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Jan 4, 2017 · 20m · top-founders

EP 529: $10m Raised, Pre-Revenue, Notion.ai Adds AI to Email Messaging with Co-Founder Guy Suter

Guy Suter · 12m spoken Nathan Latka · 6m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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Host Nathan Latka interviews serial entrepreneur Guy Suter, co-founder of Notion.ai, discussing how his startup raised $10 million pre-revenue to build an artificial intelligence communication layer over email and enterprise messaging.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 34.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.8 Guest teaching 2.7 Guest disagreement 1.3 Nathan pushing back 2.7
05100:0010:0020:000:28–2:40 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Weekly Cash Giveaway Winner Announcement Host monologue featuring podcast intro, cash giveaway winner announcement, sponsor mention, and guest background bio.2:40–6:03 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Notion.ai Overview and Launching on Email Nathan presses Guy on being pre-revenue and asks how he managed to raise $10 million in early-stage capital, while Guy explains his serial entrepreneurship background.6:04–10:04 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Future Monetization and Team Communication Intelligence Nathan brings up Conspire to challenge why prior companies with similar value propositions failed to dominate, prompting Guy to detail technical barriers and CRM integration layers.10:04–13:44 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Product Differentiation and Consumer Behavior in Email Apps Nathan challenges Guy's premise that consumers happily use multiple email clients simultaneously and demands hard download metrics to prove user traction.13:45–16:04 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Ann Arbor Base, Engineering Talent, and Venture Capital Guy explains their strategic decision to base the company in Ann Arbor for engineering talent and how they landed Accel and Drive Capital on their board.16:06–19:37 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Acuity Scheduling Promotion and Show Notes Links Nathan runs an ad for Acuity Scheduling and walks through the Famous Five questionnaire with Guy before wrapping up.0:28–2:40 · Guest teaching 0/10 Weekly Cash Giveaway Winner Announcement Host monologue featuring podcast intro, cash giveaway winner announcement, sponsor mention, and guest background bio.2:40–6:03 · Guest teaching 3/10 Notion.ai Overview and Launching on Email Nathan presses Guy on being pre-revenue and asks how he managed to raise $10 million in early-stage capital, while Guy explains his serial entrepreneurship background.6:04–10:04 · Guest teaching 4/10 Future Monetization and Team Communication Intelligence Nathan brings up Conspire to challenge why prior companies with similar value propositions failed to dominate, prompting Guy to detail technical barriers and CRM integration layers.10:04–13:44 · Guest teaching 4/10 Product Differentiation and Consumer Behavior in Email Apps Nathan challenges Guy's premise that consumers happily use multiple email clients simultaneously and demands hard download metrics to prove user traction.13:45–16:04 · Guest teaching 3/10 Ann Arbor Base, Engineering Talent, and Venture Capital Guy explains their strategic decision to base the company in Ann Arbor for engineering talent and how they landed Accel and Drive Capital on their board.16:06–19:37 · Guest teaching 2/10 Acuity Scheduling Promotion and Show Notes Links Nathan runs an ad for Acuity Scheduling and walks through the Famous Five questionnaire with Guy before wrapping up.0:28–2:40 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Weekly Cash Giveaway Winner Announcement Host monologue featuring podcast intro, cash giveaway winner announcement, sponsor mention, and guest background bio.2:40–6:03 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Notion.ai Overview and Launching on Email Nathan presses Guy on being pre-revenue and asks how he managed to raise $10 million in early-stage capital, while Guy explains his serial entrepreneurship background.6:04–10:04 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Future Monetization and Team Communication Intelligence Nathan brings up Conspire to challenge why prior companies with similar value propositions failed to dominate, prompting Guy to detail technical barriers and CRM integration layers.10:04–13:44 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Product Differentiation and Consumer Behavior in Email Apps Nathan challenges Guy's premise that consumers happily use multiple email clients simultaneously and demands hard download metrics to prove user traction.13:45–16:04 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Ann Arbor Base, Engineering Talent, and Venture Capital Guy explains their strategic decision to base the company in Ann Arbor for engineering talent and how they landed Accel and Drive Capital on their board.16:06–19:37 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Acuity Scheduling Promotion and Show Notes Links Nathan runs an ad for Acuity Scheduling and walks through the Famous Five questionnaire with Guy before wrapping up.0:28–2:40 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Weekly Cash Giveaway Winner Announcement Host monologue featuring podcast intro, cash giveaway winner announcement, sponsor mention, and guest background bio.2:40–6:03 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Notion.ai Overview and Launching on Email Nathan presses Guy on being pre-revenue and asks how he managed to raise $10 million in early-stage capital, while Guy explains his serial entrepreneurship background.6:04–10:04 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Future Monetization and Team Communication Intelligence Nathan brings up Conspire to challenge why prior companies with similar value propositions failed to dominate, prompting Guy to detail technical barriers and CRM integration layers.10:04–13:44 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Product Differentiation and Consumer Behavior in Email Apps Nathan challenges Guy's premise that consumers happily use multiple email clients simultaneously and demands hard download metrics to prove user traction.13:45–16:04 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Ann Arbor Base, Engineering Talent, and Venture Capital Guy explains their strategic decision to base the company in Ann Arbor for engineering talent and how they landed Accel and Drive Capital on their board.16:06–19:37 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Acuity Scheduling Promotion and Show Notes Links Nathan runs an ad for Acuity Scheduling and walks through the Famous Five questionnaire with Guy before wrapping up.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 74.1% · guest 25.9%0:00 · Nathan 74.1% · guest 25.9%3:00 · Nathan 17% · guest 83%3:00 · Nathan 17% · guest 83%6:00 · Nathan 12.4% · guest 87.6%6:00 · Nathan 12.4% · guest 87.6%9:00 · Nathan 24.4% · guest 75.6%9:00 · Nathan 24.4% · guest 75.6%12:00 · Nathan 12.4% · guest 87.6%12:00 · Nathan 12.4% · guest 87.6%15:00 · Nathan 55.8% · guest 44.2%15:00 · Nathan 55.8% · guest 44.2%18:00 · Nathan 46% · guest 54%18:00 · Nathan 46% · guest 54%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 10:29 Guy rejects zero-sum competition framing

