Hands on. Fast start.
Lasting impact.

What we offer

“Notion goes far beyond the engagement model of a typical Venture Capital firm”

Matt Welle

a group of people sitting around a table

The Notion Platform

  • This is the operational, high impact, empathetic support we are known for, readily available to all our investments. We remain at your side from first investment to exit, connecting you to the expertise you need to fulfil your potential.

  • New investments receive proactive one to one advice and support, led by Stephen Millard, Operating Partner and Chief Platform Officer, for the first 12-24 months post investment.

  • Extensive talent, compensation, and team design is led by Michelle Cheng and Claire Walker runs our community programme, including our world class expert events and, of course, our annual retreat.

a group of people sitting around a table

The Platform Collective

  • The Platform Collective is a mechanism for portfolio founders to pool contributions so that we can invest in and address common challenges, offering the ability to guide where investments are made and giving ever greater access to world-class retained advisors and dedicated hires.

  • A growing programme of workshops and training to help build functional expertise and support professional development of leaders and individual contributors.

  • Securing resources and capabilities necessary to address our portfolio companies most urgent needs as they grow.

a group of people sitting around a table

Beyond Platform

  • We go far beyond typical venture platform offerings, building capabilities and driving change across our portfolio.

  • Executive level engagements, accelerating growth and performance led by Andy Leaver.

  • Top-line revenue and margin expansion through strategy and monetisation engagements led by Andreas Panayiotou. Commissioned research and capability building led by George Windsor.

From $1m - $100m revenue:

Start, Build, Scale.

People often think of the start-up journey as a continuum. It isn’t. Things change dramatically along the way, affecting every aspect of the business: how you think, what you prioritise, what you build, how you grow, who you hire.

Achieving $100m revenue in less than ten years is hard, and the probability low. Start, Build, Scale encapsulates our thinking on growth as a step function, helping companies buck the odds, improve their probability of success and avoid the mistakes so many make.

One stage, two phases:

  • $0-$1m - building the MVP and establishing a product customers will buy and use
  • $1-$3m - uncovering a GTM model and moving beyond founder-led sales.

Start

One stage, two phases:

  • $0-$1m - building the MVP and establishing a product customers will buy and use
  • $1-$3m - uncovering a GTM model and moving beyond founder-led sales.

The START stage of the business is best described as a period of creative discovery designed to answer one question: “Are we solving a problem worth solving and by solving this problem can we build a massive company.”

The team is small. Capital is constrained. Burn is low. The people are excellent generalists.  The mistakes are common and avoidable. Achieving product market fit is the goal.

a person in a grey hoodieplay button

One stage, two phases:

  • From $3-$10m the GTM model emerges, with specialists establishing repeatability across demand creation, sales conversions and revenue realisation.
  • From $10m to $30m the GTM playbook is developed and hardened, with increasing predictability across the customer lifecycle, backed up by robust processes, systems and data and the business becomes “go to market fit”.

Build

One stage, two phases:

  • From $3-$10m the GTM model emerges, with specialists establishing repeatability across demand creation, sales conversions and revenue realisation.
  • From $10m to $30m the GTM playbook is developed and hardened, with increasing predictability across the customer lifecycle, backed up by robust processes, systems and data and the business becomes “go to market fit”.

The Build stage is the killing zone for European SaaS companies.  We may romanticise the start phase and laud the centaurs, but this is the hard yards. Finding Go to Market Fit is the objective.

We shift gears from chaos to order. From pure discovery to creativity and repeatability.  The team is growing, as is organisational complexity. The people move from generalists to specialists. 

a group of people sitting in chairsplay button

From $30m to $100m:

Complexity increases massively as the company masters “multi-market fit.”

Scale

From $30m to $100m:

Complexity increases massively as the company masters “multi-market fit.”

The startup becomes a machine, balancing the desire for growth with the need for productivity.

Complexity is increasing massively. So too are the numbers. Companies are obsessed with the pipeline and their TAM to maintain growth, making big strategic decisions on organic and inorganic growth.

People again are critical. Now the specialists give way to leaders and managers of managers.

a person standing on a rooftopplay button

What our portfolio has to say...

“Working with Notion's platform team offers a chance to step back and talk about what’s working and what’s not- just a big resource that is there when you need it without it being OTT."

Rich Counsell, Stable

“Working with Notion's platform team offers a chance to step back and talk about what’s working and what’s not- just a big resource that is there when you need it without it being OTT."

Rich Counsell, Stable
Rich Counsell, Stableplay button

Get the latest from Notion Capital. Sign up to our newsletter.