This “Ancient Philosophy” Inspires Notion: A $10 Billion Startup That Disrupts Everything We Imagine About Success
In the business world, changing human behavior is often the key to success. However, many entrepreneurs fail to achieve this feat. They launch products with enthusiasm, confident of their talents, but face apathy from consumers. Notion founder Ivan Zhao faced this initial setback before making an unexpected comeback.
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Ivan Zhao’s amazing journey
In 2013, Evan Zhao created Notion to simplify the creation of apps and websites. However, the idea did not find its audience. Faced with this failure, Zhao and his co-founder made a radical decision: to retire to Kyoto, Japan, to rethink their project.
They reinvented Notion as a flexible collaboration and productivity tool. Today, Notion is used by millions of people and has become an essential tool for students and professionals around the world.
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a unique philosophical perspective
Ivan Zhao isn’t like your typical founder. He approaches business from a philosophical perspective, citing books and treating every challenge as a thought experiment. For that, customer service is essential.
Notion built a sophisticated system to manage customer feedback, using those interactions as data to improve the product. Zhao compares it to a biological system, where each component learns and evolves.
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For Zhao, business success depends on understanding the invariants, those fundamental limits of human behavior. Entrepreneurs often fail by ignoring these invariants, confusing their own desires with the needs of others.
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Zhao learned from his early mistakes. They understood that they needed to create a product that met the real needs of knowledge workers, rather than trying to turn everyone into app creators.
| 📈Development | After initial failure Notion was able to bounce back and reach a valuation of $10 billion. |
riding the wave of change
Entrepreneurs can’t always change behavior, but they can harness waves of change. For example, Airbnb did not create the home rental concept, but was able to capitalize on an emerging trend.
Similarly, Notion is riding the wave of the need for simplicity in a market filled with fragmented SaaS applications. The younger generation, adopting the concepts from their studies, will carry these habits into their future careers.
Ultimately, building a great business is not about changing human behavior, but about understanding it deeply. How can you apply these principles to your business?
Source: Entrepreneur.com
