Second Brain 2.0 — Live Now

+ all the Notion news you missed last week

Hey — it’s James

One of my very first blog posts on the internet (back in 2021) was why I stopped following the news—and I remember it sparked a lot of reactions from friends and family.

Of all the reasons I mentioned back then, one has stood the test of time the most for me: Even if you stop following the news, you won’t miss anything important—your surroundings will inevitably bring it up, often unintentionally, filtering out the noise for you.

This addresses what I think is people’s biggest…


In Today’s Email 👀 

  • Custom Slack Message

  • Count Operator

  • Notion in Microsoft Store

  • Discover Second Brain 2.0 ⚡️

  • Matthias x Ben Interview

  • Meeting Summary

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3 Tips / Updates

1/ Custom Slack Message

You can now send fully customized Slack messages through Notion automations—working with database automations, button blocks, and button properties.

The feature supports rich text formatting, mentions, dynamic variables (like @now), and emojis.


2/ Count Operator

Notion formulas now have a count operator! The count() function accepts a list argument and returns the number of elements in that list. When you provide a condition as a second argument, count() will return the number of elements that match that condition.

This simplifies your formulas—instead of combining filter() and length() to count entries, you can now do it in a single step.


3/ Notion in Microsoft Store

HANG TIGHT — BE RIGHT BACK…

StartEngine’s $30M Surge — Own a Piece Before June 26

StartEngine is the investing platform providing exposure to pre-IPO companies like OpenAI, Perplexity, and Databricks.

After doubling their revenues YoY in 2024 ($23M to $48M), StartEngine’s now tripled first quarter revenue YoY to a record $30M, based on its unaudited Q1 2025 financials. Now you can join 45K+ shareholders across all offerings before this round closes next month.

Reg A+ via StartEngine Crowdfunding, Inc. No BD/intermediary involved. Investment is speculative, illiquid & high risk. See OC and Risks on page.

2 Resources

1/ Second Brain 2.0

I'm super excited to announce that Notion Second Brain has been completely updated! The template now looks better than ever and has been completely reorganized based on your feedback.

The all-in-one dashboard has been streamlined into 3 distinct sections:

  • Act: Quick Action Buttons • Tasks • Today • Calendar • Notes & Library

  • Reflect: Journal • Goals • Personal CRM • Habit Tracker

  • Review: Areas • Months • Finances

So whether you need to get more organized, centralize your stuff, or get help living a more intentional life — now is the perfect time to grab your copy ✌️

P.S. also available in French 🇫🇷

P.P.S. if you already purchased it or a bundle containing it, you'll receive an email this week to update it for free 🎁


2/ Matthias x Ben Interview

In a recent podcast, Ben Borowski shares his journey from firefighter to Notion educator, introducing his "user → builder → architect" framework for helping startups. He also discusses "digital permaculture" - a new approach created with Marie Poulin for building sustainable team workflows in Notion.

1 Tweek: Tweet of the Week

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*these are affiliate links, so I earn a small commission if you make a purchase through them. Your support helps keep this newsletter going :)

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