🐝 LAUNCH DAY 🐝

Our product — HiveMind — is live on Product Hunt!

It's a true labor of love for @NotionHQ & ops design, a new category we're leading :)

HiveMind is not just a Notion template — it's an operations system for startups.

Here's why 🧵

https://www.producthunt.com/posts/hivemind-3


Firstly, a huge thank you to @chrismessina for the hunt!

Chris hunted our 1st product a while back and boy oh boy twas' a shit show. We pulled 2 all-nighters on Thnxgiving and still weren't ready.

Today, isn't a perfect either, here's me BeingReal https://youtu.be/9pNYnn9fJto?t=35

Anyway, what's in the box?

*queue digital unboxing ASMR of me just tapping my keys*

HiveMind includes done-for-you:

• 12 databases
• 44 templates
• 10 dashboards
• 22 @loom's
• 5-step interactive onboarding
• And 4,356 words of documentation

🙀🙀🙀

Putting all of this good stuff to work will help fast-moving startups

1. Leapfrog the @NotionHQ learning curve
2. Organize knowledge, projects, and async comms all-in-one
3. Get shit done, more productively and efficiently

Here is a demo of four types of dashboards:

1. Home
2. Function (department/team)
3. Project
4. Personal dashboard

And by the way, @thorms11 figured out a shadow magic trick that makes the custom icons look good both in Light and Dark @NotionHQ modes.

Combine that with beautiful graphic design work by @NotionFlows and I can't believe how beautiful this template is 😻 😻😻

We built HiveMind on top of two frameworks.

The first one is the 4Cs. Inspired by @fortelabs, it's a usage method.

1. Capture → create content
2. Contextualize → add necessary details.
3. Collaborate → request & process inputs.
4. Crystalize → save and reference.

The second is a practical data model in Notion.

All of the content is created and managed in three types of databases.

Fundamental → smallest units of work
Contextual → auxiliary helpful information
Organizational → largest units of work that power the dashboards

And all of the databases are elegantly interconnected:

Content can either be created top-down (planning) or bottom-up (getting it done).

HiveMind is definitively a Notion template on steroids 💪

But I think it's nothing without good instruction & docs.

That's why we put insane effort into building a COURSE-LIKE onboarding, a resourceful help center, and a workflow library.

Thank @danieljhull_ for the words 🖋️

I believe that this sets HiveMind apart.

If you bought a template in the past, I bet you know that "installing" an organization system is difficult AF.

So I hope with all the docs, we enable users to CUSTOMIZE the template and learn how to truly leverage @NotionHQ.

One of my fav resources includes the top 70 products & resources by the @NotionHQ community featuring:

@tommybarav
@WilliamNutt
@TomFrankly
@JanelSGM
@JhumanJ
@sobedominik
@J__Rosen
@igarcido
@khemaridh
@typeoneerror
@thenotionbar

@super_
@bardeenai
@notionery
@notionlytics

All of this to to communicate that:

@NotionHQ isn’t just a tool.

It's a toolbox with literally limitless possibilities. That's why I love it so much.

So understanding and internalizing this mental model with our support will help users unlock its full UNLIMITED POWER.

Sooooo that's why we're positioning HiveMind as the Louis Vuitton of @NotionHQ templates.

At $499, it's the most expensive template. But I think it's 100% worth every penny. Especially, because it's a fraction of our consulting fees.

If you're in, go to https://optemization.com/hivemind

Alright, alright, alright — nuff' of this. Back to work!

Just kidding.

If you have any questions, wanna catch up or sing Happy Birthday to me (did I mention I'm turning 27?), join the Launch Day Stream on Zoom: https://lu.ma/hivemind

I’ll be there the whole day!!


