How learning to kitesurf started a $26B design company

Designers have to master a dazzling amount of tools: one for designing websites, another for books, a different one for presentations, yet another one for brochures… the list goes on and on.

In 2008, when Melanie Perkins taught design classes at her university in Australia, she saw her fellow students struggling to learn all these different tools. No wonder it took years of practice until designers were proficient at their craft.

A Big Idea: Design for Everyone

This jungle of tools gave Perkins an idea: what if there was a single application that combined all these use cases? That way, users would only have to learn one interface instead of half a dozen. And what if this application was much easier to learn and use, so that it wouldn’t require a PhD to master?

A Local Competition and a Big Connection

In 2011, Perkins and Obrecht (her boyfriend and now husband) took part in a local startup competition in Perth. The actual competition, however, wasn’t what mattered. It was who was there.

Perkins got a chance to pitch Silicon Valley investor Bill Tai, who attended the event as a judge. Although Tai didn’t pull out his checkbook, he at least found the project interesting. However, he had one condition: he would only invest if Perkins found a technical co-founder who was skilled enough to meet an engineering challenge of this magnitude. After all, Perkins’ vision was to revolutionize the design software market!

The Search for a Technical Co-Founder

But software developers like these don’t grow on trees. It took months of searching, interviewing, and not finding the right person. Finally, Perkins got connected to an ex-Google employee named Cameron Adams. The only problem? Adams was busy building his own startup… and declined the offer politely.

But Perkins wouldn’t be Perkins if she had given up. She stayed in touch with Adams and, a bit later, her persistence paid off: Adams finally said yes and became the third, technical co-founder and chief product officer of “Canva.”

Fundraising: A Relentless Journey

Now, “only” the question of funding remained.

Back then, raising money for software startups happened largely in Silicon Valley. Most of the investors that Perkins pitched wanted her to move there.

But Perkins and Obrecht didn’t want to leave Australia. Although this decision made their fundraising much harder, it also turned out to be a $1.4 million godsend.

After pitching countless investors — and getting over 100 rejections — Perkins finally had an investment sum of $1.6 million together. The Australian Department of Innovation added another $1.4 million — because, at the time, Australia offered grants to innovative startups to match their investors’ budgets.

Launching Canva: A Rocky Start

Finally, in 2012, five years into their journey, Perkins had the capital to start pursuing her actual goal.

And about a year later, in August of 2013, the first version of “Canva” launched. But Perkins’ high hopes were quickly dampened: the very first press article that came out was a damning review.

I can’t even begin to imagine how Perkins must have felt: she had pitched over 100 investors, had frantically searched for a technical co-founder… And then? The press tore her big ambitions apart.

From Setbacks to Success

Fortunately, however, not everyone hated Canva. Most of the press could see the product’s big vision and potential.

And indeed, Canva went on to fulfill every ounce of potential: as of 2024, the company had 3,500 employees, 180 million users worldwide and a valuation of $26 billion.

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Perkins’ story is full of lessons that every entrepreneur would be wise to learn.

First, on the power of bundling — and the source of innovation this can be. One could argue that Canva isn’t all that innovative. There are other web-based tools for designing social media assets; just as there are other tools for designing brochures. But there are none that allow you to do so many different design tasks in a single application. Perkins’ innovative achievement was to bundle these many use cases into one product.

Second, on the power of networking — and the willingness to go to great lengths. In 2012, when Perkins was struggling to find investment, she was invited to a gathering of influential VCs. The only caveat? It was a kitesurfing event. Perkins and Obrecht spent months learning the sport, only to have a seat at the table.

Third, on the power of a positive mindset — and the toll that life as an entrepreneur takes. In 2011, Perkins had already spent years chasing her dream, at full speed. And she began to feel the pressure and exhaustion of this chase. A letter she wrote to herself gives an insight into her mindset:

She certainly got to that “end goal” — and beyond.

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📊 5:1 — The “Gottman Ratio” states that we need 5 positive interactions for every negative interaction. If teams want to be successful, they need to keep an eye on this ratio — e.g. by fostering more positive feedback and simple acts of kindness among colleagues.

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