Guy dismisses Nathan's premise that Notion is in a direct either/or competition with Polymail or standard email apps, framing Notion instead as an intelligence layer meeting users where they are.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 11:22 Nathan demands proof of consumer behavior with numbers

Nathan refuses to accept Guy's assertion that people use multiple email clients, challenging him with his own observations and telling him to prove him wrong with download data.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:02 Guy explains heavy engineering and capitalization barriers

Guy educates Nathan on why communication AI is difficult, detailing the required multi-platform cloud, AI, mobile, and desktop engineering teams needed to create real utility.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 7:41 Nathan challenges Notion's pitch by citing Conspire

Nathan demonstrates industry knowledge by naming Conspire and noting that their CEO used an almost identical pitch yet failed to dominate the communication intelligence space.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Weekly Cash Giveaway Winner Announcement 0000 Host monologue featuring podcast intro, cash giveaway winner announcement, sponsor mention, and guest background bio.
Notion.ai Overview and Launching on Email 4313 Nathan presses Guy on being pre-revenue and asks how he managed to raise $10 million in early-stage capital, while Guy explains his serial entrepreneurship background.
Future Monetization and Team Communication Intelligence 6424 Nathan brings up Conspire to challenge why prior companies with similar value propositions failed to dominate, prompting Guy to detail technical barriers and CRM integration layers.
Product Differentiation and Consumer Behavior in Email Apps 6436 Nathan challenges Guy's premise that consumers happily use multiple email clients simultaneously and demands hard download metrics to prove user traction.
Ann Arbor Base, Engineering Talent, and Venture Capital 4312 Guy explains their strategic decision to base the company in Ann Arbor for engineering talent and how they landed Accel and Drive Capital on their board.
Acuity Scheduling Promotion and Show Notes Links 3211 Nathan runs an ad for Acuity Scheduling and walks through the Famous Five questionnaire with Guy before wrapping up.

Statements from this episode (10)

Disclosure
Suter: Notion.ai is completely pre-revenue and has made zero dollars
“We, we're actually pre-revenue, so we don't have, we haven't made, you know, our first dollar of revenue yet, and probably won't for a while yet”
Guy Suter Jan 4, 2017 ▶ 2:47
Disclosure
Suter: Notion.ai has raised $10 million in early-stage capital
“So we're right around ten million early stage capital in yeah.”
Guy Suter Jan 4, 2017 ▶ 4:54
Insight
Suter: CRMs miss valuable relationship data trapped at the messaging layer
“The problem that I see in the gap there is that we've got all this great data about the meaning of our relationships and what's going on down here at the message layer. But a lot of times, like we don't start tracking or, you know, having any kind of assistanc…”
Guy Suter Jan 4, 2017 ▶ 6:45
Insight
Suter: Standalone relationship apps fail without primary messaging integration
“I think at the end of the day, there's just not room for a third thing, you know, like, I've got the apps that I go to message with people, I've got my CRM and sort of my business stack applications, do I really have room in my life for something in the middle…”
Guy Suter Jan 4, 2017 ▶ 9:05
Disclosure
Suter: Notion.ai is using email as a platform, not the goal
“Our goal is not to make the best email app in the world. You know, I think we are in an email app platform because we need to meet people where they're at. We need to add value to exist and have the right to bring users on and learn from them and figure out ho…”
Guy Suter Jan 4, 2017 ▶ 10:40
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Suter: Notion.ai private beta converted into tens of thousands of users
“We went through a pretty long process up front where we had a few thousand people in sort of our private beta period. And since then we've had tens of thousands of people come in, you know, so let's say, you know, less than a million, but you know, more than 1…”
Guy Suter Jan 4, 2017 ▶ 12:51
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Suter: Notion.ai saw nearly 1,000 daily downloads in late 2016
“Last month we were closer to the number of 10 X that. So closer to a thousand than hundreds.”
Guy Suter Jan 4, 2017 ▶ 13:21
Disclosure
Suter: Accel's Sameer Gandhi led the first institutional investment in Notion.ai
“So Excel was actually, you know, first money in with us. We got Partner there, Samir Gandhi, that's been super, super supportive.”
Guy Suter Jan 4, 2017 ▶ 15:13
Assertion Supported
Suter: Early LinkedIn investor Mark Kvamme serves on Notion.ai's board
“Mark was actually the original investor from Sequoia that invested in LinkedIn when they were less employees than we are now. And so we've got somebody on our board that was on LinkedIn's board for like eight years, and he's, his experience that he's brought t…”
Guy Suter Jan 4, 2017 ▶ 15:42
Opinion
Suter: Atlassian's non-quarterly, linear revenue model is an awesome strategy
“I think the revenue model that they went public with is awesome. Very linearity. You know, they don't depend on quarterly sales normal kind of like quarterly sales traction at all. So they focus, you know, four to five quarters out instead of next quarter.”
Guy Suter Jan 4, 2017 ▶ 17:54
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