Business Daily From blogger to billionaire, Canva's co-founder on what failures at Google Wave taught him
Sep 29, 2026
Cameron Adams, Australian designer, entrepreneur and Canva co-founder, shares his unconventional path from blogging about web design to Google and eventually building a billion-dollar company. He recalls Google Wave’s celebrated failure, Fluent’s dramatic growth crisis and the meeting that led to Canva. He also discusses preserving startup spirit at scale, AI as a creative partner and Canva’s ambitions beyond profit.
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How A Design Blog Opened Google’s Door
- Cameron Adams studied law to satisfy his mother but built a freelance design business instead of applying for legal jobs.
- His web-design blog earned book deals and eventually opened a path into Google despite earlier interview failures.
Google Taught Adams How Products Scale
- Joining Google was not an achievement’s endpoint; Adams still had to learn product development, scaling, and collaboration.
- His team grew from five people in one room to 60 across a floor, exposing him to startup-scale complexity.
Why Google Wave Failed Despite Great Technology
- Google Wave’s technology was groundbreaking, but combining communication, documents, spreadsheets, and chat confused users.
- Its failure showed that technical excellence needs the right timing and an understandable everyday use case.
