40 Minute Mentor

Episode 304

November 12, 2025

Duncan Clark on staying purpose-driven in a $42 billion company

Today’s 40 Minute Mentor is Duncan Clark, Head of EMEA at Canva, the world-leading visual-communication platform on a mission to empower the world to design.

Before joining Canva, Duncan co-founded Flourish, the data-storytelling platform used by newsrooms and organisations worldwide to bring data to life.

Duncan’s journey from data journalist at The Guardian to first-time founder, selling to Canva, and now leading EMEA, is packed with lessons on building sustainably, scaling with trust, and staying true to your mission.

“I’ve always valued independence. Keeping the team lean meant we could do whatever we wanted at any moment, and that freedom became our biggest strength.”

Duncan Clark

Tune in to discover

➡️ Duncan’s path into journalism [01:35]

➡️ First-time Founder lessons [10:00]

➡️ Scaling lean & staying profitable [17:10]

➡️ Selling to Canva & building Canva EMEA from scratch [18:45]

➡️ Culture & Leadership at scale [29:30]

➡️ Hiring for impact [35:00]

Listen on

Helpful links

🔍 Find out more:

✨ Connect with Duncan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theduncanclark?originalSubdomain=uk

✨ More about Canva: https://www.canva.com/

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