Welcome to First Block, a Notion series where founders from 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 spoke with Fabian Hedin, Co-founder and CTO of Lovable. Lovable is a platform that lets you build apps and websites by chatting with AI. After launching in November 2024, they've scaled from $1M to $100M ARR in just eight months—one of the fastest growth trajectories in AI history.Fabian shares his journey from running Minecraft servers in high school to cofounding Lovable, the bold bet on democratizing software development, and why building for today's AI capabilities beats betting on tomorrow's.
For video, transcripts, and custom Notion x Lovable templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/hz0tpb
To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/v53xj8
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:38 Early Journey
05:57 Becoming Lovable
08:40 Launch Lessons
09:39 Scaling Fast
12:38 Building with AI
17:11 What's Production-Ready
19:39 Notion x Lovable
20:34 Future of Building
21:20 Advice Block
Welcome to First Block, a Notion series where founders from 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 spoke with Ant Wilson, Co-Founder and CTO of Supabase. Supabase is the Postgres development platform that has become one of the world’s fastest growing open source communities.Ant shares his journey about previous founder experiences, the power of solving your own problem, and why building authentic relationships with your community matters.Chapters:00:00 Intro02:56 Supabase Explained07:04 The Positioning Shift09:25 Memes & Marketing13:08 Scaling the Community15:09 Winning Enterprises17:09 Remote-First Culture22:49 AI in Action26:10 Advice Block
For video, transcripts, and custom Notion Mercor templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/aow225
To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/cwep6x
Welcome to First Block, a Notion series where founders from the world's leading companies tell us about the many "firsts" of their startup journeys. We explore the ups and downs that founders face as they build, and what they've learned along the way.
In this episode, we spoke with Brendan Foody, Co-founder and CEO of Mercor. Mercor is an AI-powered recruiting platform that scaled from $1 million to $100 million in revenue run rate in just 11 months, making it one of the fastest-growing companies in Silicon Valley.
Brendan shares his journey from selling donuts in eighth grade to building automated hiring solutions, the decision to drop out of college, and how he positioned himself perfectly for the AI talent revolution.
For video, transcripts, and custom Notion Mercor templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/cbc8mp
To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/271hmw
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
03:39 Mercor by the Numbers
05:36 Obsession Over Discipline
08:39 Fundraising as Input
10:59 Scaling Self & Culture
13:40 Automating Manual Processes
17:40 Finding the Right Market
21:08 Staying Long-Term Oriented
22:58 The Tool Stack
25:22 Advice Block
Welcome to First Block, a Notion series where founders from 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 spoke with Varun Anand, Co-founder of Clay, one of the most exciting companies at the intersection of GTM and AI that’s redefining what modern go-to-market looks like.
Varun shares insights on the journey to finding product-market fit, how Clay went from horizontal spreadsheet tool to specialized go-to-market platform, and why following your curiosity matters more than traditional startup wisdom.
For video, transcripts, and custom Notion Clay templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/7i8hzv
To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/udg5vz
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:20 Finding PMF
07:48 Reverse Demo Strategy
10:50 Scaling with Intent
16:04 Reinventing Sales Roles
19:58 Hiring for Potential
21:48 Clay's Operating Culture
23:56 AI Pressure
25:37 Advice Block
Welcome to First Block, a Notion series where founders from 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 spoke with Michael Truell, Co-founder and CEO of Cursor, an AI code editor that has gone from side project to one of the fastest-growing AI tools in the developer world in under a year.
Michael shares why they started with a solution in search of a problem, ignored conventional advice, and focused obsessively on product over everything else. From a 4-person founding team to hiring just one person every few months, their unorthodox path laid the foundation for breakout growth.
For video, transcripts, and custom Notion Cursor templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/2yr1lw
To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/9ipiek
Timestamps
00:00: Intro
02:18: The original spark and false start in mechanical engineering
05:53: The pivot moment to developer tools
06:45: The decision to fork VS Code
08:45: Building AI-native coding tools and the balance between speed and control
12:24: Cursor's explosive growth trajectory
13:41: Early mistakes and lessons learned
14:16: Hiring philosophy and building the first team
17:08: Internal tools and operational philosophy
19:01: Maintaining focus in a hyper-fast environment
20:53: Advice for founders building in the AI era
Full video episode here: https://youtu.be/ZMrjvxCIPpY
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, 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, 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/56lXGm
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.
