Melanie Perkins is now the world's most successful female founder....
Big Brain Business@BigBrainBizness
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Jan 04, 2026
~2 min read
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Melanie Perkins is now the world's most successful female founder.
240M users. $42 BILLION. That's Canva today.
But for 3 years, she battled 100+ soul-crushing VC rejections.
Until ONE change made VCs desperate to fund her.
Her Three-Act pitching framework:
240M users. $42 BILLION. That's Canva today.
But for 3 years, she battled 100+ soul-crushing VC rejections.
Until ONE change made VCs desperate to fund her.
Her Three-Act pitching framework:
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In 2011, Melanie Perkins and her husband, Cliff Obrecht, set out to make design easy and accessible to everyone.
Fast forward to today:
Canva has 240+ million users around the world.
Yet for 3 years, not a single investor believed in her vision...
Fast forward to today:
Canva has 240+ million users around the world.
Yet for 3 years, not a single investor believed in her vision...
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More than 100 VCs rejected Perkins:
• "We see $8 million as the cap"
• "Australia is too far from San Francisco"
• "Why would non-designers want a design product?"
They even called her marriage to her co-founder "risky".
But then she realised the mistake she was making...
• "We see $8 million as the cap"
• "Australia is too far from San Francisco"
• "Why would non-designers want a design product?"
They even called her marriage to her co-founder "risky".
But then she realised the mistake she was making...
0:59
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Perkins was pitching. Not storytelling.
She would pitch Canva's features and benefits to VCs, but neglect to take them on a journey from problem to solution.
The "no's" turned into "yes's" once she adopted this storytelling framework by Syd Field ↓
She would pitch Canva's features and benefits to VCs, but neglect to take them on a journey from problem to solution.
The "no's" turned into "yes's" once she adopted this storytelling framework by Syd Field ↓
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The Three-Act Storytelling Framework is a foundational model for storytelling.
It has 3 stages:
The Setup, The Confrontation, and The Resolution.
Each stage deepens an audience's investment into the outcome.
Here's how Perkins used it to transform her Canva pitch:
It has 3 stages:
The Setup, The Confrontation, and The Resolution.
Each stage deepens an audience's investment into the outcome.
Here's how Perkins used it to transform her Canva pitch:
0:23
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Act 1: The Setup
→ Introduce your character and the conflict.
For Perkins, this meant describing her students' frustrations with Adobe Photoshop.
"Most people can relate to being overwhelmed by Photoshop," Perkins said.
Once she made VCs "feel" the pain, she did this:
→ Introduce your character and the conflict.
For Perkins, this meant describing her students' frustrations with Adobe Photoshop.
"Most people can relate to being overwhelmed by Photoshop," Perkins said.
Once she made VCs "feel" the pain, she did this:
1:05
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Act 2: The Confrontation
→ Present the challenges your character faces and raise the stakes.
Perkins highlighted the struggles non-designers faced, the cost of this, and the massive gap it left for a tool like Canva.
When the stakes were high, she presented her solution ↓
→ Present the challenges your character faces and raise the stakes.
Perkins highlighted the struggles non-designers faced, the cost of this, and the massive gap it left for a tool like Canva.
When the stakes were high, she presented her solution ↓
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Act 3: The Resolution
→ Reveal your solution and its impact.
Perkins showed how Canva could make design accessible to everyone.
"Once we changed the way we told our story, it was transformative," Perkins admitted.
Within a year, everything changed ↓
→ Reveal your solution and its impact.
Perkins showed how Canva could make design accessible to everyone.
"Once we changed the way we told our story, it was transformative," Perkins admitted.
Within a year, everything changed ↓
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By 2013, Perkins finally persuaded her first investor:
Prominent Silicon Valley VC, Bill Tai.
He led Canva's $3 million seed round, proving the right story unlocks the right investors.
From then on, the floodgates opened...
Prominent Silicon Valley VC, Bill Tai.
He led Canva's $3 million seed round, proving the right story unlocks the right investors.
From then on, the floodgates opened...
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Come 2018, Canva was Australia's first ever tech unicorn.
Today, Canva is worth over $42 billion with 240+ million monthly users.
All because Melanie changed how she told her story.
So if you're a founder struggling to raise capital, try this ↓
Today, Canva is worth over $42 billion with 240+ million monthly users.
All because Melanie changed how she told her story.
So if you're a founder struggling to raise capital, try this ↓
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Change *how* you tell your story.
Stop: leading with features and benefits.
Start: describing a journey from problem to solution.
It was only when Perkins used this Three-Act Storytelling Framework that VCs understood Canva's hidden potential.
Stop: leading with features and benefits.
Start: describing a journey from problem to solution.
It was only when Perkins used this Three-Act Storytelling Framework that VCs understood Canva's hidden potential.
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