Tech debt almost killed Notion. With only a few weeks' runway left,...
Alex Vacca@itsalexvacca
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Aug 07, 2025
~4 min read
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Tech debt almost killed Notion. With only a few weeks' runway left, the founders left SF, moved to Kyoto, & rewrote the entire app.
No launch. No hype. Just a quiet resurrection. Today, Notion's worth $10B.
Their monk-mode product strategy every founder should study:
No launch. No hype. Just a quiet resurrection. Today, Notion's worth $10B.
Their monk-mode product strategy every founder should study:
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Notion was dead in 2015.
The app crashed constantly. Users lost their work. The code was so broken they couldn't ship new features. Investors walked away.
The founders fired everyone to save money. Cash was almost gone.
Then they made a decision that changed everything...
The app crashed constantly. Users lost their work. The code was so broken they couldn't ship new features. Investors walked away.
The founders fired everyone to save money. Cash was almost gone.
Then they made a decision that changed everything...
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Ivan Zhao and Simon Last bought one-way tickets to Japan.
Shut down their SF office. Moved into a tiny Kyoto apartment with paper-thin walls. Nobody spoke English. They didn't speak Japanese.
Nothing to do but code.
They called it "monk mode."
Shut down their SF office. Moved into a tiny Kyoto apartment with paper-thin walls. Nobody spoke English. They didn't speak Japanese.
Nothing to do but code.
They called it "monk mode."
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Their daily routine in Kyoto:
Wake up. Code for 9 hours straight.
"Hey, let's go out for food."
Eat cheap ramen.
Code for another 9 hours.
Sleep.
Repeat.
No distractions. No meetings. No investors. Just two guys and a compiler.
Then one day, everything clicked...
Wake up. Code for 9 hours straight.
"Hey, let's go out for food."
Eat cheap ramen.
Code for another 9 hours.
Sleep.
Repeat.
No distractions. No meetings. No investors. Just two guys and a compiler.
Then one day, everything clicked...
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The breakthrough came from Kyoto's minimalist aesthetic.
Everything in Notion became a "block" – text, images, tables, todos.
Like LEGO pieces you could arrange however you wanted.
Dead simple concept. Infinitely flexible execution.
But they weren't done. They set an insane quality bar...
Everything in Notion became a "block" – text, images, tables, todos.
Like LEGO pieces you could arrange however you wanted.
Dead simple concept. Infinitely flexible execution.
But they weren't done. They set an insane quality bar...
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They set an insane quality bar: The app had to feel "buttery smooth."
Every interaction. Every animation. Every pixel.
No launch until they themselves loved using it.
They tested by building their entire lives in Notion – notes, tasks, personal wikis, everything.
Every interaction. Every animation. Every pixel.
No launch until they themselves loved using it.
They tested by building their entire lives in Notion – notes, tasks, personal wikis, everything.
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Two years later, they emerged from monk mode with Notion 2.0.
Clean. Fast. Stable. Beautiful.
But they'd been gone so long, nobody remembered them. How do you relaunch when you've been invisible for 2 years?
They tried something that shouldn't have worked...
Clean. Fast. Stable. Beautiful.
But they'd been gone so long, nobody remembered them. How do you relaunch when you've been invisible for 2 years?
They tried something that shouldn't have worked...
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March 2018. They quietly released Notion 2.0.
No press tour. No ads. No launch party.
Initially invite-only to control server load and one strategic move: Posted it on Product Hunt.
What happened next broke every rule of startup growth...
No press tour. No ads. No launch party.
Initially invite-only to control server load and one strategic move: Posted it on Product Hunt.
What happened next broke every rule of startup growth...
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It shot to #1 on Product Hunt immediately.
YouTubers made tutorials without being asked.
Indie hackers shared templates. Startups documented everything in Notion.
No paid promotion. Just users telling other users.
Then something accidental happened.
YouTubers made tutorials without being asked.
Indie hackers shared templates. Startups documented everything in Notion.
No paid promotion. Just users telling other users.
Then something accidental happened.
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Notion unexpectedly created an economy.
Users started creating and sharing templates. Some began SELLING premium templates on Gumroad.
Top creators made over $1M from Notion templates alone.
Every template was basically a free ad for Notion.
Users started creating and sharing templates. Some began SELLING premium templates on Gumroad.
Top creators made over $1M from Notion templates alone.
Every template was basically a free ad for Notion.
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While competitors hired hundreds, Notion stayed tiny.
