Apostrophe
Online graphic design platform Canva is worth $26 billion. 85% of Fortune 500 companies utilize Canva. And its users span 190 countries. But when Australian entrepreneur Melanie Perkins pitched Canva to investors, she got the following feedback:
“Your headquarters are in Australia – that’s too far away.”
“You didn’t go to Harvard, Stanford or MIT.”
“Your idea is too ambitious.”
“Your idea isn’t ambitious enough.”
And, “The market is too small.”
185 million monthly users later, Canva holds the title of world’s most valuable startup founded and led by a woman.
Major sources for this episode include:
How I Built This with Guy Raz: Canva: Melanie Perkins
Sunrise Ventures: The Sunrise Conference 2016 – Melanie Perkins, CEO and Co-founder
Sunrise Ventures: Melanie Perkins Keynote (Canva), Sunrise North Island
This Week in Startups: How Canva CEO Melanie Perkins turned her small Australian college startup into global unicorn | E939
Fortune: 35-year-old Canva founder Melanie Perkins got rejected by 100 VCs. Now her $26 billion design startup is ready to take on Microsoft and Google
Writer & Host: Sidney Hirst-O’Reilly
Executive Producer & Co-Host: Terry O’Reilly
Research: Allison Pinches
Director: Callie O’Reilly
Supervising Producer: Debbie O’Reilly
Engineer: Geoff Devine
Theme music: Ian Lefeuvre & Ari Posner
Tunes: APM Music
This show is brought to you by the Apostrophe Podcast Network and powered by Acast.
Online graphic design platform Canva is worth $26 billion. 85% of Fortune 500 companies utilize Canva. And its users span 190 countries. But when Australian entrepreneur Melanie Perkins pitched Canva to investors, she got the following feedback:
“Your headquarters are in Australia – that’s too far away.”
“You didn’t go to Harvard, Stanford or MIT.”
“Your idea is too ambitious.”
“Your idea isn’t ambitious enough.”
And, “The market is too small.”
185 million monthly users later, Canva holds the title of world’s most valuable startup founded and led by a woman.
Major sources for this episode include:
How I Built This with Guy Raz: Canva: Melanie Perkins
Sunrise Ventures: The Sunrise Conference 2016 – Melanie Perkins, CEO and Co-founder
Sunrise Ventures: Melanie Perkins Keynote (Canva), Sunrise North Island
This Week in Startups: How Canva CEO Melanie Perkins turned her small Australian college startup into global unicorn | E939
Fortune: 35-year-old Canva founder Melanie Perkins got rejected by 100 VCs. Now her $26 billion design startup is ready to take on Microsoft and Google
Writer & Host: Sidney Hirst-O’Reilly
Executive Producer & Co-Host: Terry O’Reilly
Research: Allison Pinches
Director: Callie O’Reilly
Supervising Producer: Debbie O’Reilly
Engineer: Geoff Devine
Theme music: Ian Lefeuvre & Ari Posner
Tunes: APM Music
This show is brought to you by the Apostrophe Podcast Network and powered by Acast.