TL;DR

HiveMind is a Notion template + resource portal we launched today:

🔺 Support on Product Hunt: producthunt.com/posts/hivemind-3
📹  Join the Launch Stream: lu.ma/hivemind
🛒 Buy Now (Code "HiveLaunch"): optemization.com/hivemind

Thank you, and have a buzzworthy Tuesday 👋


HiveMind Launch thread

Notion just announced some new features relevant to startups

1. Automatic syncing with Jira, GitHub
2. New status field for PM
3. Cleaner database relation field
4. Restricted page access form like in Google Docs
5. Improved person relation field

Let's unpack em' 🎁 

1. Automatic syncing with Jira and GitHub

For software dev/eng teams, Notion can't substitute those tools.

But for teams to collab and ship effectively (especially remote), it's critical to collect PRs, issues, and tickets in one accessible dash. 

Now, you can do that.

All you need to do is:

1. Auth the apps with Notion (admin)
2. Copy links for Jira boards or GitHub issues
3. Open a Notion page and paste

And viola, ✨ you get familiar Notion views with the data and any changes automagically synced✨

The 🔑 of this feature is: you get the best of both worlds. 

You get to use Jira for complex PM needs or GitHub for hosting.

Once you sync them with Notion, you get to:

1. Link it to your workspace
2. Filter/sort/group data

For example, say that you run a weekly "bug bash" meeting 

Before, you'd have to go through GitHub, Jira and copy+paste links into a meeting note in Notion.

Now, you can do that all on the same Notion page in just a few clicks.

Imagine, how much time you'll save every week.

As Notion teased at Block x Block, this feature will not be limited to software development tools.

Next up: Google Calendar

Notion users have been dreaming about this since the beginning of time.

What other apps should seamlessly sync with Notion? 

I was planning to write the rest now. But let's be real. 

It's pre-July 4th Friday. Everyone is probably (or hopefully) gone from Twitter.  Imma go chillax too now.

I'll break down the rest of the features with a video next Tuesday.

Have a good weekend 👋 🎆 🇺🇸 


Lastly, for no particular reason, you can read as a blog post here: https://typefully.com/optemized/bRL2g7F

New Notion Feature: Auto syncing with Jira & GitHub

Is your Notion notification center (All Updates) a dumpster fire?

🔥🗑🔥

Well, friend, worry not. Here's me, the Notion Jedi Grandmaster, going through my 59 notifications in a record 4 minutes and 54 seconds.

Do this to speed through @NotionHQ notifications: https://www.loom.com/share/7876c14ca0934f64b47417b5066764c0

1. Open Notion in a browser
2. Save/close all open tabs
3. Open "All Updates"
4. Scan through
5. Holding ⌘ and click to open each page in a new tab
6. Once open, go to the last tab and go through

If you open a page but can't easily tell what's new, press ⌘ + shift + \ to pop open the comments sidebar. 

It makes finding and responding to new comments super easy, barely an inconvenience.

Bonus: If a page will take long to review, capture it as a task. 

Copy the page link ( ⌘ +L), then either:

1. Browser: type "notion.new" or "notion.so/new" → move to DB
2. Desktop: press "⌘/Ctrl + N" → move to DB
3. Both: find DB on sidebar, press "+"

Bonus bonus: If you use the 2) the desktop option, you can set a default location for new pages at the top left of the modal

Bonus bonus bonus: If you use Notion on mobile a lot there are two tools that allow you to create new pages fast.

1. Plus button in the recent or favorites widgets
2. Plus button in the bottom right of the app

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/optemized/1RNVOTt

Fast Notion Notification/All Updates Workflow

In the first few years of a biz, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds — you’re just trying to avoid almost certain death.

But once you build a significant-sized team, say ≤10 members, it’s important to gain consistency with reflection. One way to do this is via monthly reports...

At @optemization (13 ppl), we added these in 2022. 

We capture highlights from each department. A high-level summary:

💼 3 Projects completed
🏗️ 12 Projects in progress
💛 Moderate risk of burnout
🌮 158 Tacos given
💰 $64,181.77 revenue
🪝 4 deals closed
🕳️ 3 deals lost

Of course, it's created in @NotionHQ, and here's how it looks.

Two of our values are trust and openness, so the company's guts are literally opened up and presented to everyone on the team (and I guess Twitter now 😉). 

