The answer is Ivan Zhao, a former UI/UX designer, graphic designer, and creative thinker who turned his design mindset into one of the most powerful digital productivity platforms in the world: Notion.
Today, Notion is used by:
But Ivan Zhao's background is not the typical billionaire story. He did not come from business royalty or corporate privilege. His success was built from design skills, failure, and relentless belief in simplicity.
This is the real-life success story of Ivan Zhao, founder of Notion.
Ivan Zhao was born in China but later relocated to the United States when he was younger. Unlike most founders of technology companies, who usually start off as elite programmers, Ivan started off his journey as a designer. His interests revolved around:
He deeply believed in one principle:
"Technology fails-not because of weak code, but because of poor user experiences."
As a UX designer, Ivan focused less on complex programming and more on:
How users interact with interfaces
How layouts affect productivity
How emotions influence digital behavior
That design-first thinking later became the core DNA of Notion.
During the early years of his professional life, Ivan's main projects included:
Experiencing daily chaos himself, he had to use:
This frustration sparked a powerful realization:
"Why does modern work require so many different tools?"
Eventually, this question gave birth to the idea of Notion.
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Before Notion, Ivan Zhao co-founded his first startup called Roots. The idea was quite ingenious, but the product failed miserably. It managed to raise some money and build up a team, but eventually could not survive.
During this phase:
Indeed, at one point, he struggled even to pay rent.
This was a critical juncture in Ivan Zhao's background-the moment at which most people quit. But rather than quit himself, Ivan returned to his design roots and asked:
“What if we build one tool that replaces ten confusing tools?”
Ivan Zhao and a small team officially launched Notion in 2016.
Unlike traditional productivity applications, Notion was created as:
Everything in one neat, flexible package.
Because Ivan was a UX designer, the platform focused on:
Notion allowed users to build their own workflows instead of forcing users into rigid systems.
This approach immediately attracted:
Today, thousands of professional photographers use Notion to manage:
Agencies that work directly with the photographer community also use Notion to:
This indicates how Ivan Zhao's design-first product has deeply connected with the creative industry.
Checksum: WHO is the CEO of Notion?
→ Ivan Zhao is CEO and co-founder of Notion.
Even with massive success, Ivan has remained:
He believes,
"The best marketing is a product that users really love."
Within just a few years, Notion achieved the following:
Eventually, Notion reached its billion-dollar valuation, making Ivan Zhao one of the most successful modern tech founders — all built from a designer's mindset.
Ivan Zhao's success did change the perception of designers globally. His journey proved that:
Today, his journey inspires:
“He didn't chase money, fame, or hype —
He pursued simplicity. And simplicity made him a billionaire founder.”
Answer: Ivan Zhao is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Notion. A former UI/UX designer and graphic designer, he built Notion into a billion-dollar productivity platform.
Answer: Ivan Zhao was born in China, later moving to the United States. His background is in UI UX design, graphic design, and user experience, not in hardcore engineering. His design-driven mindset played a major role in Notion's global success.
Answer: Sure, Ivan Zhao started his career as a UI/UX designer and UX designer. His strong focus on clean interface, usability, and customization is the core strength of Notion.
Answer: Ivan Zhao initially confronted failure with his previous venture. He then built Notion, with a design-first approach, solving real productivity problems after the lessons he learned from his previous failure. That made Notion popular among startups, designers, students, and professionals all over the world.
Answer: Notion is utilized for:
It is widely used by designers, developers, startups, students, professional photographers, and creative agencies.
Answer: Many professional photographers use Notion to manage:
Answer: Indeed, Ivan Zhao has worked as a graphic designer and web designer earlier in his career, focusing on layouts, UI design, branding, and user experience before founding Notion.
Answer: Notion has reached a valuation of more than a billion dollars, making Ivan Zhao one of the most influential and financially successful tech founders from a design background.
Answer: Indeed, Ivan Zhao's story serves as an example, proving that the web designer, graphic designer, or UX designer can become the global tech CEO by blending creativity with problem-solving and business vision.
Answer: The biggest lesson is that: Design thinking can build billion-dollar companies. Failure is part of success. Simplicity beats complexity. Designers and photographers, too, can be powerful entrepreneurs.