2019: Just 12 employees
2020: 30 employees at $2B valuation
2021: Under 100 people at $10B valuation
They raised $50M not to burn on growth, but to "stay free for users."
Then came the call that would test everything...
2019: Just 12 employees
2020: 30 employees at $2B valuation
2021: Under 100 people at $10B valuation
They raised $50M not to burn on growth, but to "stay free for users."
Then came the call that would test everything...
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The ultimate test came in 2020.
Microsoft tried to acquire them. Reported offer: $2 billion.
After everything they'd been through, the near-death experience, the Kyoto exile, the instant noodles, this was their golden exit.
Zhao turned them down flat. Why reject $2B?
Microsoft tried to acquire them. Reported offer: $2 billion.
After everything they'd been through, the near-death experience, the Kyoto exile, the instant noodles, this was their golden exit.
Zhao turned them down flat. Why reject $2B?
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"We're not done yet."
He didn't want Notion absorbed into corporate bureaucracy. They'd built something special. Why sell out now?
That decision told everyone – employees, users, investors – that Notion was playing a different game.
The growth that followed was insane...
He didn't want Notion absorbed into corporate bureaucracy. They'd built something special. Why sell out now?
That decision told everyone – employees, users, investors – that Notion was playing a different game.
The growth that followed was insane...
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The numbers are staggering:
2017: 1,000 users
2019: 1 million users
2022: 20 million users
2024: 100 million users
Over 50% of Y Combinator startups run on Notion.
From 4 weeks of runway to a $10B valuation.
2017: 1,000 users
2019: 1 million users
2022: 20 million users
2024: 100 million users
Over 50% of Y Combinator startups run on Notion.
From 4 weeks of runway to a $10B valuation.
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They never used growth hacks. No dark patterns. No aggressive sales team.
COO Akshay Kothari spent his first 6 months doing customer support tickets. Actually reading what users wanted.
"Software can and should be beautiful" became their religion.
COO Akshay Kothari spent his first 6 months doing customer support tickets. Actually reading what users wanted.
"Software can and should be beautiful" became their religion.
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The irony: By obsessing over product instead of growth, they achieved better growth than any growth hack could deliver.
Users became evangelists because the product was that good.
300,000+ members in r/Notion. Local meetup groups worldwide. A genuine community.
Users became evangelists because the product was that good.
300,000+ members in r/Notion. Local meetup groups worldwide. A genuine community.
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Today Notion is the "workspace OS" – replacing Google Docs, Trello, Evernote, and Airtable for millions.
But it almost never existed.
If two founders hadn't bought those one-way tickets to Kyoto, we'd have never seen what's possible when you go full monk mode on product.
But it almost never existed.
If two founders hadn't bought those one-way tickets to Kyoto, we'd have never seen what's possible when you go full monk mode on product.
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The lesson isn't to flee to Japan (though that worked for them).
It's that when you're truly fucked, sometimes the only way out is to go deeper. Not wider. Deeper.
Stop everything. Fix the foundation. Make something so good that growth becomes inevitable.
It's that when you're truly fucked, sometimes the only way out is to go deeper. Not wider. Deeper.
Stop everything. Fix the foundation. Make something so good that growth becomes inevitable.
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Thanks for making it to the end!
I'm Alex, co-founder at ColdIQ. Built a $6M ARR business in under 2 years.
We're a remote team across 10 countries, helping 400+ businesses scale through outbound systems
I'm Alex, co-founder at ColdIQ. Built a $6M ARR business in under 2 years.
We're a remote team across 10 countries, helping 400+ businesses scale through outbound systems
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RT the first tweet if you found this thread valuable.
Follow me @itsalexvacca for more threads on outbound and GTM strategy, AI-powered sales systems, and how to build profitable businesses that don't depend on you.
I share what worked (and what didn't) in real time.
Follow me @itsalexvacca for more threads on outbound and GTM strategy, AI-powered sales systems, and how to build profitable businesses that don't depend on you.
I share what worked (and what didn't) in real time.
Alex Vacca@itsalexvacca
Tech debt almost killed Notion. With only a few weeks' runway left, the founders left SF, moved to Kyoto, & rewrote the entire app.
No launch. No hype. Just a quiet resurrection. Today, Notion's worth $10B.
Their monk-mode product strategy every founder should study:
No launch. No hype. Just a quiet resurrection. Today, Notion's worth $10B.
Their monk-mode product strategy every founder should study: