Inside Canva: Coaches not managers, giving away your Legos, and running profitably | Cameron Adams (co-founder and CPO)

Cameron Adams is the co-founder and chief product officer of Canva. Canva is one of the world’s most valuable private software companies, used by 95% of Fortune 500 companies. Since its launch in 2013, Canva has grown to over 150 million monthly users in more than 190 countries, generating $2.3 billion in annual revenue. Prior to Canva, Cameron ran a design consultancy, worked at Google on Google Wave, and founded the email startup Fluent. He is also an author of five web design books and a regular speaker at global conferences. In our conversation, we discuss:• Why they spent a year building their minimum viable product (MVP) before launch• Why Canva has no managers, and their unique approach to coaching and performance reviews• Why they encourage employees to “give away their Legos”• Insights into Canva’s SEO growth strategy• Their three-pillar framework for integrating AI into their product• Stories from the early days—Brought to you by:• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs• Attio—The powerful, flexible CRM for fast-growing startups• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-canva-with-cameron-adams—Where to find Cameron Adams:• X: https://twitter.com/themaninblue• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themaninblue• Website: https://themaninblue.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Cameron’s background(02:00) Reflecting on the success of Canva(04:50) Reflecting on hard times(10:01) Canva’s product-obsessed culture(12:02) Why they prioritize internal promotions and hires(13:56) What makes Canva unique(16:31) The concept of giving away your Legos(21:44) Why Canva has no managers(24:29) Product management at Canva(27:56) Reflections on working with a married couple(30:37) Why they spent a year building their MVP before launch(33:49) Advice for building an MVP(41:23) Canva’s onboarding transformation(44:25) Canva’s SEO strategy(50:37) The success of Canva’s freemium strategy(54:24) Integrating AI into Canva’s product(01:01:50) Where to find Cameron—Referenced:• Canva: https://www.canva.com/• Melanie Perkins on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanieperkins• Cliff Obrecht on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cliff-obrecht-79ba9920• Jennie Rogerson, Head of People, LinkedIn post about “season opener” events: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jennierogerson_season-opener-is-one-of-my-favourite-events-activity-7006815614556135424-73bD/• Game of Thrones on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones• Woodstock: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodstock• ‘Give Away Your Legos’ and Other Commandments for Scaling Startups: https://review.firstround.com/give-away-your-legos-and-other-commandments-for-scaling-startups/• Minimum viable product (MVP): https://www.productboard.com/glossary/minimum-viable-product-mvp• Canva’s SEO Strategy Is Elite: https://thegrowthplaybook.substack.com/p/canvas-seo-strategy-is-elite• The SEO Strategy That Led Canva to a $40 Billion Valuation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INyGKt6LAqM• Andrianes Pinantoan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrianes/• Canva Create: https://www.canva.com/canva-create/—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe