organized more than 180 meet-ups in 21 countries and 52 cities very. 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