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The woman behind Canva shares how she built a $42B company from nothing | Melanie Perkins

Overview

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Highlights

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The woman behind Canva shares how she built a $42B company from nothing | Melanie Perkins

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Nov 02
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Nov 02
OverviewShownoteHighlightsTranscriptChaptersPins

Shownote

Melanie Perkins is co-CEO and co-founder of Canva, currently valued at over $42 billion, generating over $3 billion in annual revenue, with more than 240 million monthly active users and, incredibly, eight consecutive years of profitability. But the journe...

Highlights

Melanie Perkins, co-founder and co-CEO of Canva, shares the mindset and strategies that propelled her company from a struggling startup to a global design platform used by hundreds of millions. Her journey is marked by resilience, visionary thinking, and an unwavering commitment to long-term goals despite early setbacks.
05:12
Column B thinking means envisioning an ideal future and working backward to make it real
11:44
Visual communication turns abstract ideas into reality.
15:36
Crazy big goals turn the impossible into reality over time
22:00
The two-year technical rewrite made it feel like a long, dark tunnel for the team.
29:02
The vision was consistent, but the way of articulating it changed greatly.
29:37
Take rejection as an opportunity to improve your pitch and process.
34:38
When mission and actual work align, it brings authenticity for customers
35:47
Taking breaks helps gain perspective and avoid working on the wrong things
38:03
Canva has closed over 200 community feedback loops this year.
40:37
Canva donates 30% of its equity to philanthropy through the Canva Foundation.
45:06
Canva is doubling down on video with new mobile and desktop capabilities.
50:30
Solve a small number of people's problems really well, and if it's a large market, you can build a big company.
52:37
AI was part of Canva's vision since 2012, long before it became popular
58:24
Turning desired realities into existence starts with writing them down and taking the first step.
1:02:32
Imagination is more important than knowledge when building something new.

Chapters

Introduction to Melanie Perkins and Canva
00:00
Building a “column B” company
04:44
Operationalizing big visions
06:36
Crazy big goals and celebrations
13:13
Challenges and setbacks in Canva’s journey
22:00
Fundraising and investor rejections
26:30
Leadership and growth lessons
29:36
Canva’s goal-driven structure
34:38
Balancing work and personal life
35:46
Community-driven product development
38:02
The two-step plan for global impact
40:37
Canva’s biggest launch yet
45:04
How Canva approaches product expansion
48:10
AI integration in Canva
52:37
AI corner
53:56
Melanie’s vision for 2050 and beyond
55:22
Lightning round and final thoughts
1:00:07

Transcript

Lenny Rachitsky: There's a very famous story about Canva. Early on, you pitched over 100 investors and over 100 investors said no to you. Melanie Perkins: It was really clear in my mind that it was the future, and I thought the investors were wrong, frank...