Starting a business feels like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

Big companies have endless resources, massive teams, and million-dollar marketing budgets.

Meanwhile, you’re working from your garage, stretching every dollar, and wearing too many hats to count.

But here’s the thing: being small doesn’t mean you can’t make a big impact. 

Just look at Canva, for example.

In just a few short years, they took on giants like Adobe and grew into a $26 billion company.

All while keeping their product simple, affordable, and accessible.

In this blog, we’ll dive into inspiring lessons from Canva’s journey that can help you stand out and compete with even the biggest players.

What is Canva?

Canva is an online graphic design platform that was launched in 2013.

It has made designing easy for everyone whether it’s presentation slides, fliers, or social media posts!

It’s a free-to-use one-stop shop for all your design needs.

You wouldn’t need a design degree to be a Canva user thanks to its drag-and-drop features and wide range of templates.

While companies like Adobe were dominating the market, Canva carved out its own space. 

It made design accessible to all, not just the pros. 

This fresh approach shook up the industry and continues to attract users from every corner of the globe.

In its first year, Canva had more than 600,000 users.

And in only 5 years after its launch, it achieved a $1 billion valuation!

Today, Canva has grown into an impressive company with over 110 million people using the platform every month.

It is currently valued at approximately $26 billion.

Who is Melanie Perkins?

Melanie Perkins’ journey to becoming one of the youngest female CEOs in the tech industry is nothing short of inspiring.

Raised in Perth, Australia, she was always entrepreneurial.

At university, she started a side hustle where she taught fellow students how to use design software.

This experience opened her eyes to how complicated design tools could be.

It was the start of her vision to make design accessible to everyone.

Before launching Canva, Melanie and her co-founder, Cliff Obrecht, created Fusion Books in 2007.

This was an online tool that allowed schools to design their yearbooks.

She shares,

¨My mum’s living room became my office, and my boyfriend became my business partner. We started enabling schools to create their yearbooks really, really simply. So the whole year could collaborate and design their profile pages and articles. And then we would actually physically print them and deliver them to schools all around Australia.¨ 

It became so popular that it eventually expanded to include New Zealand and France!

With this insight, they set out to create Canva.

And the rest, as they say, is history!

Today, Melanie is recognised as one of the youngest female CEOs in the tech industry.

5 Lessons From Canva’s Journey to Success 

Lesson #1. Embrace Rejection as Feedback

Growing a startup was far from easy.

Melanie faced rejection from over 100 venture capitalists.

In fact, it took her about 3 years to finally secure funding for Canva.

Instead of giving up, she learned from the feedback and used each “no” to make her proposal stronger.

“Being turned down frequently during our early phases really forced me to work harder and hone my approach.”

Rejection is part of every business owner’s journey.

The best way to deal with it is to pay close attention to what went wrong and keep trying even if it takes more than a hundred tries!

Lesson #2.  Simplify Complex Processes 

One of Canva’s key innovations was simplifying the design process. 

This is how they stood out from their biggest competitor, Adobe!

Melanie shares…

“You shouldn’t have to take an entire semester just to learn where the buttons of Photoshop were.” 

Adobe’s design software was powerful, no doubt, but it had a steep learning curve.

For most people, mastering it would take years. 

Canva flipped the script by making design tools that were easy for anyone to use—whether you were a pro or just starting out.

This focus on simplicity allowed Canva to compete with, and even outshine, the industry heavyweights.

Lesson #3. Build a Community

While many big companies focus solely on their products, Canva took a different approach by creating a sense of community around their platform.

They built a place where people could come together to share ideas, collaborate, and learn from one another.

Canva’s tutorials, templates, and resources empowered users to become better designers, even if they were just starting out.

Users could even share their own templates on the platform so others could use them.

This sense of belonging is what made customers stick around.

Lesson #4. Focus on User Needs

While Adobe’s software was powerful, it was often seen as too complex for everyday users. 

And it also was pretty expensive.

Many users would also complain about how hard it was to even cancel their subscriptions.

Melanie and her team prioritised ease of use and a freemium model.

Instead of charging high fees for complicated software…

Canva offered a free version that allowed users to get started with professional designs without spending a cent.

This made it very attractive to many demographic groups like students and business owners who were on a tight budget.

Lesson #5. Stay True to Your Vision

It’s easy to get distracted when you’re competing with industry giants. 

They launch new features, enter new markets, or slash prices – and suddenly you feel pressured to follow suit.

Melanie Perkins never wavered from her goal of making design accessible to all.

“Having a large goal is critical to my being. If I don’t have a big goal, I feel lost. I always like to have a big goal that I’m working towards.” 

Staying true to this vision kept Canva grounded and focused on what made them unique, helping them stand out in a saturated market.

By sticking to their vision, Canva attracted users who felt overlooked by other design platforms.

Canva focused on doing one thing exceptionally well, and that’s what helped them compete with and even surpass their larger competitors.

Create a Big Impact in Your Industry Even as a Small Brand

Being small isn’t a weakness.

It’s an opportunity to be flexible, innovative, and closely connected to your customers.

Melanie Perkins and Canva prove that with the right vision, persistence, and strategy, you can compete with industry giants and win.

The key isn’t to match your bigger competitors’ feature-for-feature or dollar-for-dollar. 

Instead, find gaps in the market while at the same time staying true to your mission. 

Remember that every giant company started out small.

What matters is how to use your current size to your advantage.