Notion: The Startup That Almost Failed Before Success

Many startup stories begin with success, but the story of Notion started with failure, because before becoming one of the most popular productivity tools in the world, the company struggled for years with no big funding, very little support, and almost no money. At one point, the founders were close to shutting the company down completely. Still, Ivan Zhao, Simon Last, and later Akshay Kothari wanted to build software that was simple, flexible, and useful for everyone, so when their first product failed and could not attract users, they decided to rebuild everything from the beginning. That difficult decision later turned into Notion, showing that failure is sometimes the real start of success.

Ivan Zhao and His Vision for Better Software

Ivan Zhao always believed that software should feel natural, simple, and enjoyable to use, because from a young age he was interested in design and technology and wanted to create tools that people would love instead of fear, and after moving to the United States he became interested in startups and product design, where he noticed that many productivity apps were too complicated and forced users to learn the system instead of helping them work easily, so he imagined a single tool that could do many things without confusing the user, and this idea later became the main vision behind Notion, because Zhao was not interested in building a company quickly but wanted to create something meaningful even if it took many years.

Simon Last and the Technical Partnership

Simon Last joined as co-founder and helped turn Zhao’s ideas into real software. Like many successful startups, the balance between vision and engineering became very important, because Zhao focused on design and product thinking while Last focused on building the technology and solving technical problems. When the company faced difficult moments, this balance helped them continue working instead of giving up, since many startups fail when founders cannot work together. Still, in this case, the partnership stayed strong even during the worst years, and their teamwork became one of the main reasons the company survived.

Akshay Kothari and Scaling The Vision

Akshay Kothari joined the founding team as Notion began to find its feet, shaping the product roadmap and growth strategy. With a background in product development, user experience, and design, Kthari was able to bridge the gap between the nascent concept and real-world application, ensuring the platform could scale without losing simplicity. With his addition, the leadership team became even stronger, offering a new approach on how to evolve the product while preserving its core DNA, particularly when the company needed to find a way to both stabilise and take immediate forward momentum.

The First Product That Did Not Work

Before Notion became successful, the founders created an earlier version of the product that tried to be very powerful but ended up being too complicated for users, so people did not understand how to use it. The company started losing money, investors were not interested, and the team became smaller. At one point, the founders had to let employees go because they could not afford salaries, which was one of the lowest moments in their journey, and many startups close at this stage, but Zhao and Last decided to start again instead of quitting.

Restarting From Zero

After the failure, the founders moved into a small apartment and began building the product again from the beginning. Because they had very little money, they kept the team small and focused only on the most important ideas instead of adding many features. They wanted to create one tool where users could write notes, manage tasks, store documents, and create databases in the same place, which became the new version of Notion, and the founders worked slowly and carefully because they believed good software needs time and patience.

Years of Slow Growth

For several years, almost nobody knew about Notion, and the company did not grow fast; the team stayed small, and there was no big advertising. Still, instead of worrying about popularity, the founders focused on improving the product and listening to every user, fixing problems one by one. This slow process helped them build strong and reliable software, because many startups try to grow quickly and fail. Still, Notion grew slowly and became stronger, and this difficult period created the base for future success.

When Users Started Sharing Notion

After years of work, the situation changed when users started sharing Notion online, because students, writers, and startup teams liked how flexible the tool was. Instead of forcing people to follow fixed rules, the software allowed them to create their own systems, which made it different from other productivity apps, and without big marketing, the company started growing through word of mouth, and this was the moment when the founders realised that their idea was finally working.

Building a Different Startup Culture

Ivan Zhao did not want to create a company that only focused on speed and profit, but instead wanted a calm work culture where people could think, design, and create carefully, so Notion stayed small for a long time even after becoming popular, because the founders believed quality is more important than fast growth. This approach made the company different from many Silicon Valley startups, since employees had more freedom and users trusted the product more, which helped the company grow steadily.

From Small Startup to Global Product

Today, Notion is used by millions of people around the world, including students, companies, writers, and creators. Although the company later received funding, its success came after many years of struggle, proving that not every startup becomes successful quickly, and sometimes slow growth creates stronger companies. The founders’ journey from failure to global success became an inspiration for many entrepreneurs who feel lost in the early stages of building something new.

Lessons From the Notion Founders

The story of Notion teaches important lessons such as failure can lead to better ideas, it is okay to start again from zero, keeping the product simple is often better than making it complicated, working with the right partner is very important, growing slowly can make a company stronger, and focusing on users instead of hype helps build long-term success, and these lessons make the Notion founder’s journey one of the most realistic and inspiring startup stories in modern business.

Conclusion

Ivan Zhao, Simon Last, and Akshay Kothari almost lost their company before it became successful, because they faced failure, money problems, and years of slow progress. Still, they did not stop believing in their idea. The founder of Notion's journey, which began in a cramped apartment and eventually led to building a global software company with millions of users, is a testament to how patience, partnership, and belief can transform failure into success, and how the most challenging beginnings can lead to the strongest companies.