Akshay Kothari

The best power founder has is like the veto power. And Ivan used that a lot when I was in the early days. Like, you know, I remember, I don't know how many salespeople we'd interviewed for the first six months. And Ivan was like, well, this person is quite good, but not great. So let's keep looking.

The best power founder has is like the veto power. And Ivan used that a lot when I was in the early days. Like, you know, I remember, I don't know how many salespeople we'd interviewed for the first six months. And Ivan was like, well, this person is quite good, but not great. So let's keep looking.

And I think for up to about 500 people, we're about 700 people today, but up to 500 people, the last interview was always with Ivan or myself. So we met literally everyone before. And because we did that, I think it already sort of forced a certain rigor inside the company. But also in general, we were okay with enduring the pain.

And I think for up to about 500 people, we're about 700 people today, but up to 500 people, the last interview was always with Ivan or myself. So we met literally everyone before. And because we did that, I think it already sort of forced a certain rigor inside the company. But also in general, we were okay with enduring the pain.

And I think for up to about 500 people, we're about 700 people today, but up to 500 people, the last interview was always with Ivan or myself. So we met literally everyone before. And because we did that, I think it already sort of forced a certain rigor inside the company. But also in general, we were okay with enduring the pain.

Like a lot of times you feel like this person needed to be hired yesterday and we would be okay waiting a few weeks, few months until we found the best person for that job.

Like a lot of times you feel like this person needed to be hired yesterday and we would be okay waiting a few weeks, few months until we found the best person for that job.

Like a lot of times you feel like this person needed to be hired yesterday and we would be okay waiting a few weeks, few months until we found the best person for that job.

I think we took a slightly different approach where we did try to keep the team lean. And we felt like it might feel like short term, it's slowing us down. But in the long term, keeping the team small allowed us to move a lot faster.

I think we took a slightly different approach where we did try to keep the team lean. And we felt like it might feel like short term, it's slowing us down. But in the long term, keeping the team small allowed us to move a lot faster.

I think we took a slightly different approach where we did try to keep the team lean. And we felt like it might feel like short term, it's slowing us down. But in the long term, keeping the team small allowed us to move a lot faster.

Today, all of Notion with all the different surfaces we have under 20 product managers, and we have about 12 designers, 12 designers sort of design the entire surface of Notion, including calendar, and it really allows us to move faster. Like it's not a committee of design or committee of product managers where someone's only responsible for a very small part of the problem.

Today, all of Notion with all the different surfaces we have under 20 product managers, and we have about 12 designers, 12 designers sort of design the entire surface of Notion, including calendar, and it really allows us to move faster. Like it's not a committee of design or committee of product managers where someone's only responsible for a very small part of the problem.

Today, all of Notion with all the different surfaces we have under 20 product managers, and we have about 12 designers, 12 designers sort of design the entire surface of Notion, including calendar, and it really allows us to move faster. Like it's not a committee of design or committee of product managers where someone's only responsible for a very small part of the problem.

And so because we are a lean team, we can actually take a little bit longer because we're not trying to hire a lot more people. We're trying to hire maybe a couple people every year. And it also forces a certain prioritization that makes you a lot more effective, right?

And so because we are a lean team, we can actually take a little bit longer because we're not trying to hire a lot more people. We're trying to hire maybe a couple people every year. And it also forces a certain prioritization that makes you a lot more effective, right?

And so because we are a lean team, we can actually take a little bit longer because we're not trying to hire a lot more people. We're trying to hire maybe a couple people every year. And it also forces a certain prioritization that makes you a lot more effective, right?

Instead of just taking the fundraising money that you took, hiring a lot of people, saying yes to all the projects, I think that actually comes at a cost. The cost is that your bandwidth is now split among so many different projects. And so I think you may feel like you're going faster by hiring more people and saying yes to more projects, but in effect, it is actually going slower.

Instead of just taking the fundraising money that you took, hiring a lot of people, saying yes to all the projects, I think that actually comes at a cost. The cost is that your bandwidth is now split among so many different projects. And so I think you may feel like you're going faster by hiring more people and saying yes to more projects, but in effect, it is actually going slower.

Instead of just taking the fundraising money that you took, hiring a lot of people, saying yes to all the projects, I think that actually comes at a cost. The cost is that your bandwidth is now split among so many different projects. And so I think you may feel like you're going faster by hiring more people and saying yes to more projects, but in effect, it is actually going slower.