PLAYING TO WIN

How three Aussie founders built Canva, a $42 billion software business, by being relentless on Al—and ruthless about hiring.

- JENNIFER CONRAD

DESIGNING SUCCESS Canva co-founders Cliff Obrecht, Cameron Adams, and Melanie Perkins.

Rob Giglio says his Canva Challenge was the most fun he’s ever had during a job interview. Every potential hire goes through the exercise. Giglio, who was interviewing to become Canva’s chief customer officer, was asked to pitch a plan for how the company could reach $1 billion in B2B sales.

Giglio presented his plan with a slide show created in Canva, naturally—a platform with an aesthetic that leans heavily on a gradient palette of purple and turquoise, with a liberal use of emoji and clip art.

For 90 minutes, senior leadership grilled Giglio on his work, a process he relished. “It caused me to think about whether I thought Canva could do what they wanted to do,” adds Giglio, who previously held senior roles at Adobe, HubSpot, and Docusign. “If I didn’t think they could, it probably would’ve self-selected me out of the process.”

Canva, the Sydney, Australia-based design platform helmed by 38-year-old co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins, has no shortage of people who want to work there. With its web-native interface and AI-driven design and coding, Canva is steadily pecking away at other software firms’ dominance. Since its launch in 2013, the company has grown to more than 5,000 employees and offices in eight countries. In August, an employee stock sale valued the company at $42 billion, sparking buzz that it is preparing for an IPO.