Today, Canva is a $50 billion giant, and Melanie Perkins is one of the world’s wealthiest self-made women. But in 2010, she was just a “dreamer girl from Australia” to Silicon Valley investors. Behind her success lies not only a technological solution but also high-stakes networking on the water and unparalleled persistence.
Melanie’s entrepreneurial instinct began at age 14, selling hand-knitted scarves. However, the real turning point occurred when she began teaching graphic design courses at university.
At that time, the market was in the hands of giants like Adobe and Microsoft. Programs like Photoshop or InDesign were so complex that students had to attend courses for months just to create a simple business card. Melanie saw this “bureaucracy” in the design world: Why must you be a professional to create something beautiful? This question became the foundation for the future of Canva.
Even though the idea was big, there was not enough money to develop it. Melanie and her future husband, Cliff Obrecht, decided to test the idea on a smaller scale. They started Fusion Books, a project that allowed school graduates to create yearbooks online, in her mother’s living room.
This project served as an “MVP” (Minimum Viable Product) for Melanie. There, they learned what users wanted: ready-made templates and “drag-and-drop” functionality felt like magic to people. Within a few years, Fusion became Australia’s largest yearbook publisher, and Melanie wanted to turn this idea into a project that could be used globally.
In 2010, Melanie traveled to the US to show her project to investors. But the result was much harder than expected. Investors laughed, saying, “There is no room for you in a market where giants like Adobe exist.”
This is exactly where Melanie made her most unusual move. She managed to meet famous investor Bill Tai, but during the meeting, Bill spoke more about his favorite sport — kiteboarding. Melanie realized: in this world, slides are not enough to open doors; you have to speak “the same language” as investors.
Despite her fear of water, Melanie began learning kiteboarding. Despite bruised legs, constant injuries, and catching colds, she started attending “MaiTai” camps where investors gathered. She often delivered her “pitch” (project presentation) while standing on a board on the water. Bill Tai liked this persistence so much that he was the first to agree to invest.
100 “No” and an unexpected cictory
Canva received more than 100 rejections before securing investment. After every rejection, Melanie reviewed and improved her presentation. In 2013, everything changed when Cameron Adams, a former Google designer, joined the team and the project was launched. Canva “democratized” design. Now, any small business owner, teacher, or student could create professional-grade visuals in minutes. The Freemium model spread the project as fast as a virus.
Success is not about how smart you are, but about being able to try until you hear “yes” on the 101st time.
Perkins is currently enhancing Canva with artificial intelligence (Magic Studio). Her goal is to make design not only open to everyone but also automatic for everyone.
Prepared by Gulzoda Abduhalilova
