Hot Silicon Valley startup Notion shocked the tech world yesterday when it announced it had raised $50 million at a $2 billion valuation on Wednesday, in the middle of the pandemic that is causing mass layoffs at other companies. Notion CEO tells Business Insider that he didn't need the money. Notion is profitable, he says, and the remote work mandates have improved his business. But he and is cofounder decided that a healthy headline-making investment would help him reassure his growing customer base that Notion was stable and would remain so for years, no matter the economy.