A 20-Minute Favor Became an Hourlong Call and a Job Offer

Cristina Cordova picked up the phone expecting to do an old colleague a favor. Twenty minutes, a few straightforward questions, and done.

The request had come by text from Akshay, the founder she had worked for at Pulse, her first startup job out of college. Seven years into her run at Stripe, where she had joined as employee No. 27, he asked if she would vouch for him. He was considering joining a tiny startup called Notion, and its chief executive, Ivan Zhao, wanted to talk to someone who had seen Akshay work at a startup.

What was supposed to be brief ran for more than an hour. Cordova quickly realized this was not a standard reference check. Zhao asked careful, searching questions about whether Akshay was the right fit. It made sense. Notion had about 10 people at the time, its product was beginning to gain momentum, and every early hire mattered.

When the long conversation finally wound down, Zhao flipped the interview around.

Cordova recalled him asking, in effect, what about you, what are you up to, and why not join Notion yourself.

She said no, at least for the moment. She was on parental leave with her first child and not in the mindset to jump. She also figured that with Akshay on board, the little company hardly needed another business person so early.

But the call stuck with her. She stayed in touch, spent time with the team, and months later wrote an angel investment check. When her own wants at Stripe later diverged from what was being asked of her, Notion was no longer just the company her friend had joined. It was the one she would join next, at about 40 people, to help build everything from hiring to partnerships.