We aim to share these reports on the first Friday of the month, once @Bench publishes our accounting.

Once ready, we create a Thread (also in Notion), which assigns everyone a task to review the reports and leave comments asynchronously. 

The following Tuesday, we review everything and communicate the highlights synchronously.

The combination of the two comms is important.

If you're struggling with reporting, do not feel intimidated by this. 

The act of publication, sharing, and reflection with your teammates matters much more than fidelity or presentation.

A benefit is that you're forced to think deeply about your company when reporting.

In our case, nearly all of our content is @NotionHQ, so linked databases make it a breeze to add the numbers and draw conclusions. For example, when adding the Sales numbers I have a database of all paid and upcoming invoices right on the same page: 

Of course, we start with a template, which speeds up the process by a 1000%

I will share said template one day along with a detailed guide on how to customize this! 

So please let me know, in the replies, if that's something that you'd like to get your hands on.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/optemized/rvEqNoA

Monthly Business Reporting in Notion

I learned this business lesson the hard way. And I want you to avoid this, so listen up.

Always be pitching. I said — Always. Be. Pitching. 

I stopped and nearly destroyed my 2 yr & 13 ppl agency @optemization.

We almost ran out of money this month. 

So last year was pretty phenomenal revenue-wise. In December 2021, we closed a few massive contracts worth $300k over four months. And all of that came from word-jof-mouth referrals. Meanwhile, a year passed since I stopped actively marketing ourselves.

What the fuck, right?

Well, after building an audience of 6k followers and 2k email subscribers, I dropped our marketing in December 2020. 

Closing inbound sales and serving clients took up all my time.

I also moved places and chose to put more energy toward family and relationships. 

And, by the way, we were getting better and better at service fulfillment and closing sales, so revenue was growing. Each month though was either a feast or a famine. 

Burn, at first, was stable plus we had cash in the bank, so I wasn't worried. 

I didn't even notice that I paused marketing. 

I quietly let the Procrastination Monkey take over my growth mindset and steer the ship. 

If you're not familiar with this devilish ape, please do yourself a favor and watch @waitbutwhy's TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU

Once I paused, every day made it exponentially difficult to resume.

Eventually, things came to a full stop. The momentum was lost. 

And I didn't have the energy to get the ball rolling again. 

If you take away one thing from this thread -- DO NOT STOP. Like ever.

Take a break, sure. Practice "flexible consistency" as @anthilemoon suggests. But, please, for the love of it, never ever come to a screeching halt.

Once I stopped marketing, the Procrastination Monkey reigned supreme and brought an old friend along... the Perfectionism Pirate.

Every time the urge to get back to marketing bubbled up in my prefrontal cortex, the Perfectionism Pirat growled and kicked my thoughts off this ship.

I convinced myself that my content wasn't good enough or that the lack of a grand plan and purpose was so inefficienct.

The Procrastination Monkey and Perfectionism Pirate duo were really really good at their job because I avoided marketing and pitching myself like the plague.

To make matters worse, we grew. And 2021 ended revenue 7x-ing to $315k. All word of mouth. Which felt good; too good. 

So then 2022 kicks off and I spend Q1 avoiding marketing. I also spend most of Q2 avoiding marketing. 

Mind you, I'm not fucking around either. Each day is overfilled with a bunch of stuff across ops, sales, l&d that I consciously subscribed myself to do. Important stuff too.

Stuff "so important" that sometimes I forget that we haven't updated our website in two years.

Until one day, the big December contracts are over. A few prospects ghost me. Two clients pull back on engagements. And I have to pay Taxes for the first time. Aaaand a recession hits.

Suddenly, there isn't enough cash to make payroll.

I don't usually panic. 

But when it hit me that I fucked up our cash flow and might not be able to pay our team, it got "palms sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy" real fast. 

It is a very uncomfortable position, so once again, I beg of you, never stop marketing yourself.

If you made it here, you might question if this is even a "marketing" problem. And yes it's a business model/cash flow thing too.

