The New Build

Fuzzy Khosrowshahi has scaled three products to billions of users: Google Sheets, Slack, and now Notion. His approach? Surround himself with experts, ship before it's perfect, and bundle strategically.

In this episode, Bubble co-founder Emmanuel Straschnov talks with the Notion CTO about the strategies behind building and scaling products that actually win. Fuzzy breaks down why bundling creates defensive moats that single products can't match, why Microsoft Office's strategy still dominates decades later, and why the fastest path to validation is building something you can use yourself. You'll hear why he believes founders waste too much time chasing perfection, how he leads AI strategy without being an AI expert, and the one mistake that kills companies after they find product-market fit.

Topics covered:

• Why the fastest validation is building what you'll use yourself
• The bundling playbook: How Microsoft, Google, and Notion win
• Shipping imperfect products vs. waiting for perfect ones
• Leading without being the expert: Surrounding yourself with people who know more
• Why AI and MCP servers might break the bundling model
• Intuition vs. data: When Google went too far with metrics
• The mistake that kills companies after product-market fit: Resting on your laurels

Links:

• Notion: notion.so
• Start building: bubble.io
• From Prototype to Profit launch program: prototype-to-profit.bubbleapps.io
• Emmanuel’s February AMA: bble.io/ama-feb-2026

* * * * *

Chapters

[00:00:00] Introduction: Fuzzy's path from life insurance to Notion CTO

[00:02:54] How running a Subway franchise shaped his approach to management

[00:07:26] The banking insight that sparked the idea for web-based spreadsheets

[00:11:23] Getting acquired by Google and the early skepticism about Sheets

[00:14:22] Leading Slack during COVID and whether it reached its full potential

[00:19:41] Why Notion is winning against Google and Microsoft

[00:22:47] The bundling strategy: why suites win and whether AI changes that

[00:30:36] His honest take on vibe coding and why good engineers still matter

[00:36:10] Advice for builders: ship fast, validate fast, never rest on your laurels

[00:38:17] Outro: Prototype to Profit cohort and in-app purchases announcement

* * * * *

The New Build is a bi-weekly podcast from Bubble exploring how solo founders and small teams are shipping real products to millions of users with modern tools. Subscribe for their playbooks — and start building yours.

Six weeks before SXSW Sydney, Paloma Newton and Jackson Gritching made a decision that would define their startup: pivot their entire business strategy, build an MVP from scratch, and compete on one of the world's biggest stages.

In this episode, Abhinav talks with the co-founders of Elita Blueprint about how they won their category at SXSW Sydney while simultaneously building their pet health platform on Bubble. Paloma shares her pitch strategy‌ — ‌from synthesizing a complex biotech story into 3 minutes to getting booed from the audience (in a good way). Jackson reveals what it's like building the product the night before launch. Together, they break down the new playbook for pitching under pressure.

Topics covered:

• Why SXSW became their forcing function for the pivot
• Choosing Bubble with zero dev experience and a 6-week deadline
• The pitch strategy: Telling a human story in 3 minutes
• What actually happens when you win (and the judge who got booed)
• Their playbook for pitch competitions

Find this episode’s full show notes here:

• https://bubble.io/blog/the-new-build-01-elita

Links:

• Elita Blueprint:
  • elita.pet
• Sign up to be a Elita Blueprint Beta user here
  • https://install.page/elita
• Follow Elita on Instagram:
  • https://www.instagram.com/elita.pet/
• Follow Elita on Tiktok:
  • https://www.tiktok.com/@elita.pet
• Follow Elita on Linkedin:
  • https://www.linkedin.com/company/elitapet/
• Start building on Bubble:
  • bubble.io

* * * * *

Chapters

[00:00] Introduction to the episode and the Elita founders

[01:59] The origin story: how a pandemic puppy named Edgar sparked a pet health startup

[05:59] How stem cell banking for pets actually works

[09:14] Why everything pointed toward building a digital platform — despite no software experience

[14:09] The SXSW Sydney deadline and getting investor buy-in on the pivot

[19:17] “Being the robot” — why Paloma manually handled the first 50 concierge requests

[23:29] The Cindy Gallup moment: telling a hero “I’m about to quit my job and start a company”

[30:51] The hardest part of crafting a three-minute pitch for a complex business

[36:07] Pitch day nerves and why being anxious shows you care

[40:56] The moment they knew they had won — when the audience booed a judge

[45:52] The playbook for pitching: iteration before practice, and knowing when to play

[52:57] Hot take: entrepreneurs aren’t paying enough attention to their customers

[57:47] Most memorable career feedback: “You have an unhealthy bias toward action”

[1:03:41] Bubble updates, Academy refresh, and Bubble Tip of the Week

* * * * *

The New Build is a bi-weekly podcast from Bubble exploring how solo founders and small teams are shipping real products to millions of users with modern tools. Subscribe for their playbooks — and start building yours.

Meet the solo founders and small teams building apps that reach millions of users — without traditional dev teams. The New Build is a biweekly video podcast that breaks down exactly how.

Hosted by Bubble co-founder Emmanuel Straschnov and producer Abhinav Narain, we have candid conversations with founders building with modern tools and leaders at the forefront of the industry. What worked, what didn't — no fluff, just real tactics and takeaways.

Subscribe for:

• Real founder stories from the Bubble community
• Tactical insights from builders 6-18 months ahead of you
• The mistakes they made so you can avoid them
• Proof that the rules have changed
  

🔔 New episodes every other week

🔗 Start building: bubble.io