notion

Ivan Zhao

March 2013, to Elad Gil

We
shape
our tools,
and thereafter
our tools will
shape us.

BACKGROUND

2 million developers

80 million knowledge workers

200+ million Internet users

MISSION

Democratize Software

Bring the computing power to non-programmers

PROBLEM

The “software as applications” model is highly inefficient

W X P
M
◔
Ps Ai

We can’t go to Mars by sending Word documents arounds

SOLUTION

Notion is a centralized home for your information & software

4Marketplace
3LEGO for Software
2Structured Content
1Visual Editor
0Web

Notion demo

Workspace / Moonshots / Project Apollo
interactive prototype
A

Project Apollo

A mission doc for a small team building software with blocks.

MARKETS - OVERVIEW

A horizontal product

Design Tools

$500m

Get traction!

Web Hosting

$2B - $3B

Office/Docs

$22b+

Enterprise/SaaS

$120B+ / $14B

Huge market,
lots of pain

Software Marketplace

New

Change how we
create software

MARKETS - DESIGN TOOLS

Today – designers’ painful workflows

MARKETS - DESIGN TOOLS

Notion – one environment; no developers

MARKETS - ENTERPRISE

Today – pigeon-holed users

application x
yet another SaaS
vertical

MARKETS - ENTERPRISE

Notion – tailored software for all

Conservative

webpage

Normal

software
docs data

Advanced

mobile
software software
docs email data

MARKETS - SOFTWARE MARKETPLACE

Today – keep reinventing the wheel, no division of labour

application x
same old stuff
Developer
yet another
SaaS vertical
same old stuff
Developer

Notion – make once, serve many

software
software software
software software
software software software
Notion provides hosting & plumbing
software Hundreds of thousands existing Open Source web libraries

MARKETS - SOFTWARE MARKETPLACE

Notion – market economy for the software world

End user
Notion tracks usage
$5
Notion distributes revenue
$2
$1
free

TIMING

Commoditization needs the right platform

80s Hypercard
90s OpenDoc
now Web HTML5, “HTML6”

ROADMAP

5 months for private beta; 15 months for Series A

Month 0 Month 6 Month 12 Month 18
Private beta
(Design Tools)
Public beta
Series A
Visual Editor Structured Content LEGO for software Marketplace + future developments
Product development