However, I know that had I not stopped pitching myself, we would have had more clients, more revenue, and more cash to deal with contingency. 

But hey — we're still kicking. And we will not be going out of business. We're gonna figure this out and thrive.

I know that for a damn fact. 

So as soon as I connected the dots, I sent my team a message, acknowledging the issue and charting out a plan of action.

I also recorded a @loom and called it "We Got This" (because we fucking do). https://www.loom.com/share/072822ccc6d549389154df26c9d0d652 
#BuildinPublic a la @thisiskp_ amirite

The team rallied together.

Immediately afterward, we relaunched the marketing department, came up with projects, and started relentlessly shipping.

The Procrastination Monkey and Perfection Pirates have triumphantly kicked off the ship.

Since then we closed seven deals, revamped our website, and working on much more. 

And "we" are some of the most remarkable and talented people that I had the privilege of working with. 

Thank you for sticking with me and @optemization thought this will journey:

⭐ @supernaturval 
⚙️ @NataliePottie
🖌️ @DushiRox
🌊 @danieljhull_
🔨 @thorms11
💌 @ademusoyo
📹 @mannimoki
🧪 @luiza_cantini
🤖 @nickjanesdotcom
⚽ @lucia_judez
🙏 @celzalejandro
👯‍♂️ @Agile_Executive


You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/optemized/xWyW1Yq

Don't Stop Me Now

Since @NotionHQ made huge changes to the database functionality, I completely revamped my personal dashboard. 

Here's how every nook and cranny helps me attain abso-fucking-lute productivity Nirvana 🧘‍♂️

At @optemization, we're a very action-driven organization. So when I open my dashboard, all I see above the fold is:

1. Current tasks
2. Pinned tasks
3. Navigation Toolbar

That's right, no cover photo, no page icon, no cute widgets. Just the stuff that I need to get done.

I use the term "above the fold" very intentionally. 

When you're designing Notion pages, you're essentially creating landing pages for internal ops. 

When we create Notion pages and workflows for clients, we borrow web design principles to optimize for engagement.

The next section is my Calendar. It shows the meetings that I have this week. With a quick glance, I see:

1. Purpose of the meeting
2. Date/time in EST
3. Internal attendees
4. External attendees
5. Designated notetaker

Inside each card, I have the meeting agenda and notes.

The next section is dedicated to my personal knowledge management. It creates windows into:

1. Threads that I'm writing (async communication method) 
2. Decision that I need to make
3. Notes that I've edited in the past week
4. Notes that I pinned for reference

The penultimate section is where I keep track of the bigger pieces of our work -- projects. I see:

1. Active projects where I'm the owner
2. Projects that I want to pay attention to but I don't own
3. Projects that other people want me to pay attention to

Last but not least is the OKR section. Here I have:

1. My personal objectives
2. My personal key results
3. My organizational objectives
4. My organizational key results

For us, it's the weakest link. We haven't yet nailed the process but we're getting there.

As you can see I prefer to think about work "bottom-up"

1. What do I need to get done?
2. What meetings do I need to attend?
3. What do I need to communicate?
4. What do I need to note and remember?
5. How does fit into projects?
6. How does it help accomplish objectives?

It's a long page. To navigate I use:

1. The text toolbar to jump down
2. @NotionHQ new "press page title" feature to jump to top

Having used Notion for 4+ years I remember to KISS my workspace. Meaning "Keep It Simple Stupid." I do this by:

- Having at most two columns
- Naming databases and sections simply and clearly
- Using table views wherever I need to quickly edit content

One of the best parts of this setup is accessibility. 

No matter where I am in our massively sprawling workspace, I can always jump back to my personal dashboard by pressing `cmd+1` because it's the top favorite page in my sidebar. 

Another benefit is that anyone on the @optemization team can quickly see what I'm up to at any point in time. Beyond that, they can easily create stuff like assigning a task or booking a meeting. 

This ability eliminates redundant communication and shorts feedback loops.
