For an audio-only podcast, transcripts, and custom Notion x Handshake templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/tgn78c

To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/slpyk0Welcome to First Block, a Notion series where founders from the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey—and what they learned from that experience.

In this episode, we spoke with Garrett Lord, co-founder and CEO of Handshake. Handshake is the leading career platform connecting students and young professionals with employers, serving 17 million users and nearly 1 million companies. Garrett shares his journey from growing up in a working-class family in Michigan to building a company that democratizes access to career opportunities. He discusses his days living out of his car, the importance of talent density, and why this is the moment to go all in on your biggest bets.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

00:48 Founding the Spark

02:43 The Early Grind

06:42 Talent Matters Most

07:37 Scaling Through Leadership

13:17 Inside Handshake AI

18:04 Shaping the Future Workforce

19:38 Advice Block

Welcome to First Block, a Notion series where founders from the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey—and what they learned from that experience.In this episode, we spoke with Jesse Zhang, Co-founder and CEO of Decagon. In just a year since coming out of stealth, Decagon has become a $1.5 billion AI unicorn, transforming customer service for companies with AI agents.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:40 Rethinking Customer Experience

02:45 Early Startup Lessons

05:18 Agent Operating Procedures

09:58 Building Enterprise Trust

14:04 Scaling Fast

15:53 Hiring Philosophy

19:12 The Tool Stack

20:12 Advice Block

For a full video, transcripts, and custom Notion x Decagon templates, please visit: ⁠https://ntn.so/nfxioe⁠

To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/u28v7x

Welcome to First Block, a Notion series where founders from the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey—and what they learned from that experience.

In this episode, we spoke with Ant Wilson, Co-Founder and CTO of Supabase. Supabase is the Postgres development platform that has become one of the world’s fastest growing open source communities.

Ant shares his journey about previous founder experiences, the power of solving your own problem, and why building authentic relationships with your community matters.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

02:56 Supabase Explained

07:04 The Positioning Shift

09:25 Memes & Marketing

13:08 Scaling the Community

15:09 Winning Enterprises

17:09 Remote-First Culture

22:49 AI in Action

26:10 Advice Block

For video, transcripts, and custom Notion x Supabase templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/aow225

To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: ⁠https://ntn.so/cwep6x

Welcome to First Block, a Notion series where founders from the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey—and what they learned from that experience.In this episode, we spoke with Fabian Hedin, Co-founder and CTO of Lovable. Lovable is a platform that lets you build apps and websites by chatting with AI. After launching in November 2024, they've scaled from $1M to $100M ARR in just eight months—one of the fastest growth trajectories in AI history.Fabian shares his journey from running Minecraft servers in high school to cofounding Lovable, the bold bet on democratizing software development, and why building for today's AI capabilities beats betting on tomorrow's.

For video, transcripts, and custom Notion x Lovable templates, please visit: ⁠https://ntn.so/hz0tpb

To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ntn.so/v53xj8

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:38 Early Journey

05:57 Becoming Lovable

08:40 Launch Lessons

09:39 Scaling Fast

12:38 Building with AI

17:11 What's Production-Ready

19:39 Notion x Lovable

20:34 Future of Building

21:20 Advice Block

Welcome to First Block, a Notion series where founders from the world's leading companies tell us about the many "firsts" of their startup journeys. We explore the ups and downs that founders face as they build, and what they've learned along the way.

In this episode, we spoke with Brendan Foody, Co-founder and CEO of Mercor. Mercor is an AI-powered recruiting platform that scaled from $1 million to $100 million in revenue run rate in just 11 months, making it one of the fastest-growing companies in Silicon Valley.

Brendan shares his journey from selling donuts in eighth grade to building automated hiring solutions, the decision to drop out of college, and how he positioned himself perfectly for the AI talent revolution.

