The Exchanges

Q Was there like back in 2014 when you were writing this was, what was the 10 X feature for Canva in the early days? Like what, what, what did you win? Were you doing something on social media that was hard to do in other apps or what was that? What was that step function that, that wasn't in the market back then?

A Yeah. Like the, the, the, the products, uh, back then, uh, we, you know, we launched really focused on social media. Uh, we call them, you know, dock types, but, um, you know, we had, A suite of templates that you could go and choose from. And it was really easy to kind of edit and create things like, you know, Facebook posts or, you know, your, your email headers and things like that. And I think it was actually just by making that process really, really easy. Um, you know, Canva had, uh, relaunched with, um, You know, this, this idea of like integrating everything into, into one page. So you could just go to one, one, one place. You had the templates. There was, um, you know, stock photography, um, that was, you know, free or, or a dollar to use. Uh, it was really easy to kind of publish that, like in the, in the right format, um, for, um, you know, at the end stage. So I think it was just about really solving that problem really, uh, really well early on. And, you know, a little bit later on, we, um, we launched I remember when we, um, we launched, What's now Canva Pro, uh, where you came up with this feature called Magic Resize, uh, and that was, um, that was just, like, an incredibly popular feature, and it was just something I think that, um, social media markets in particular really struggled with. You kind of go and design a Facebook post, and then you have to resize it…

AI assessment note: “we came up with this feature called Magic Resize”

Q out of time. Um, so maybe it's less of a less interesting than a billion in ARR, but Canva has pay per use and monthly plans. Is there, what, what have you learned there? Can these little one dollars, uh, for, for, for, for an image, does it, can that really move the needle at a billionaire or what, how do you, why, why do you have both paid versions?

A Yeah, it's a good question. We, uh, I think a few things we want to make sure that there's like, there's A variety of choice, uh, for people. You know, there might be people that are coming to create, you know, that, that once off graphic in Canva, and we want to solve, um, you know, for, for their use case, and, um, they equally might need a, um, you know, stock photo, and so, uh, when, when we launched Canva, um, you know, the, the one dollar photo license was something that hadn't been done before, and so, because you're using it within Canva, you know, it means we can kind of control the, the usage, and so, um, it's a, it's a dollar, Uh, per use. Um, so I guess it's that use case. And then, you know, with our pro subscription, you, um, you actually get, uh, access to, to sort of unlimited, um, uh, content in terms of imagery and things like that. So we continue to offer both. Um, but a lot of people, you know, might, might use the, the one dollar image and then, um, actually decide that, uh, they don't want to, uh, subscribe to pro because, um, you know, it makes sort of sense, um, if they're creating, um, multiple graphics.

AI assessment note: “we want to make sure that there's like, there's A variety of choice”

Q Right. It sounds like that's you, but sometimes was that you. And then sometimes what I find is those folks get frustrated because as the company gets to be 500, a 1002 thousand people, There's not always a, a, a clear path for that person anymore. So, so was that you and how did you, how did you ride that all the way to a billionaire or almost a billionaire?

A Uh, uh, yeah, I don't know. Like I definitely, um, I love learning and I've loved being thrown, um, at new challenges along the way, but I, you know, I often get asked, uh, You know, if I miss the early days or, uh, you know, if I have a preference for a particular point in time and like, I don't know, I have to say, um, I have loved to like each of the different phases and actually I'm probably having the most fun I've ever had now. Um, and it's, it's definitely a very different, you know, organization at, at 2000 people and comes with, um, you know, a very different way of building and getting things done. Um, but I, um, yeah, I might be the exception, but I, um, I kind of, uh, Have enjoyed, enjoyed that as well.

AI assessment note: “I have loved to like each of the different phases and actually I'm probably having the most fun”

Q first one, um, your funnel, right? So funnels often work differently than we think. Now that we see more companies going public, you've got sixty million free users, right? But how do they convert? Um, do, do they, do they convert linearly? Do folks that do enterprise and pro quickly fall through the funnel? Do most free never convert? Like how do, how does this funnel, uh, work at Canva?

