Canva: Designed to Win
Melanie Perkins pitched 100 investors—and got 100 nos. Then she built a design empire.
Design used to be for the elite—Adobe pros, gatekept tools, steep learning curves.
Then Melanie Perkins came along.
A university student from Perth, Australia, she imagined a world where anyone could design anything. Her first company, Fusion Books, let students create yearbooks online, and she scaled it across Australia, France, and New Zealand.
But the bigger vision was Canva.
She pitched it over 100 times.
Rejected over 100 times.
Then came kite-surfing venture capitalist Bill Tai, who took a meeting—at a kite-surfing camp in Western Australia. That wave led to Canva’s seed round, backed by Blackbird Ventures, Felicis Ventures, and Google Maps co-founder Lars Rasmussen. Later, Sequoia Capital joined in.
Over the next 10 years, Melanie and her team built patiently, quietly, and obsessively—turning a seed of an idea into a platform used by over 150 million people every month.
Fast forward:
→ 150 million monthly users
→ $40B private valuation
→ A design platform powering everyone from schools to SpaceX
Quiet resilience. Global impact. Founder obsession in full bloom.
It’s what hums loudest on the VibeVest spectrum.
The Scoreboard
🧠 Built Different: 92
Canva didn’t just simplify design—it democratized it.
Fusion Books, her first startup out of a Perth dorm, became the blueprint.
A stubbornly clear vision—design should be online, collaborative, and intuitive—guided Canva from day one.
📦 Who’s in the Room?: 88
From kite-surfing VC Bill Tai to Google Maps’ Lars Rasmussen,
Blackbird’s Rick Baker to Mary Meeker’s Bond Capital—this room hums.
Canva is now used by 95% of the Fortune 500, and schools in over 190 countries.
🧭 Narrative Weight: 90
A dorm-room startup. 100 rejections. A Hawaiian pitch between kiteboarding sessions. Then a $40B empire. The founder story doesn’t get sharper than this.
🔥 Feels Inevitable: 91
Canva’s rise feels like gravity. As AI turns design into storytelling, Melanie’s early bet on simplicity and access feels prophetic.
💡 Founder Obsession: 93
From yearbooks to unicorn—Melanie’s been on this mission since she was 19.
Still co-CEO with co-founder Cliff Obrecht. Still focused.
⏳ Time & Vibe: 87
While rivals chased IPOs, Melanie stayed focused.
Canva remains private, profitable, and expanding—Manila, Sydney, Austin, Beijing.
More signal. Less noise.
✨ The Spark: 89
A design revolution sparked by quiet confidence.
Her grit hums beneath Canva’s clean UI—resistance wrapped in elegance.
👉 Vibe Score: 90
Melanie Perkins, Founder of Canva — Vibe Score: 90
Markets are choppy—tariffs, volatility, the usual storm. But stories like Melanie’s cut through the noise.
This isn’t financial advice. It’s a frequency worth tuning into.
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