Profile of Canva, a graphic design app that CEO Melanie Perkins helped build from a yearbook-design business out of Perth into a profitable $3.2B Adobe rival
On a steamy May morning in 2013, Canva CEO Melanie Perkins found herself adrift on a kiteboard in the channel between billionaire … Tweets: @alexrkonrad , @n_sportelli , @d_tao , @realmdonnelly , @alexrkonrad , @kitevc , @forbes , @rafat , @alexrkonrad , @alexrkonrad , and @dannygroner Tweets: Alex Konrad / @alexrkonrad : One incredible thing about Canva: CEO Melanie Perkins had pretty much the same vision for it way back in 2007. She and fiancé Cliff Obrecht decided to tackle student yearbooks first, leading to this amazing scene: https://www.forbes.com/... pic.twitter.com/Z8boIrnO3I Natalie Sportelli / @n_sportelli : Alex flew to Australia to meet @MelanieCanva, founder of *profitable* $3.2B design software Canva, for the latest cover of @Forbes. He has the definitive story on Melanie's grand design and her plan to take on Adobe and Microsoft. Read it here. https://www.forbes.com/... David Thomas Tao / @d_tao : .@alexrkonrad spent months researching and writing this amazing piece, but the toughest part was figuring out where to place the word “Profitable” in the headline! Thanks for tagging me in on this one, Alex. I'll accept a collaborative Pulitzer. https://www.forbes.com/... Michael Donnelly / @realmdonnelly : “Other unicorn founders boast. Perkins keeps receipts.” @forbes on @canva 👏👏👏CEO Melanie Perkins. This is food for the soul right here! https://www.forbes.com/... Alex Konrad / @alexrkonrad : Australian startup founder Melanie Perkins faced long odds and VC doubts. She built Canva into a profitable $3.2 billion global design software leader anyway. I went to Sydney in June to find out how she did it for my newest cover story for @Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/... pic.twitter.com/yCnEt1JYMZ Bill Tai / @kitevc : @alexrkonrad captures the essence of a “truth is stranger than fiction” start for a multi billion buck enterprise. You couldn't make this up - but it's inspiring and true. One just has to try, and do it. @MelanieCanva @cliffobrecht @canva https://www.forbes.com/... @forbes : In the age of WeWork and SoftBank, Canva has been profitable for 2 years, its founders each holding an estimated 15% of the company for a combined $800 million-plus fortune http://on.forbes.com/... by @alexrkonrad #ForbesUnder30 pic.twitter.com/knT56VPKiu Rafat Ali / @rafat : No @Forbes & @alexrkonrad : Canva hasn't built a $3.2bn business, it has built a $200mn revenue business. Don't confuse valuation with value. The same tech journalism FUD continues: https://www.forbes.com/... pic.twitter.com/sBm21r3wQ7 Alex Konrad / @alexrkonrad : A first-time founder starting a business in Perth, @MelanieCanva heard “no” from 100-plus VCs. She eventually found a way in through a dangerous and unlikely sport: kitesurfing. https://www.forbes.com/... pic.twitter.com/2PT4IlUZQV Alex Konrad / @alexrkonrad : Over six months of reporting, you hear many incredible stories; most don't make the cut. For this one, I spent a lot of time meeting Australia's startup scene. Here's a favorite that made it — an emergency call to Atlassian co-CEO @scottfarkas in Peru. https://www.forbes.com/... pic.twitter.com/V44ZKnK5s0 Danny Groner / @dannygroner : “After years of adding more features to Canva's suite, Perkins is betting on the opposite approach for corporate America. By offering limited sets of templates and options, Canva hopes execs will trust more employees to create their own content.” https://www.forbes.com/...