Build in public. Before you’re ready.
Validation before code, Home From College’s brand moat, a customer-first playbook from Forum Ventures, and your next First Block with Harvey and Notion founders in SF.
Welcome to The Startup Stack - where we cut through the noise to bring you the real talk, tactical tools, and startup trends that matter. What does it take to build something people actually want? This week, we’re going back to first principles - from MVPs and brand-led growth to building with your earliest customers.
Featuring:
- Build in public: Home From College ’s Julia Haber 🎓 on validating before you build and why brand is the real moat
- Customer-first playbook: Forum Ventures on turning user pain into product pull
- Template of the week: Plan and post faster with our social media calendar tracker
- Event highlight: November’s First Block with Notion and Harvey founders in SF
The stack is set - let’s get building.
“Build in Public. Do not hide your idea. Start building on social, but do it in the format that works for you and your channel and where your target audience lives”. — Julia Haber 🎓 , Co-founder & CEO of Home From College
Julia Haber 🎓 , Co-founder & CEO of Home From College , joins Andrew Silard , Notion’s Head of Growth Marketing, to share how she turned years of on-campus brand work into a new kind of Gen Z career platform. From building an MVP by hand to scaling a full-stack marketplace backed by GV (Google Ventures) , Julia breaks down how she’s helping the next generation work, learn, and earn on their own terms.
Three founder lessons from Julia:
- Validate before you build → Manual matchmaking revealed PMF before a single line of code.
- Brand is a moat → The strongest companies make people feel something, not just sign up.
- Meet Gen Z where they are → Purpose, community, and flexibility now define the path from campus to career.
Startup Social Media Template: plan, draft, and track every post in one place.
- Stay organized: View your entire content pipeline in one place - from ideas to scheduled posts.
- See the big picture: Switch between calendar and board views to visualize timelines or platform mix.
- Keep it consistent: Maintain your brand voice across LinkedIn, X, and more with ready-to-use templates.
From 0→1 with a customer-first mindset
We recently sat down with Armand Mignot , Co-founder & CEO of Redii and Neal Sarraf Neil Sarraf, Head of Pre-seed Accelerator at Forum Ventures to unpack a founder playbook on customer-driven product development - how to turn early ideas into products customers pull toward.
Key takeaways:
- Validate before you build: Talk to real users feeling the pain - 10 honest conversations beat 100 surveys.
- Prototype fast: Ship something scrappy to learn, not perfect - test demand before scaling.
- Look for pull, not praise: True signals are users sharing, asking for access, or willing to pay.
Mark your calendar - Notion for Startups is hitting the road.
Join us for bold ideas, lively conversations, and access to founders you'll want to meet.
November 5 | London: Make with Notion Showcase, Pop-Up for Startups & Creators. Practical founder-to-founder sessions, real AI workflows, and demos from builders to help you scale smarter and faster. RSVP.
November 12 | San Francisco: First Block Live - Reinventing Law with AI: Inside Harvey 's $5B Valuation. Join Notion’s co-founder Akshay Kothari in conversation with Harvey's co-founder & president Gabe Pereyra Gabe Pereyra to unpack how they scaled Harvey to $100M+ ARR while redefining what AI can do in one of the world’s most regulated industries. Request to join.
We’re hiring globally - join the team!
The Startup Market Developer is a key driver of Notion’s growth and adoption across the startup ecosystem in Korea. You’ll be the lead operator in one of our most exciting and high-potential markets, responsible for building strong partnerships, running high-ROI campaigns, and capturing the attention of top early-stage founders. Are you the ultimate startup super-connector - or know one? Apply here
The AI workspace that works for you. Startups move fast - and Notion helps you move faster. From idea to exit, build docs, manage projects, and run your team and startup in one connected workspace powered by Notion AI. Apply now to get up to 6 months of Notion’s Business plan with Notion AI included - a $12,000 value.
Till next week - keep building what your customers want.
Helping Growth Marketers Turn Anonymous Website Traffic Into Revenue | Daily Intent Data • Pixel Tracking • Conversion Intelligence – Allforce
14hLove this. Meeting Gen Z where they are isn’t optional anymore — it’s the new foundation. Purpose, community, and flexibility are the real competitive advantages now. Great insights from Julia and the Notion team.
Gen Z aren’t just looking for great brands, they’re looking for ones that act on their values. The brands that live what they say will win the next generation of talent.
Social Media Manager & Digital Marketing Specialist | I Help B2B, SaaS & Service-Based Brands Grow 400%+ With Funnels, Paid Ads & Content That Converts | Personal Finance Enthusiast
3wThis is such a solid example of how understanding your audience before you build changes everything. Validating with real people before writing a line of code is something I’ve also seen pay off massively, especially in go-to-market campaigns for tech and SaaS brands. It helps you craft messaging that speaks to users, not at them. And that second point, "brand is a moat" couldn’t be more true. When your content connects emotionally (not just functionally), it builds retention that no ad spend can buy. Love what Julia Haber 🎓 is doing with this approach. It’s exactly how tech should feel, purposeful, human, and community-driven.
Content Specialist | Production & Operations
3w& I 💖 Notion!
Expert en développement communautaire
4wTrès instructif