Over the past 7 years, Canva has enabled millions of people around the world to access one of the most powerful enablers in the world: design.

It has been amazing to see how something that a lot of us in this industry take for granted has been able to effect meaningful change in the hands of those who never had access to it. From people landing their first job, to others starting their own business, finding homes for orphaned children, and catching criminals – democratising design has allowed Canva to play a tiny part in the lives of a huge number of people, and our value has grown alongside it. Earlier this year we were valued at US$2.5 billion dollars, and counted some of Silicon Valley’s most well-renowned investors as our own.

Along the way, we’ve grown from 3 people to 600, cooked 100,000 meals, crashed a bus, had 7 marriage proposals, won the best place to work in Australia, bought a farm, and been in 3 ambulance rides. The most important thing that supports it all is our culture – a culture that supports the success of our customers, the growth of our staff, and our unique identity.

In this talk I’ll connect the dots from our very first days, through launching multiple products, and onwards to scaling a mass of teams all around the world, all while maintaining our heart.