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# Lessons from Cliff Obrecht
- URL: https://www.antoinebuteau.com/lessons-from-cliff-obrecht/
- Published: 2025-09-13T17:25:54.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-06T14:30:14.000Z
- Description: Cliff Obrecht, co-founder and COO of Canva, focuses on entrepreneurship and the work of building a business. His perspective directs attention to a practical question: what entrepreneurship demands as a company is built from its earliest stages.
- Author: Antoine Buteau
- Tags: Profile, Operations, Tech Entrepreneurs & Founders Profiles

Cliff Obrecht is the co-founder and COO of Canva. — [UWA Interview](https://www.uwa.edu.au/news/article/2022/november/canvas-cliff-obrecht-talks-start-ups?ref=antoinebuteau.com).

![Infographic for "Lessons from Cliff Obrecht".](https://www.antoinebuteau.com/content/images/2026/07/lessons-from-cliff-obrecht-optimized.webp)

## On Entrepreneurship and Building a Business

1. **Give the idea a shot:** Obrecht urges prospective founders to try rather than later wonder what might have happened. — [UWA Interview](https://www.uwa.edu.au/news/article/2022/november/canvas-cliff-obrecht-talks-start-ups?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
2. **Make design accessible:** Canva grew from the founders’ belief that design tools could be simpler, more affordable and more widely usable. — [UWA Interview](https://www.uwa.edu.au/news/article/2022/november/canvas-cliff-obrecht-talks-start-ups?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
3. **Persist with a viable idea:** After repeated investor rejections, Obrecht emphasized persistence while adding that a founder still needs a credible idea. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
4. **Play the long game with integrity:** Obrecht treats business relationships as a long game: tell the truth, honor commitments and leave rejected candidates with a good impression. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
5. **Start with a narrow problem:** Canva first served people with an acute design need, then expanded to adjacent users rather than trying to serve everyone at launch. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
6. **Allow creative speed with direction:** Obrecht says a little organizational chaos can accompany speed and creativity, but it still needs a clear vision and someone steering it. — [Social Champ Interview](https://www.socialchamp.com/blog/cliff-obrecht-interview/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
7. **Choose talent over fashionable geography:** Obrecht said an online business need not move to Silicon Valley when it can access strong product and marketing talent elsewhere. — [Social Champ Interview](https://www.socialchamp.com/blog/cliff-obrecht-interview/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
8. **Let naivety prompt action:** Obrecht says not anticipating every difficulty helped him and Perkins tackle fundraising despite being outsiders to Silicon Valley. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).

## On Hiring and Team Building

1. **Look at distance traveled:** Obrecht values candidates who have developed skills and overcome obstacles from nontraditional starting points, not only prestigious credentials. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
2. **Do not outsource judgment to prestige:** Obrecht says imposter syndrome led Canva to overvalue impressive résumés and make poor hires; founders should test fit and trust their own informed judgment. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
3. **Develop internal talent:** Canva promoted a former contract content writer to CMO and a former executive assistant to head of people while also bringing in outside expertise. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
4. **Leave rejected candidates on good terms:** Obrecht says respectful treatment after a declined offer can preserve a relationship and sometimes lead a candidate back later. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).

## On Leadership and Personal Growth

1. **Lead with honest coaching:** Obrecht describes moving from merely modeling hard work to giving frank, transparent feedback and coaching people through expectations. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
2. **Make performance sustainable:** Obrecht says his earlier work-hard-play-hard approach became unsustainable, and he came to value sleep and exercise. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
3. **Keep learning:** Obrecht associates strong performers with curiosity and an awareness that they do not know everything. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).

## On Philanthropy and Wealth

1. **Let firsthand experience broaden perspective:** Obrecht says travel exposed him to inequality and helped shape his motivation to give; this is his personal account, not a general causal claim. — [StartGiving Interview](https://startgiving.com/insights/cliff-obrecht-on-how-to-give-thoughtfully/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
2. **Protect children’s earned accomplishment:** Obrecht worries that leaving excessive wealth to his children could diminish their opportunity to build their own sense of accomplishment; this is his view, not clinical evidence. — [StartGiving Interview](https://startgiving.com/insights/cliff-obrecht-on-how-to-give-thoughtfully/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
3. **Start giving, then learn:** Obrecht says taking an initial step in philanthropy is hard but lets donors learn which projects are effective and important to them. — [StartGiving Interview](https://startgiving.com/insights/cliff-obrecht-on-how-to-give-thoughtfully/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
4. **Use a small giving commitment to begin:** Obrecht describes Pledge 1% as a practical forcing function that helped Canva start giving and learn from experience. — [StartGiving Interview](https://startgiving.com/insights/cliff-obrecht-on-how-to-give-thoughtfully/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
5. **Define abundance beyond price:** Obrecht says he felt fortunate even before Canva’s valuation grew, citing inexpensive preferences and the ability to travel as examples. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).

