Melanie Perkins: CEO of Canva
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Canva, an online design platform founded by CEO Melanie Perkins, has experienced significant growth since its launch in 2013. The platform allows users to easily create and collaborate on various designs, and has been used by over 30 million people in 190 countries. Melanie Perkins realized the need for a more user-friendly design approach, leading her to launch Fusion Books, an online design platform for creating school yearbooks, which validated the idea for Canva.
Raising venture capital for Canva was challenging, with Melanie facing numerous rejections before finding her first investors. Being located in Australia had advantages and disadvantages, but the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that physical location matters less when everyone is working remotely.
Canva's success can be attributed to several key strategies, including creating a valuable free product, targeting social media marketers as their initial market, and refining the onboarding experience. Canva's team structure is unique, with 18 groups and a mission-driven approach that fosters innovation.
As Canva continues to grow, they acknowledge the need to continually reinvent their processes and structures. Being recognized as a unicorn has brought attention and credibility, but also expectations and pressure. Hiring has become easier, but Canva has to continually reinvent their processes to accommodate the increasing number of employees.
Melanie Perkins emphasized the importance of solving a problem that affects a lot of people and advised women with big ideas to focus on presenting a compelling pitch. Guy Kawasaki played a significant role in Canva's growth, and his collaboration with Melanie boosted the platform's visibility.
In the final segment, Guy Kawasaki reads comments and reviews from listeners of his podcast, "Remarkable People," and expresses his gratitude to Canva and its employees. He encourages listeners to prioritize safety and well-being during these times.
Canva, an online design platform founded by CEO Melanie Perkins, has experienced significant growth