In 2007, Melanie Perkins, who was 19 and in college at the time, was teaching design software to her peers and found there were several major problems with the current systems. She found that the software of the time was very complicated to learn, as well as expensive to purchase and use, thus Perkins set out to create an affordable and easy to use software – Canva.

Like most start-ups, Canva did not gain much traction at first. It took Perkins over 100 tries and many unsuccessful trips to Silicon Valley to finally find her first investor which got her start-up off the ground. This took her about three years to accomplish. She believes the change in support came from her shift in pitching strategy, which was to focus more on leading with the relatable problems Canva aims to solve.  After acquiring her first investment however, Canva took off rather quickly as a business – which officially launched in 2013. Canva gives users the opportunity to create beautifully designed resumes, posters, presentations, invites, and more for little to no costs with easy to access tools. Canva has become a widely used and desired platform to this day and has made enough money to not only continue thriving, but to allow Perkins to give back through donations to a charity devoted to ending poverty.

Through her dedication and motivation, Melanie Perkins was able to turn her idea into a massive success story. She did not falter when her idea was cast aside but rather continued to pursue it in the hopes of providing the community of designers with a powerful tool. Perkins’ story speaks to the need for persistence and resilience in the realm of entrepreneurship, as well as the importance of effective communication and pitching strategies.