"Learning from Netflix's Failed Social Strategy and Notion's Success: Insights for Building and Growing Products"

"Learning from Netflix's Failed Social Strategy and Notion's Success: Insights for Building and Growing Products"

Introduction:
In the fast-paced world of technology and product development, it's essential to learn from both successes and failures. This article examines the failed social strategy of Netflix and the successful journey of Notion, a productivity app. By analyzing these two cases, we can uncover valuable insights and actionable advice for building and growing products effectively.

Understanding the Biases and Challenges:
Netflix's failed social strategy was a result of several biases and challenges that clouded judgment. The company failed to recognize early enough that their social feature would never be significant enough to improve customer retention. One of the reasons for Netflix's persistence was the passion of their CEO for the idea, leading them to believe that the failure lay in execution rather than the concept itself. Small successes make it difficult to kill features, as companies often become attached to their creations. It's crucial to temper pride in ownership and establish clear objectives to guard against biased decision-making.

Notion's Journey to Success:
Notion's story began in 2013, but progress was slow until 2015 when the team made significant changes and launched the product in 2016. Notion's unique approach was bundling single-player productivity with multiplayer productivity apps, setting it apart from its predecessors. The flexibility and adaptability of Notion's block structure allowed users to build powerful tools that adapted to their needs. The product's growth was primarily driven by word-of-mouth (WoM), emphasizing the importance of raising awareness and maximizing user commitment and positive emotions.

Maximizing User Value and Experience:
Notion efficiently moved users along a learning/value curve, enabling them to reach the highest level of the Notion Value Stack. This value stack consisted of four levels: single personal use-case, multiple personal use-cases, company's source of truth, and Lego blocks for creating productivity apps. Notion's landing page effectively communicated the tool's power and guided users to think about their ideal use-case. The onboarding process focused on showing users how to use the product, unlocking more valuable use-cases gradually.

Actionable Advice:

1. Set clear objectives: Establishing a goal guards against youthful enthusiasm and ensures a disciplined evaluation of a project's merit. Ask, "What should we invest in today, regardless of past investment decisions?"
2. Temper pride in ownership: Avoid becoming too attached to ideas or projects. Pride can cloud judgment and hinder the ability to make objective decisions about their value and potential.
3. Maximize user value and experience: Help users extract more value from your product as quickly as possible. Each interaction should unlock the next level of value, encouraging word-of-mouth and creating a positive user association.

Conclusion:
Learning from both success and failure is crucial for building and growing products effectively. Netflix's failed social strategy highlights the biases and challenges that can cloud judgment, while Notion's success demonstrates the power of adaptability, word-of-mouth, and maximizing user value and experience. By incorporating the actionable advice mentioned, companies can navigate the complexities of product development and increase their chances of success.