A Yeah, I guess we, we've always thought, ah, we're talking about a bottoms up approach, um, at Canva, and I think that has really meant really prioritizing investing in that, that free experience, which I, which I mentioned, um, earlier. So, you know, the vast majority of people, uh, use Canva, um, for, for free. And then, um, we, You know, we, we see people that are getting a lot of value than, uh, than upgrade, um, and, and, you know, use us individually, you know, as a pro, um, user or with a small team. And so, um, you know, we sort of see that uptake and then up into, into enterprise, um, as well. And so we definitely see like the product being, um, the, the catchment, uh, you know, for that as, as people use the product and love it. Um, like that ultimately, uh, you know, sees us, um, sort of trade up that pyramid. And we're seeing that with, you know, things like fortune, 500 organizations as well, where, um, you know, many of the fortune 500 will have thousands of, um, you know, individual users or small teams on the platform. And, and then, you know, for the organization, then it's about actually bringing them together and sort of unlocking, um, some of the power of enterprise. So that bottoms up approach has been.

AI assessment note: “the vast majority of people, uh, use Canva, um, for, for free”

Q Was the goal to expand in other geos or was it for customers and users that were multilingual, right? That, that had a multilingual readership or user base, which was the primary driver?

A Yeah, good question. It was, ah, for us, it was about reaching a much broader community around the world. I guess, you know, we, ah, as we were looking at, you know, what, what was going to unlock the next level of growth for us over the next few years, it was, um, it was very apparent that by being in English, we were, um, we were limited, um, you know, to, to kind of 20%, um, of, of, of the world, um, or 25% of the world, um, and so, uh, yeah, it was really, really about that, and, and, you know, the mission for Canberra all the way along is to being, Being to empower the whole world to design and so, um, being, being available, um, in all those countries and languages was a big part of that mission. Uh, number three, I guess, building on, uh, what we were sort of talking about with, uh, with social media, I guess, is just this idea of really focusing in on a niche, uh, or a niche. Apologies to my, um, Australian accent there, um, but really focusing on, Uh, you know, a specific use case. And so for us early on, that was, um, social media content. This is the very first version of Canva, which, uh, you'll notice looks a little bit, um, outdated these days. Uh, I guess going from, um, from social media to, you know, over, over time, we've really expanded the products. Um, you can now create anything from presentations, uh, print products, websites, infographics, uh, et cetera.…

AI assessment note: “for us, it was about reaching a much broader community around the world.”

Q And how many do you, how do you have different product marketing teams in these different geos and different GMs? How, if it's your team or otherwise, how do you, how do you divide that up at scale?

A Yeah, we've, I guess, definitely focused on, uh, one of the things that we, uh, can do globally, um, and really focused on that infrastructure. And I think that that's really been, um, you know, a key part of, Building the, the engine to, to localize content and, um, you know, make sure that the product's available. Um, and then we've definitely, um, you know, invested in, in sort of local teams, um, you know, as well, whether it's the team in, in the Philippines, um, have done an amazing job over the past, um, you know, 18 months of, of really focusing in on that market and, um, have, uh, have done, you know, a great amount in terms of, The education space and the small business and freelancer community there, um, you know, building, building that. In China, we've got a team on the ground as well, and, you know, other teams, um, you know, in different markets around, around the world as well. Yeah. Um, uh, I guess we, we have this, um, uh, little heuristic, uh, internally, which I really love as, as just a mental model, um, as well around this idea of, you know, uh, Uh, building, building and scaling, and we, we talk about, uh, these two axes, uh, of growth, uh, for Canva, you know, on, on one hand, it's, um, picking fruit and, you know, that's kind of, to use the analogy, that's like these sort of short-term optimizations or, or really leveraging, you know, what, what you've …

AI assessment note: “one of the things that we, uh, can do globally... invested in, in sort of local teams”