For video, transcripts, and custom Notion Webflow templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/QFJPUA
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, 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, 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
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 Christina Cacioppo, Co-Founder and CEO of Vanta, discussing her transition from VC to operator and how she has built Vanta into the leading trust management platform.
For an audio-only podcast, transcripts, and custom Notion Vanta templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/TQf6LA
To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/2f5lfV
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 partnership with Index Ventures, this episode features Julianna Lamb, Co-Founder & CTO of Stytch. Stytch helps developers secure and scale their applications with authentication and fraud prevention. Akshay sits down with Julianna to discuss the founding story of Stytch, how her role as CTO has evolved over time, the early days of finding product-market-fit, building out their engineering team, and much more.
For more episodes of the First Block series including custom Notion templates, video, and transcripts, please visit: https://ntn.so/pIvAbt
For more startup resources and to learn more about the Notion for Startups program, please visit: https://ntn.so/AZhAX8
First Block is 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.
This episode features Parker Conrad, Co-Founder and CEO of Rippling, discussing the ins and outs of his entrepreneurial journey and what he’s learned along the way. Rippling lets you easily manage your employees’ payroll, benefits, expenses, devices, apps & more — in one place.
For more episodes of the First Block series including custom Notion templates, audio-only podcasts, and transcripts, please visit: https://ntn.so/5uecCU
For more startup resources and to learn more about the Notion for Startups program, please visit: https://ntn.so/JSIG0M
Michael Nielsen is a quantum physicist, science writer, computer programming researcher, and modern polymath working on tools to expand human capacity to think and create. He’s previously authored pioneering quantum computing books, propelled forward the open science movement, and published research on artificial intelligence. He now researches meta-science at the Astera Institute, while writing about his many interests online.
See www.notion.so/blog/michael-nielsen for episode transcript.
Hosted by Devon Zuegel
Edited by Anson Yu
Audio by The Land Films
Andy is a software engineer, designer, and researcher working on technologies that expand what people can think and do. In past lives he helped build iOS at Apple and led R&D at Khan Academy. Now as an independent researcher, his methods bridge the gap between academia and Silicon Valley.
Char Stiles is an artist, educator and programmer whose work uses emerging technologies to bring to light how computers work. Char works and collaborates across mediums such as interactive installation, video, performance and web. She is a part of the Livecode.nyc collective, where she organizes shows, and livecodes music and visuals and has given talks and led workshops at Carnegie Mellon University, Duke University, University of Limerick, MIT and NYU. She is currently at an NEA-funded artist residency at the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University to develop an open-source toolkit for artists.
Suzanne Ciani is a five-time Grammy award-nominated musician, composer, sound designer, and record label executive whose work helped define the sound of electronic music in the 1970s and left a lasting impression on the genre as a whole. She has released over 20 solo albums including "Seven Waves," and "The Velocity of Love," and was inducted into the first class of Keyboard Magazine's Hall of Fame. She is best known for sound designing commercials like the famous Coke noise, appearing on the David Letterman show, and for her explorations in quadraphonic sound.
Loretta Staples is a prolific designer and educator whose work designing graphical user interfaces such as those seen on the Macintosh Classic in the 1980s and 1990s helped shape personal computing as we know it today. Before becoming interested in software design, Loretta was a graphic designer for The Understanding Business, exhibit developer for The Burdick Group, and textile curator for the Yale University Art Gallery. Her essays and lectures on design criticism such as "The New Design Basics," in Steven Heller's book, “The Education of a Graphic Designer,” have defined the disciplines’ vocabulary and conception of itself. She now works as a therapist at Cityblock in Waterbury, and in private practice in New Haven.
Danielle Baskin is a product designer, situation designer, visual artist, and the founder of numerous small businesses such as Branded Fruit, the first company to print logos on avocados and clementines, Dialup, a voice-based social network that connects friends serendipitously in phone calls, Maskalike, a service that prints your own face realistically on your mask, and many others. She has been featured in The New York Times, Mashable, Vice, Fast Company, Business Insider, Engadget, The Verge, CNET, Oprah, MacWorld, and many others. In her free time she enjoys playing video games, creating Internet pranks, exploring abandoned buildings, and talking on the phone, a lot.
Gretchen McCulloch is an internet linguist — an analyst of the language of the internet, for the people of the internet. She's the author of the New York Times bestselling Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, a Resident Linguist at WIRED, and was formerly the Resident Linguist at The Toast. She also co-hosts a podcast called Lingthusiasm, a podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics.