# Jazz Band Related Articles

Notion CEO: AI companies should be a 'Jazz Band,' and I am a 'Refounder'

Notion CEO Ivan Zhao, in a recent podcast, shared his journey of twice rebuilding the company from near-collapse and now applying the same "Refounder" mindset to reshape the 1000-person organization in the AI era. He argues that AI has commoditized technical capability (Capability). True talent now hinges on Taste (judgment/values) and Agency (proactive drive), necessitating a shift in hiring—e.g., hiring more juniors for curiosity and having sales candidates demonstrate work upfront. Zhao envisions the company as a "Jazz Band"—agile and improvisational—versus a rigid "Marching Band." This is reflected in an engineering "dumbbell" structure (super juniors + top-tier seniors, with middle layers compressed), dissolving the CMO role to let teams operate directly, and integrating entrepreneurs via acquisitions to lead their expertise areas. Notion has abandoned traditional long-term product roadmaps, planning only conservatively for finances while adopting a week-by-week, improvisational approach to product strategy, as longer plans proved futile during rapid AI shifts. He concludes that while human nature and roles remain constants, companies must rewrite their approaches to hiring (valuing Taste/Agency over Capability), organizational design (reducing roles focused on coordination/execution), and planning (embracing flexibility). Modern knowledge work, being only ~150 years old, is ripe for reinvention.

marsbit05/26 04:43