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

Episode Overview

• Melanie Perkins details Canva's journey from over 100 investor rejections to a global success, emphasizing how she used early feedback to iteratively strengthen her pitch.
• The conversation explores Canva's core philosophies, including its "Two-Step Plan" to build a valuable company and do good, the power of setting "crazy big goals," and the "chaos to clarity" framework for innovation.
• Perkins contrasts "Column A" thinking (starting with current resources) with her preferred "Column B" approach: envisioning a perfect future and working backward to achieve it.
• Perkins shares her personal growth as a leader, discussing the importance of building an authentic company culture and establishing work-life balance to ensure long-term effectiveness.

Key Concepts

• Iterating on Rejection: Instead of being discouraged by rejection, Perkins viewed it as a valuable feedback loop to systematically strengthen her pitch deck and address investor concerns.
• The Two-Step Plan: Canva's guiding philosophy where Step 1 (building a valuable company) and Step 2 (doing the most good) create a virtuous cycle, with profit and purpose fueling each other.
• Crazy Big Goals: A core value at Canva is setting ambitious, almost intimidating goals to inspire teams and motivate them to grow into the vision.
• Chaos to Clarity: An internal framework that acknowledges all great ideas begin in a messy, undefined "chaos" phase and must be refined through a process to achieve clarity and become a tangible project.
• Column A vs. Column B Thinking: A planning philosophy that advocates for starting with an ideal future vision ("Column B") and working backward, rather than being constrained by current resources ("Column A").
• Authentic Company Building: The importance of finding what is authentic to your company's mission and values rather than simply copying the playbooks of other successful companies.
• Leadership and Balance: The necessity for leaders to evolve from working "round the clock" to intentionally creating boundaries for long-term mental health and effectiveness.

Quotes

• At 0:08 - "It was really clear in my mind that it was the future, and I thought the investors were wrong, frankly." - Melanie Perkins on her conviction when facing over 100 investor rejections.
• At 0:37 - "You feel completely inadequate before it, and you want to work really hard to will it into existence." - Explaining the motivational power behind Canva's value of setting "crazy big goals."
• At 27:57 - "Their feedback made us stronger and made our pitch deck stronger." - Explaining how she treated investor rejection not as a personal failure but as an opportunity to refine her pitch.
• At 40:57 - "Step one, build one of the world's most valuable companies, and step two, do the most good we can do." - Outlining Canva's core "Two-Step Plan" that guides the company's long-term vision.
• At 51:35 - "It was much more like, 'Where is the gap in the market that we can uniquely fill?'" - Describing Canva's strategy of focusing on an underserved market need rather than obsessing over direct competitors.

Takeaways

• Treat rejection as a valuable feedback loop to refine your strategy and story, rather than as a definitive failure.
• Set a "crazy big" long-term vision and work backward from that ideal future, rather than limiting your plans to your current resources.
• Create a virtuous cycle where business success and social impact are intertwined, making purpose a core driver of growth.
• Build your company based on your authentic mission and values, as copying another company's playbook is rarely a recipe for success.