Cameron Adams

In the last year, Canva redefined itself from the ground up. Co-founder and Chief Product Officer Cameron Adams joins Rapid Response live from the Cannes Lions festival to explain why the so-called SaaSpocalypse never kept him up at night, how Canva shifted from a design company to an AI company without losing what made it great, and why being only 1% of the way there is actually the most exciting place to be. Adams also shares the specific steps anyone can take to get real impact from AI tools rather than just falling down the rabbit hole, and makes the case that in a world of commoditized models, your organization's unfair advantage is the only thing that matters. Eager for more of Cam? Take a moment to listen and download his own podcast, Prompted! Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Cameron Adams

Co-founder and Chief Product Officer

Canva

Cameron Adams is Chief Product Officer and co-founder of Canva where he is responsible for heading up the design and product teams. Since launching in 2013, Canva's global community has grown to over 185 million monthly users in over 190 countries. In 2021, Canva was valued at $40 billion, following a $200m funding round. This saw it become one of the most valuable private software companies in the world. Prior to joining Canva, Cameron found himself working closely with Lars and Jens Rasmussen (co-founders of Google Maps) to realise the design vision for Google Wave. In Today's Episode with Cameron Adams: 1. From Accidental Joining to Most Valuable Private Company: How did Cameron go from working on Google wave with Lars Rasmussen to co-founding Canva with Mel and Cliff? What was the single closest near-death experience in the life of Canva? Why did Canva fail as a social network? What did Cameron learn from that? 2. How to Create Users that Truly Love Your Products: What have been Canva's biggest lessons on what it takes to do world class onboarding? What is Cameron biggest advice to founders on how to create moments of delight in your product? Is simplicity always best in product? What, when made more complex, is better for the user? 3. Scaling Canva into the Enterprise: What are the biggest product changes that are required to move into enterprise? What does Cam know about moving up market that he wishes he had known when he started? What are the biggest product and design mistakes founders make when making the transition from PLG to enterprise sales? 4. AI Changes Everything: More Money or Better Products Only Who will win the foundation model layer landscape? What will it be in 10 years? Will companies actually make more revenue from having AI in products or will it just create better products? How does Canva's implementation of AI in their products impact the margins of their products?

Cameron Adams

Co-founder and Chief Product Officer

Canva

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. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Cameron Adams

Co-founder and Chief Product Officer

Canva

Introducing Building One, a new show from LinkedIn chief product officer Tomer Cohen. Canva co-founder and chief product officer Cameron Adams is the first guest, and in this episode shares his story of how he built his career and eventually Canva. Ahead of this episode, Cohen introduces the show via a brief interview with Alex Kantrowitz. If you like the show, you can subscribe on your podcast app of choice. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. For weekly updates on the show, sign up for the pod newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6901970121829801984/ Questions? Feedback? Write to: bigtechnologypodcast@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cameron Adams

Co-founder and Chief Product Officer

Canva