Did you know that Canva’s founder was rejected more than a hundred times?
Today, we know Canva as the go-to application for creating anything from presentations to resumes and invites to certificates.
However, Melanie Perkins the founder of Canva, had a hard time building this company from scratch in Australia.
Melanie came up with the idea for Canva in 2007 at the age of 19, when she was tutoring other students in her university on how to use design programs.
That’s when she realized that they were far too complex and expensive - and the future of design was going to be simpler, online and collaborative.
The next several years were spent by Melanie in an effort to raise venture capital.
And the process wasn’t easy.
She was rejected hundreds of times and trips to Silicon Valley before she found her first investors. It took her and her husband and co-founder, Cliff Obrecht, more than 3 years to land the first investment.
Canva was thus born.
But Perkins’ faith in the idea kept her going as she wanted to make design accessible for all - be it for logos, business cards or presentations.
She changed her perception of a “no” in business. Every “no” to her was one step closer to a client who would say yes.
Moreover, Melanie Perkins hasn’t shied away from giving.
Canva decided to give a 30% stake in the business to a charity that aims to eliminate poverty.
This equates to a massive USD 12 billion donation.
There’s a lot to learn from Melanie Perkins and her brainchild - Canva.
Very few companies in this day and age represent strong moral values, and Canva is one of them, thanks to Melanie’s vision.
In fact, Perkins is the CEO of one of the few “unicorn” start-ups that are profitable.
Today, Canva has raised USD 560 million in investments at a USD 40 billion valuation.
She is also amongst the 2 percent of female CEOs of companies backed by venture capital.
Furthermore, tech is synonymous with gender disparity, but Perkins has made many efforts to eliminate this.
For instance, she has implemented policies at Canva that eliminate bias in the hiring process, that has resulted in Canva obtaining 41 percent female representation, significantly higher than the industry average of 28 percent.
Today, her company Canva has helped create close to 3.5 billion designs in 190 countries with more than 60 million users.
Melanie Perkins’ entrepreneurship journey is truly inspiring.
Be bold. Be daring. Be different!
#womeninbusiness #womenentrepreneurs #techforgood #unicornstartup #leadershipdevelopment
Today, we know Canva as the go-to application for creating anything from presentations to resumes and invites to certificates.
However, Melanie Perkins the founder of Canva, had a hard time building this company from scratch in Australia.
Melanie came up with the idea for Canva in 2007 at the age of 19, when she was tutoring other students in her university on how to use design programs.
That’s when she realized that they were far too complex and expensive - and the future of design was going to be simpler, online and collaborative.
The next several years were spent by Melanie in an effort to raise venture capital.
And the process wasn’t easy.
She was rejected hundreds of times and trips to Silicon Valley before she found her first investors. It took her and her husband and co-founder, Cliff Obrecht, more than 3 years to land the first investment.
Canva was thus born.
But Perkins’ faith in the idea kept her going as she wanted to make design accessible for all - be it for logos, business cards or presentations.
She changed her perception of a “no” in business. Every “no” to her was one step closer to a client who would say yes.
Moreover, Melanie Perkins hasn’t shied away from giving.
Canva decided to give a 30% stake in the business to a charity that aims to eliminate poverty.
This equates to a massive USD 12 billion donation.
There’s a lot to learn from Melanie Perkins and her brainchild - Canva.
Very few companies in this day and age represent strong moral values, and Canva is one of them, thanks to Melanie’s vision.
In fact, Perkins is the CEO of one of the few “unicorn” start-ups that are profitable.
Today, Canva has raised USD 560 million in investments at a USD 40 billion valuation.
She is also amongst the 2 percent of female CEOs of companies backed by venture capital.
Furthermore, tech is synonymous with gender disparity, but Perkins has made many efforts to eliminate this.
For instance, she has implemented policies at Canva that eliminate bias in the hiring process, that has resulted in Canva obtaining 41 percent female representation, significantly higher than the industry average of 28 percent.
Today, her company Canva has helped create close to 3.5 billion designs in 190 countries with more than 60 million users.
Melanie Perkins’ entrepreneurship journey is truly inspiring.
Be bold. Be daring. Be different!
#womeninbusiness #womenentrepreneurs #techforgood #unicornstartup #leadershipdevelopment
