Interview with Notion CEO Ivan: Anyone can become a pro, even if they don’t know how to program

This article was translated by Notion Chinese community member “Zach in My Dream” from an interview with Notion CEO Ivan Zhao by Joongang Daily. In the article, you can learn about Notion’s plans for the Asian region, the origin of Notion’s illustration style, and why Notion chose to accept investment?

The industry’s leading domestic IT startups have a common application that is productivity tool software – Notion

Notion can be a note-taking application like Evernote, trello for project management, Excel or Google Spredcit, and Dropbox, etc., a collaboration tool that embodies them in one page. Combining modules like Lego, creating the necessary documentation.

Notion, developed by a small start-up company located in San Francisco, USA, is called “the terminator of productivity tools” by millennials in their 20s and 30s in Korea and abroad, and has a very high popularity. How did Notion, Silicon Valley’s new unicorn (unlisted startups valued at over $1 billion), attract Korean startups across the Pacific?

Notion headquarters in Silicon Valley, USA, from left: Notion co-founder and CEO Ivan Zhao, Marketing Manager Camille Ricketts, Customer Satisfaction Manager Lily Martin, Product Marketer David Tivits – Provided by Notion

Recently, Notion co-founder and CEO Ivan Zhao (hereinafter referred to as Zhao) accepted an e-mail interview with Korea Joongang Daily. He said: “The secret of Notion’s popularity is found in “The Doctrine of the Mean”. Zhao also said: “This summer will launch Korean version of Notion, and will be the first to enter Korea outside the United States.”

Caricature of Notion CEO Ivan Zhao

The word of mouth among millennials in Korea is growing rapidly

There are approximately 4 million Notion users worldwide. Notion said: “The number of users in South Korea is second only to the United States, ranking second in the world.” According to website data analysis service Similac, about 1.3 million Korean users logged on Notion’s website and mobile terminals last month. Zhao said: “After the outbreak, Korean users increased by more than 60%, and our entire team was encouraged by the various opinions of Korean users we encountered when we were preparing the Korean version.”

Change chart of mobile visitors to Notion website [email protected]

A: “It’s a tool that helps us work the way our brains work, and I think it’s also a ‘flexible tool’ that allows people with different work styles to work the way they want”.

Notion’s module utilization demonstration

Q: What do you think is the secret to Notion’s popularity?

A: “User feedback is like this: the beautiful and clean design, the simple synchronization function, and especially the All in one function on the notes are especially loved by people.

In Korea, word-of-mouth spread (viral) occurred because of the users’ self-organized Notion community. After the spread of the new crown epidemic, people are more concerned about the tools needed for working from home (WFH).

Q: There are also more millennials using Notion in Korea.

A: “The core goal of our team this year is the regionalization of Notion. Korea will be our first overseas country to officially enter. We have recently collected various opinions from Notion users in Korea, and we are working on a Korean version that will be launched in the summer. Show it as much as possible. If we can make more comments, we will also actively refer to it.”

Design Centricism, Artistic Experience Through Technology

Notion received a $50 million (about 60 billion won) investment from a venture capital firm on the 1st of last month. The company’s valuation reached 2 billion US dollars (2.4 trillion won), thus entering the ranks of unicorn companies. Sara Cannon, chief investment officer of Display Partners, who participated in the investment, commented: “Using Notion is a way to experience art through technology.” Many users in Korea also think that the charm of Notion is ‘design’. That is, to provide the same user experience (UX) as the Apple iPhone.

Notion’s intuitive design and usage demo, screenshot of Notion’s homepage

A: “Although my major is design, I can also program. At present, the four designers at Notion, including me, are composed of people who can program. If all projects cannot be based on a unified point of view, they can meet the requirements set by us. Design standards, you can’t go ahead. Notion has a design-centric culture in its DNA.”

Q: Some people say that Notion is similar to Apple in its simplicity and intuitiveness.

A: “Simplicity is an important value of Notion. Users should feel relaxed and easy to operate. The same is true for brands, we want users to think of ‘pencil’ when they think of Notion. To be a natural and familiar tool like a part of the body. Even if you don’t know how to program, let everyone intuitively solve all problems with a mouse. We feel like artists who make tools like craft.”

Notion’s Instagram augmented reality (AR) filter launched last December. Black and white illustration was designed by Roman Muradov.

Zhao also shared some little secrets about the birth of the “black and white stick figure” as the representative image of Notion. When his friend Roman Muradov (designer) was looking for a studio, Zhao lent him the unused space of Notion. In return, the black and white sketches he designed became the image of Notion now. “Sometimes an accidental choice brings unexpected luck,” Zhao said.

Notion, moderate restraint.

Q: What is the philosophical basis for Notion’s sense of simplicity?

A: “I was born in China and immigrated to Canada as a child. So I am familiar with Confucianism in East Asia. Notion’s design and development philosophy also deeply resonates with the concept of ‘the mean’. It is more conservative than overemphasizing function or pursuing change. It involves restraint. Rather than being flamboyant, we prefer to focus on the essentials, and we provide what is needed to be used on a common problem that many people have.”

In 2013, Simon Last, a former friend of Zhao’s, founded Notion in San Francisco, USA. The project that was originally developed was a ‘code making app’, which ultimately failed. He recalled: “At the time, I was only focused on what I wanted to show the world, but I didn’t know what the world wanted.” After that, he came to Tokyo, Japan with Last in 2015 and stayed there for a year to conceive the current Notion. Explaining why he chose Japan, he said: “It takes a place where the language barrier is not available to concentrate on programming all day.”

‘Simple’ small organization leapfrogs the pneumonia epidemic

Q: Because of the pneumonia epidemic, Silicon Valley is also experiencing difficulties.

A: “It’s unprecedented in Silicon Valley that countless talented people have been fired. Notion was able to overcome the crisis because it was a small organization of just over 40 people. We have funds that can last for more than 10 years. “

Q: Are there many people who provide global services?

A: “The 4 developers in the planning team now make up the entire Notion. For the software, even if the number of users explodes, it doesn’t require too much manpower. Like designers who can program, all Notion staff can do it. More than 2 businesses, so that we can work with fewer people. If there is no separation of design, development, and service, as long as they are connected, they can operate, so the team will be faster and more flexible.”

Notion headquarters in Silicon Valley, USA. Notion, despite being a $2 billion unicorn company, consists of only about 40 employees. SourceNotion Instagram

It’s also curious whether Notion’s staff use other productivity software as well. Zhao replied that “After working remotely, I found that there are many tools that help me, not only Notion, I also use Slack, Zoom, Figma (design collaboration tool), Super Human (email management), etc. every day”.

Zhao CEO recently featured in The New York Times. Northion Instagram screenshot

Q: I heard that you did not plan to accept investment before, why?

A: “It’s a misunderstanding to say I don’t like investors, but Notion has enough capital to experiment and grow. After 2018, Notion has brought full benefits to the company’s operations. We have a good relationship with early investors. , got a lot of help in personnel recruitment and so on.”

Q: But what is the reason for accepting the investment this time?

A: “Because of this year’s new crown pneumonia, the world has changed a lot, and the whole technology will definitely change a lot. Notion employees feel that this uncertainty scares them. To give them a sense of security, we have attracted new investment.”

Q: What is the future direction of Notion?

A: “Notion envisions a future where anyone, regardless of coding ability, can make the tools they need and collaborate.” COVID-19 is one of the many challenges humans have overcome through cooperation. Software is developed to solve the problem of the epidemic, but a variety of software including Notion is becoming a tool to overcome this problem. Tools such as pencils and hammers can naturally solve problems encountered in life, and Notion is to become such a tool “

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