Mel's $26Billion design tool

Hey - It’s Farzan & Guy,

We've been writing this newsletter for a few years now, figuring things out along the way. This weekend, we hit 1,000 subscribers with a cracking open rate, and we're bloody thrilled. The first 1K is a grind, but we made it, and we're stoked to be part of your Sunday routine. Big thanks to all of you for being here!🙏

Estimated reading time:  8 mins

In the mail today :

1. Founder story: Ariannes 7 figure dog business \🐶

2. Founder story: Lesser Evil, the $100M snack business 👿

3. Founder playbook: The $26B story of Mel and Canva 👨🏻‍🎤

4. Founder advice: Naval and his advice on getting wealthy 🤯

5. Founder $50: Win US$50 by leaving us a testimonial 🙏

Founder story

See how Arianne grew Bell & Bone to 7 figures in revenue selling Australian-made dog dental sticks.

A few notes about Arianne and Bell & Bone:

🏠 Based in Melbourne, Australia
📅 Started in 2018
🚀 Bootstrapped to 7-figure revenue
👥 A team of 3 employees

5 takeaways from Arianne’s story:

👉 Trust your instincts: Arianne built Bell & Bone around her passion for animals and her values of honesty and transparency.
👉 Persistence pays off: She fought hard to secure a manufacturer and a major retailer to launch her dental sticks.
👉 Think beyond the obvious: Arianne used unconventional influencers, like puppy school trainers and pet store staff, to promote her brand.
👉 Stay true to your strategy: Straying from her core strategy during her maternity leave taught Arianne the value of authenticity.
👉 Continuous innovation: Arianne is constantly looking for new ways to innovate in the pet care space, such as launching puppy dental chews and planning new unique products.

Arianne turned her love for dogs into a cracking business. Have a read of the full story.

Founder story

See how Charles bought a failing snack company for $250K — Now It brings in $103M a year

Wall Street veteran Charles Coristine bought LesserEvil, a struggling snack company, in 2011. Now, the company is profitable and known for its coconut oil popcorn, making $103 million in gross sales in 2023. Here’s how Coristine is turning LesserEvil into a well-known brand.

Founder playbook

How Melanie Perkins Overcame rejections to build the $26B design-tech giant, Canva

(founder playbooks are the strategies used by successful founders).

A few notes about Melanie Perkins and Canva:

🌟 Co-founded by Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams in 2013
🌏 Based in Sydney, Australia
💰 Valued at $26 billion (2024)
👥 Over 170 million users
📈 $2.3 billion in annual revenue (2024)

Top 5 takeaways from Melanie Perkins' journey with Canva:

👉 Persistence pays off: Overcame numerous investor rejections by refining her approach.
👉 Prove the concept: Fusion Books validated the idea and generated early revenue.
👉 Network strategically: Built crucial relationships with key investors to secure funding.
👉 Build a strong team: Added Cameron Adams as a co-founder for technical strength.
👉 Keep evolving: Constantly innovating with features like video editing and AI tools.

Perkins' journey with Canva highlights resilience, smart networking, and continuous innovation.

Founder advice

Naval and his advice on getting wealthy

Naval Ravikant discusses true wealth and how to achieve it without harming others' happiness on Joe Rogan's podcast. These 5 mins are bloody empowering for those who want to stop renting out their time for a wage.

Founderoo feedback

Win US$50 by giving Founderoo a cracking testimonial. 💪

Lots of testimonials are boring and we want cracking ones. Your testimonial for Founderoo can be funny, it can be in a wild location or it can be just downright crazy.

The wildest video testimonial wins US$50 and the wildest written testimonial for those shy on camera wins US20. One winner for each. We will run this for one more week to get a winner.

(By leaving us a testimonial you’re permitting us to use it in our marketing of the newsletter.)

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See you next Sunday.

Guy + Farzan
Founderoo