// STARTUP COMPARISON
Canva (early near-death) vs Hopin
Canva (early near-death) failed in 2013 due to Ran Out of Money. Hopin failed in 2023 due to Bad Timing. Different causes, different sectors, different eras — but the same simulation outcome.
| METRIC | 🔥 Canva (early near-death) | 🔥 Hopin |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | SaaS | SaaS |
| Country | Australia | USA |
| Founded | 2012 | 2019 |
| Died | 2013 | 2023 |
| Raised | $3M (seed) | $1B |
| Peak | $40B valuation (2021) | $7.75B valuation |
| Primary Cause | Ran Out of Money | Bad Timing |
// WHY EACH FAILED
🔥 Canva (early near-death)
Ran Out of Money
Canva, now one of the world's most valuable SaaS companies at $40B, nearly shut down in 2013 after Melanie Perkins received over 100 investor rejections. The company had $3M in seed funding but could not raise a Series A for months. Key hires were contingent on funding. Canva survived because Perkins refused to give up and eventually secured investment through a connection at a Silicon Valley event. The near-death experience defined Canva's capital efficiency culture.
// LESSON
The near-death experience is part of almost every great company's origin. What separates survivors from failures is not talent or idea quality — it is founder persistence past the point where rational actors would have quit.
The near-death experience is part of almost every great company's origin. What separates survivors from failures is not talent or idea quality — it is founder persistence past the point where rational actors would have quit.
🔥 Hopin
Bad Timing
Hopin, a virtual events platform, raised $1B and reached $7.75B valuation during COVID when all events moved online. When in-person events returned in 2022, Hopin's core use case evaporated. The company sold its Events product to RingCentral in 2023 for approximately $15M — a 99.8% value destruction from its $7.75B peak. The founding CEO had already stepped down.
// LESSON
COVID-only use cases have COVID-only valuations. Hopin's $7.75B was pricing in a world where in-person events never returned. When building during a macro event, model the post-event scenario before setting valuation. A product that only works during a pandemic has a pandemic-length runway.
COVID-only use cases have COVID-only valuations. Hopin's $7.75B was pricing in a world where in-person events never returned. When building during a macro event, model the post-event scenario before setting valuation. A product that only works during a pandemic has a pandemic-length runway.
// EXPLORE FURTHER