## Additional Quotes and Learnings

1. **Protect non-work time with a cofounder partner:** Obrecht says he and Perkins try to set aside times without work talk, though the boundary is imperfect and requires deliberate recharge. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
2. **Align goals openly in deals:** Obrecht prefers stating Canva’s objectives and valuation logic early in acquisition talks, then looking for a genuine fit with the other side’s goals. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
3. **Honor your word without discarding contracts:** Obrecht says commitments should be trustworthy, while explicitly acknowledging that term sheets and legal documents still matter. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
4. **Use discoverable content as a growth channel:** Obrecht says Canva used SEO to make its design content discoverable and bring searchers to the product. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
5. **Make the free product worth sharing:** Obrecht credits Canva’s free, polished initial product and its users as part of its early growth strategy. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
6. **Align paid pricing with use:** Obrecht describes charging teams for active seats so payment tracks actual customer use; the recording does not establish a universal paid-versus-free rule. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
7. **Give access to educators:** Obrecht describes free Canva access for schools as part of the company’s education focus; Canva also documents its free education and nonprofit programs. — [UWA Interview](https://www.uwa.edu.au/news/article/2022/november/canvas-cliff-obrecht-talks-start-ups?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
8. **Apply teaching experience to a concrete need:** Obrecht’s education background and Perkins’s design teaching helped the founders recognize how hard school design tasks were and start with yearbooks. — [UWA Interview](https://www.uwa.edu.au/news/article/2022/november/canvas-cliff-obrecht-talks-start-ups?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
9. **Notice how upbringing shapes values:** Obrecht connects his modest but comfortable upbringing with his views on money, experiences and giving. — [StartGiving Interview](https://startgiving.com/insights/cliff-obrecht-on-how-to-give-thoughtfully/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
10. **Learn by giving:** Obrecht says early philanthropic projects produced mistakes and lessons that helped him and Perkins refine their priorities. — [StartGiving Interview](https://startgiving.com/insights/cliff-obrecht-on-how-to-give-thoughtfully/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
11. **Work with capable giving partners:** Obrecht says strong partner organizations let Canva pursue philanthropy while learning from their specialized capabilities. — [StartGiving Interview](https://startgiving.com/insights/cliff-obrecht-on-how-to-give-thoughtfully/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
12. **Pair enterprise ambition with a social mission:** Canva states a two-step plan: build a valuable company and use its resources to do as much good as it can; this is the company’s aspiration, not proof of final impact. — [Canva Two-Step Plan](https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/step-two-impact/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
13. **Build from outside a traditional hub:** Obrecht says Australia’s startup environment had improved and encourages founders in Perth to try building there. — [UWA Interview](https://www.uwa.edu.au/news/article/2022/november/canvas-cliff-obrecht-talks-start-ups?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
14. **Use a focused first product as proof:** Fusion Books let Obrecht and Perkins test collaborative design in yearbooks before broadening the concept into Canva. — [UWA Interview](https://www.uwa.edu.au/news/article/2022/november/canvas-cliff-obrecht-talks-start-ups?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
15. **Mix homegrown and outside talent:** Obrecht values people developed inside Canva while also recruiting experienced outsiders to complement them. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
16. **Make expectations discussable:** Obrecht says frank explanations and coaching help colleagues understand what to improve instead of assuming expectations are obvious. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
17. **Listen to users before refining resources:** Canva says it regularly connects with education and nonprofit users to better understand their needs and improve supporting tools; this is a company practice, not a verified personal quotation. — [Canva Two-Step Plan](https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/step-two-impact/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
18. **Adapt feedback to the receiver:** Obrecht says straightforward feedback may need to be delivered differently to people with different communication styles. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
19. **Coach with specific examples:** Obrecht favors concrete, candid feedback on what someone did and how they might approach it differently. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).
20. **Make launch quality deliberate:** Obrecht recalls Perkins resisting pressure to launch immediately so Canva could debut a product users would enjoy and share. — [20VC Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com).

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Learn more:

1. [Cliff Obrecht talks Canva, start-ups and the road to success - The University of Western Australia](https://www.uwa.edu.au/news/article/2022/november/canvas-cliff-obrecht-talks-start-ups?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
2. [Canva's Cliff Obrecht: How We Turned Our Yearbook Company to $40B Business | 20VC #971](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE&ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. [Cliff Obrecht Interview on Marketing Strategies — Social Champ](https://www.socialchamp.com/blog/cliff-obrecht-interview/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
4. [Cliff Obrecht on how to give thoughtfully - StartGiving](https://startgiving.com/insights/cliff-obrecht-on-how-to-give-thoughtfully/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
5. [Canva’s Two-Step Plan: Celebrating 10 Years of Impact — Canva Newsroom](https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/step-two-impact/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)