How I Built This with Guy Raz

Canva: Melanie Perkins (2019)

Mar 1, 2021

Melanie Perkins, the innovative Co-founder and CEO of Canva, shares her journey from a college student frustrated with design software to leading a $6 billion graphic design revolution. She discusses her small beginnings with a yearbook design site and the pivotal meetings that helped secure crucial funding. Perkins candidly opens up about the challenges of leadership, emotional highs and lows in entrepreneurship, and how unexpected opportunities shaped her path. Her story highlights how Canva is democratizing design and fostering creativity for everyone.

41:19

Episode guests

Melanie Perkins

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Melanie Perkins secured a meeting with a VC, Bill Tai, after cold-emailing him.

03:00

Interesting and probably more realistic way to convince investor

00:43

Intro

3min

From Frustration to Innovation

16min

Navigating Challenges and Embracing Opportunities

5min

From Pitch to Product: Navigating Startup Challenges

16min

Navigating Leadership and Personal Pressure in a Growing Company

2min

Designing Success Stories

4min

Engagement, Production Credits, and Promotional Offers

2min

When she was just 19 years old, Melanie Perkins dreamt of transforming the graphic design and publishing industries. But she started small, launching a site to make yearbook design simpler and more collaborative. Her success with that first venture—and an unexpected meeting with a VC investor—eventually landed her the backing to pursue her original idea, and the chance to take on software industry titans like Adobe and Microsoft. Today, Melanie's online design platform Canva is valued at $6 billion, joining the list of Australia's "unicorn" companies.

For more information on the HIBT Fellowship visit:
https://npr.org/fellows

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