MVP is out. Minimal Lovable Product is in.

Lovable’s playbook for $1M → $100M ARR in 8 months, a CTO-to-CTO First Block on the power of dogfooding, Persona AI’s trust-first approach, and how to kick off annual planning with the right OKR template.

Welcome to The Startup Stack - where we cut through the noise to bring you the real talk, tactical tools, and startup trends that matter. This week, we’re breaking down the Lovable playbook with their CTO Fabian Hedin behind their $1M → $100M ARR in eight months: dogfood relentlessly, build in public, ship fast. Add Persona AI ’s trust-first mindset, and the moat becomes speed + user credibility.

Featuring:

• The Lovable playbook: Dogfooding, daily shipping, and the speed tactics behind $1M → $100M ARR in 8 months with Lovable's CTO Fabian Hedin
• Build AI people trust: Persona AI 's Scott Shumaker on why human-like beats “hyper-real” and how to design for authenticity
• Startup OKRs template: Align your team, execute faster, and track what actually moves the business
• On the road: Notion Pop-Up in London + First Block Live with Harvey in SF

The stack is loaded - let’s ship.

“Move even faster and narrow a little bit more. Even if you’re focusing on a deep tech startup, you have to believe that any technical moat you have won’t be that durable for that long.” - Scott Shumaker , Co-founder and CEO of Persona AI

Scott Shumaker , Co-founder & CEO of Persona AI , joins Shivani Sharma , Notion’s Head of Growth Engineering, to break down what it really takes to build AI that feels human - not robotic. Drawing from 20+ years across AAA gaming, Google, Credit Karma, and Microsoft, Scott shares the new rules for designing trustworthy AI, building moats in a world where tech advantages don’t last, and keeping speed as your company scales.

Three founder lessons from Scott:

• Moats aren’t technical anymore → Models, infra, and latency improve for free - your edge now comes from distribution, data, and product speed.
• Trust > realism → Human-like (not hyper-real) agents build connection and psychological safety - tricking users destroys trust.
• Shorten the horizon → Ship, learn, and adapt faster than the market shifts.

Watch the full episode →

Startup OKR Template: set goals, align your team, and track what actually moves the business.

• Get aligned fast: Centralize company, team, and personal OKRs in one place
• Focus on outcomes: Use a simple dashboard to monitor progress, spot blockers early, and keep goals tied to measurable results.
• Plan → execute → review: Run smooth quarterly planning cycles with built-in check-ins, scoring, and retros.

Get your startup OKR template →

"Figure out what you can do with these models and what use cases you can serve today. Don’t think too much about the future. We have a steam engine here ready to go, just apply it.” - Fabian Hedin , Co-founder and CTO of Lovable

In this episode, we spoke with Fabian Hedin , Co-founder and CTO of Lovable . Lovable is an AI-powered software development platform that enables non-technical people to build production-ready applications through natural language. After launching in November 2024, they’ve scaled from $1M to $100M ARR in just eight months -one of the fastest growth trajectories in AI history.

In conversation with Notion’s CTO Fuzzy K. , Fabian shares:

• Don’t overbuild for the future - ship what works today.
• Launch earlier than you think you should.
• Be your own first customer obsessively.

Watch • Listen • Read • Get Lovable (vibe-coding ready!) PRD Template

After listening to Fabian’s insights, ask yourself:

• What could you build if you focused only on today's AI capabilities rather than tomorrow's?
• Are you staying behind artificial gates (like waitlists) longer than necessary?
• What internal tools could you build with your own product to become a better first customer?

Want more First Block? Hear directly from founders from Cursor, Mercor , Supabase , Anthropic, Clay, and more.

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!

Startup Market Developer in Seoul, South Korea

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

Head of Internal Communications, San Francisco

This is a role that has the ability to make an outsized impact at Notion by enabling our people to do their best work. It reports directly into our founders, who you’ll work closely with to distill their vision into stories and moments that inspire our global team. We’re looking for a creative storyteller, who has a builder’s mindset and can ship fast. If this is you, or you know someone who fits the bill → 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.

Until next week - dogfood, ship, repeat.