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Anonymous
Hey I am on Medial • 6m
💡How Notion Nearly Failed, Then Became a $10B Company In 2015, Notion was 24 hours from shutting down. With just $150,000 left, co-founder Ivan Zhao moved to Kyoto, Japan and reduced the team from 8 to 2 people. Instead of pivoting or raising more money (the Silicon Valley standard), they made a bold choice: completely rebuild their crashing product from scratch. While competitors chased growth metrics, Notion focused obsessively on product stability and their small but devoted user base. They rejected VC funding for years and grew entirely through word-of-mouth. The results? 20+ million users, $10B+ valuation, and remarkably, 85% of new customers coming through organic referrals—all without a traditional sales team. The lesson: Sometimes rebuilding, not pivoting, is the path to breakthrough success. Product-market fit can't be rushed, and passionate early users matter more than vanity metrics. Would you have the courage to start over when facing failure?
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