How Notarize overcame legal barriers to drive 600% growth in 2020

In this episode of the Breakout Growth Podcast, Sean and Ethan have a learning-packed discussion with Pat Kinsel, Notarize’s Founder and CEO. Notarize provides an online service that makes the process of getting documents legally notarized fast and easy. Instead of meeting with a notary public in person, the entire process is managed digitally with integrated online meetings and digital signature technologies. The company’s journey began about 6 years ago when Pat, who had previously sold a business to Twitter, needed to get documents notarized  When errors in the process turned into a stressful and annoying near-disaster, he realized that technology might solve the problem he experienced. But, he also knew he faced an uphill battle on the legal front. With a partner who had government relations experience, he went to work to understand, and in many cases, change the laws related to notarization. Together, they navigated these challenges and discovered massive enterprise demand for a solution. The company began to grow quickly and Pat and his team realized they had a superpower; they could get a call from a new business or industry looking for help with a notarization process, unpack and quickly understand the legal challenges, and adapt their solutions to solve the problem. Then, when the pandemic struck, the service became a must-have for the mortgage, title, and other industries. Now, with 600% year over year growth, and a fresh round of venture capital ($130 million), Pat says the world will never go back to the old ways of solving these problems. Notarize was a far better solution before the pandemic, and the crisis has only served to amplify the need and expand the market. So take a listen, as The Breakout Growth Podcast explorers Notarize’s explosive success. We discussed: * How Pat’s own notarization frustrations drove the inception of the business (5:13)* The massive impact of the pandemic on growth (8:20)* Navigating the legal hurdles to make online notarization possible (8:44)* How the product drew massive enterprise interest (9:30)* The word-of-mouth engine behind Notarize.com’s success(11:15)* How Covid forced Pat and his team to mature their go-to-market strategy (12:00)* “Product/Delivery Fit” (23:22)* The importance of distribution partners in the Notarize.com growth story (34:26)And much, much, more . . .  Get full access to Sean’s Substack at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe