The Rise and Fall of Evernote: Lessons in Innovation and Business Growth

Name: The Rise and Fall of Evernote: Lessons in Innovation and Business Growth
Uploaded: 2024-04-16T13:04:37+00:00
Duration: 34 s
Channel: Jason M. Lemkin
Description: In this interview excerpt, Jason M. Lemkin reflects on Evernote’s trajectory, noting that after its early disruptive success it failed to sustain…

16 Apr 2024 · 1 min

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In this interview excerpt, Jason M. Lemkin reflects on Evernote’s trajectory, noting that after its early disruptive success it failed to sustain innovation, suffered leadership turnover, and ultimately was acquired. He contrasts Evernote’s stagnation with Notion’s ongoing evolution, emphasizing that continuous reinvention is key to long‑term relevance. The conversation then shifts to product strategy, where Lemkin affirms that rapid iteration before achieving product‑market fit is crucial, as speed enables more testing and quicker market entry.

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And then the mediocre teams, like nothing happens and the product is frozen in time. And, and, you know, Evernote, we know Evernote just got acquired, right? We just watched that after all these years. And Evernote was so— maybe it was before you were using it. It was so disruptive when it came out. Everyone in the internet used Evernote, especially for clippings. Like every smart person. It was the Notion of its day, not just because they're similar, but because it was so cool. And probably because the founder turned over and there are other turnovers, it was never able to reinvent ever again. Like it lost innovation, but the best ones keep going. And Notion is. Notion's nothing like it was when we started using it for our team.
Can I ask, pre-product market fit, is speed still everything? Because there's the idea of crafting, testing, making sure you hone that customer message, and then when you get product market fit, go.
It is. Would you actually say it is? Because, um, the faster you can iterate, the faster you get into market, and the more tests you can run.