// STARTUP COMPARISON
Canva (early near-death) vs Carillion
Canva (early near-death) failed in 2013 due to Ran Out of Money. Carillion failed in 2018 due to Unit Economics. Different causes, different sectors, different eras — but the same simulation outcome.
| METRIC | 🔥 Canva (early near-death) | 🔥 Carillion |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | SaaS | SaaS |
| Country | Australia | UK |
| Founded | 2012 | 1999 |
| Died | 2013 | 2018 |
| Raised | $3M (seed) | Public company |
| Peak | $40B valuation (2021) | £5.2B revenue · 43,000 employees |
| Primary Cause | Ran Out of Money | Unit Economics |
// 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.
🔥 Carillion
Unit Economics
Carillion was the UK's second-largest construction and services company with £5.2B revenue and thousands of government contracts. It carried £1.5B in pension deficits and £900M in debt. Three profit warnings in 2017 exposed structural insolvency. It entered compulsory liquidation in January 2018 — the largest ever UK trading liquidation — leaving 43,000 employees and thousands of subcontractors unpaid.
// LESSON
Revenue is not solvency. A company with £5.2B in revenue and £2.4B in combined pension and debt obligations is not viable — it is a zombie awaiting a trigger event.
Revenue is not solvency. A company with £5.2B in revenue and £2.4B in combined pension and debt obligations is not viable — it is a zombie awaiting a trigger event.
// EXPLORE FURTHER