The first version of Notion was a general app-building tool for non-coders, positioned around the founders' broad 'augment human intellect' ambition rather than a familiar use case.

Even the founders' own non-coder friends didn't want app-building software; the concept only landed with a narrow, technical audience.

One rebuild had the right product concept but the wrong technical foundation, forcing a full rewrite.

“we had the right product, but wrong tech stack, so Simon Last & I went to Japan to rewrite”

The founders lacked business experience and struggled to build a horizontal (broad, all-purpose) product, nearly running the company into the ground before it was rescued by a personal loan.

“We had no business sense, struggled with building a horizontal tool. Notion almost died. (Thanks for the bridge, mom!)”