For video, transcripts, and custom Notion Mercor templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/cbc8mp

To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/271hmw

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

03:39 Mercor by the Numbers

05:36 Obsession Over Discipline

08:39 Fundraising as Input

10:59 Scaling Self & Culture

13:40 Automating Manual Processes

17:40 Finding the Right Market

21:08 Staying Long-Term Oriented

22:58 The Tool Stack

25:22 Advice Block

Welcome to First Block, a Notion series where founders from the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey — and what they learned from that experience.

In this episode, we spoke with Varun Anand, Co-founder of Clay, one of the most exciting companies at the intersection of GTM and AI that’s redefining what modern go-to-market looks like.

Varun shares insights on the journey to finding product-market fit, how Clay went from horizontal spreadsheet tool to specialized go-to-market platform, and why following your curiosity matters more than traditional startup wisdom.

For video, transcripts, and custom Notion Clay templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/7i8hzv

To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/udg5vz

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:20 Finding PMF

07:48 Reverse Demo Strategy

10:50 Scaling with Intent

16:04 Reinventing Sales Roles

19:58 Hiring for Potential

21:48 Clay's Operating Culture

23:56 AI Pressure

25:37 Advice Block

Welcome to First Block, a Notion series where founders from the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey — and what they learned from that experience.

In this episode, we spoke with Michael Truell, Co-founder and CEO of Cursor, an AI code editor that has gone from side project to one of the fastest-growing AI tools in the developer world in under a year.

Michael shares why they started with a solution in search of a problem, ignored conventional advice, and focused obsessively on product over everything else. From a 4-person founding team to hiring just one person every few months, their unorthodox path laid the foundation for breakout growth.

For video, transcripts, and custom Notion Cursor templates, please visit: ⁠https://ntn.so/2yr1lw⁠

To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: ⁠https://ntn.so/9ipiek⁠

Timestamps

00:00: Intro

02:18: The original spark and false start in mechanical engineering

05:53: The pivot moment to developer tools

06:45: The decision to fork VS Code

08:45: Building AI-native coding tools and the balance between speed and control

12:24: Cursor's explosive growth trajectory

13:41: Early mistakes and lessons learned

14:16: Hiring philosophy and building the first team

17:08: Internal tools and operational philosophy

19:01: Maintaining focus in a hyper-fast environment

20:53: Advice for founders building in the AI era

Full video episode here: https://youtu.be/ZMrjvxCIPpY

To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/rmCdsK

First Block, a Notion series - hosted by Notion's Co-Founder Akshay Kothari - where founders and executives from some of the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey — and what they learned from that experience.

To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/tts9Uf

In this episode, we have Adeyemi Ajao, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Base10 Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in the automation of the real economy. In this episode, we delve into his early days as a serial entrepreneur, experiences as an immigrant in Silicon Valley, his transition to becoming an investor, and much more.

For videos, transcripts, and custom Notion Base10 templates, please visit: ⁠⁠https://ntn.so/Hv0nRi⁠

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:32 Becoming an Entrepreneur

05:13 Co-Founder Relationships

08:58 Growing the Team

13:53 Building an Authentic Community

19:57 Learning to Be a CEO

22:18 Being an Immigrant

25:09 The Positivity of Silicon Valley

28:06 The Life after Acquisition

32:04 Becoming an Investor

35:40 Base10

38:55 The Ultimate Diversity

41:48 A Day in the Life of Ade Ajao

First Block, a Notion series - hosted by Notion's Co-Founder Akshay Kothari - where founders and executives from some of the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey — and what they learned from that experience.

To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: ⁠https://ntn.so/56lXGm

In this episode, we have Vlad Magdalin, Co-Founder and CEO of Webflow, the leading visual development platform for building powerful websites without writing code. In this episode, we do a deep-dive into the early days of Webflow and its journey to sustainable growth and financing, their hiring principles, the importance of user feedback, the "no-code" revolution, and much more.

For video, transcripts, and custom Notion Webflow templates, please visit: ⁠⁠https://ntn.so/QFJPUA⁠⁠

Timestamps

00:00 Intro