How Notion Was Built

Rebuilt from scratch instead of iterating on failure. Most founders try to patch a failing product. Zhao threw away the entire codebase and reimagined the product with a clearer vision. The rebuilt version was fundamentally different — and better.

Moved to Kyoto to extend runway. This was not running away — it was buying time. Lower living costs gave the team 2+ years of runway that would have lasted 6 months in San Francisco. The quiet environment also allowed deep, focused product work.

Built for power users first, then simplified. Notion's early adopters were developers and designers who appreciated the block-based flexibility. Their enthusiasm created organic word-of-mouth that reached mainstream users gradually.

Templates turned users into growth engines. The Notion template gallery (200K+ templates created by the community) meant that every template creator was also a Notion marketer — sharing their work and driving new signups.

Stayed tiny for remarkably long. Notion had fewer than 50 employees when it hit 4 million users. This forced the product to be self-serve and the growth to be organic. When they eventually hired, every person had disproportionate impact.

Scrapping v1 entirely. After two years of struggling, Zhao chose to rebuild rather than iterate. This is one of the hardest decisions a founder can make — admitting the current product is unfixable — but it was the right call.

The Kyoto move. Relocating to Japan was unconventional and risky, but it extended the company's life by years and created a focused environment that a WeWork office in SOMA never could have provided.

Launching with a generous free tier. Notion's free plan included unlimited pages for personal use — far more generous than competitors like Confluence or Evernote. This drove adoption among students and individuals who later brought Notion to their workplaces.

Building the API and integrations platform. Opening Notion to third-party integrations in 2021 transformed it from a standalone tool into a platform — dramatically increasing switching costs and enterprise appeal.

Adding AI as a native feature. Instead of bolting on AI as an afterthought, Notion integrated AI writing, summarization, and analysis directly into the workspace — making it feel like a natural extension rather than a separate product.

Q.How did Notion almost die?

Notion nearly went bankrupt in 2015 when its first product (a block-based editor) failed to gain traction. Revenue was negligible, the product was buggy, and the team was burning through their seed funding. Instead of shutting down, founder Ivan Zhao moved the team to Kyoto, Japan to reduce costs by 70% and rebuilt the product from scratch over two years.

Q.How does Notion make money?

Notion uses a freemium model. Personal use is free with unlimited pages. Plus plans cost $10/month, Business plans $18/user/month, and Enterprise is custom-priced. The majority of revenue comes from team and enterprise subscriptions, with over 4 million paying teams as of 2024.

Q.Is Notion profitable?

Notion has not publicly disclosed profitability, but with estimated $500M+ ARR, a relatively small team (~700 employees), and minimal marketing spend historically, the company is believed to be near or at profitability. Their capital efficiency is exceptional — $343M raised against a $10B valuation.

Q.Why did Notion move to Kyoto?

Founder Ivan Zhao moved the team to Kyoto, Japan in 2015 to extend the company's runway. Living costs in Kyoto were roughly 70% lower than San Francisco, giving the team years of additional time to rebuild the product. The quiet, focused environment of Kyoto also contributed to the deep product work that made Notion 2.0 successful.