Zach Kitschke joined Canva as employee number five. Today, the company serves hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

In this episode, Zach shares the inside story of Canva’s growth, from the scrappy early marketing that put the company on the map to scaling a brand and product used across the world. We discuss the power of Canva’s freemium model, their bold “Make the Logo Bigger” campaign, and how the company approaches both brand and B2B marketing.

Zach also explains how Canva scaled from a team of five to thousands of employees, the leadership lessons he learned from the founders, and how AI is shaping the next chapter for the business.

Sign up to our live event, The Calling, on April 21st here:
https://event.uncensoredcmo.com/events/uncensoredcmo/2044861

Subscribe to our newsletter, The One Thing:
https://newsletter.uncensoredcmo.com/

Listen to our new podcast, Uncensored Renegades:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/uncensored-renegades/id1868870960
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7qnkqq0XSpgif9A5ZNgSpX?si=f181c3a0e9af480c

Timestamps

00:00 - Start
00:53 - Being employee #5 at Canva
01:46 - The marketing that got Canva noticed at the start
03:50 - How big is Canva?
04:45 - The challenges growing Canva into a unicorn
07:26 - What makes good design according to Canva
09:24 - The freemium business model
11:46 - Why the Canva founders are giving away 30% of their wealth
13:21 - Do Canva invest more in product or brand?
14:41 - Canva’s make the logo bigger campaign
16:33 - How Canva approaches B2B marketing
18:59 - The AI tools that are driving Canva forward
22:19 - The most innovative things Zach has done as Canva CMO
24:58 - Zach’s tips for delivering a keynote
26:59 - Being a CMO scaling from 5 to 5000 employees
29:52 - How to run multiple business functions; HR, marketing, customer service
31:49 - What Zach has learned from the Canva founders
33:32 - How to define the cuture at Canva
35:39 - What’s next for Canva?
36:35 - What has made Canva so successul?

Every week, Jon and Kory pull back the curtain on the messy, unfiltered reality of building a career on your own terms. Throughout their long and successful careers, they've had their fair share of sh*tty moments and even sh*ttier bosses. From Kory being literally barked orders at in her first job, to Jon being fired after just 3 months at his dream job. These are the moments that make you question everything. But they're also the moments that shape you. Tune in for the lessons, the laughs, and zero sugarcoating.

Get Uncensored Renegades every week:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/uncensored-renegades/id1868870960
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7qnkqq0XSpgif9A5ZNgSpX?si=f181c3a0e9af480c

Watch the Uncensored CMO episode with James Watt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOp1CPZ0CNM

Timestamps

00:00 - Start
00:37 - Why sh*tty moments?
01:24 - Kory moment #1 - the fire that fuels you
04:20 - How to be a good boss
05:43 - Jon moment #1 - when to have the hard conversations
11:13 - Kory moment #2 - a lesson in de-escalation
16:28 - Jon moment #2 - impossible and unreasonable expectations
20:59 - Kory moment #3 - be careful of the bridges you burn
25:51 - Jon moment #3 - the power of being vulnerable

Jessica Jensen, CMO of LinkedIn, joins us for a high-energy conversation on careers, personal branding, and the future of B2B marketing.

We dive into the latest job market data (it might surprise you), the skills employers are actively looking for, and how to grow your personal profile on LinkedIn (which could include posting with flamingo glasses). We also unpack the LinkedIn algorithm, handling negative comments, new features creators and brands should be using, and why B2B marketing absolutely doesn’t have to be boring.

Sign up to our live event, The Calling, on April 21st here:
https://event.uncensoredcmo.com/events/uncensoredcmo/2044861

Subscribe to our newsletter, The One Thing:
https://newsletter.uncensoredcmo.com/

Listen to our new podcast, Uncensored Renegades:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/uncensored-renegades/id1868870960
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7qnkqq0XSpgif9A5ZNgSpX?si=f181c3a0e9af480c

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
01:04 - Jessica Jensen’s backstory
02:02 - The benefits of being a marketer from a non-marketing background
02:42 - The difference between B2B and B2C according to LinkedIn
03:38 - How to build high-performing teams
06:32 - The data on the job market according to LinkedIn
10:02 - What skills are employers looking for?
12:04 - How do you build a personal brand on LinkedIn (when working for another company)
18:25 - 3 tips for building your personal brand on LinkedIn
20:04 - What is going on with the LinkedIn algorithm?
21:35 - How to make the most of an ever changing algorithm
23:16 - Does LinkedIn suppress posts based on gender?
26:14 - How to deal with negative comments on LinkedIn
28:00 - What new LinkedIn features should people be using?
30:48 - What features can brands use to make the most of LinkedIn
32:19 - B2B does not have to be boring
35:02 - LinkedIn’s billboards poking fun at AI
36:21 - How are LinkedIn marketing LinkedIn?
41:12 - How are LinkedIn helping younger people get into work
43:28 - Addressing the Open to Work badge stigma
44:17 - Advice to creators on LinkedIn

How are great products created through innovation? Jon and Kory tackle this topic bringing entertaining examples from their careers, including the runaway success of e.l.f.'s Power Grip primer. So what's the key to innovation? Culture, constraints, and most importantly, being close to your customer.

Get Uncensored Renegades every week:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/uncensored-renegades/id1868870960
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7qnkqq0XSpgif9A5ZNgSpX?si=f181c3a0e9af480c

Timestamps

00:00 - Start
01:04 - Why innovation is Jon’s favourite marketing topic
01:35 - Creating the cultural conditions necessary for innovation
04:25 - The measuring stick for innovation
06:23 - Why innovation fails
08:19 - The innovation of e.l.f.’s Power Grip Primer
15:09 - How constraint breeds innovation
20:07 - Innovation when you’re close to your customer

Jim Cregan built Jimmy’s Iced Coffee from scratch, spotting an untapped market, designing a product that stood out, and making its way onto the shelves of Selfridges in just 4 months.

In this episode, Jim shares the founding story, the thinking behind Jimmy’s distinctive “BottleCan” packaging, and how personal touches and relentless energy helped build a brand people loved. We also dive into retail strategy, going direct-to-consumer, treating suppliers as humans, and how the £25m exit to Britvic finally came together.

Sign up to our live event, The Calling, on April 21st here:
https://event.uncensoredcmo.com/events/uncensoredcmo/2044861

00:00 - Start
00:59 - The founding story of Jimmy’s Iced Coffee
06:04 - The iced coffee market at the time
09:44 - How Jimmy designed and packaged the product
12:21 - Why Jimmy’s is in “Cottles” or “BottleCans”
19:56 - How Jimmy’s got into Selfridges 4 months after launching
20:50 - Hustling their way into Whole Foods and other stores
26:58 - How Jimmy’s got a listing in Tesco
28:05 - Treating suppliers like humans
31:15 - Choosing to go Direct to Consumer in addition to retail
32:53 - Adding the personal details that matter
34:20 - How Jim marketed Jimmy’s Iced Coffee
39:39 - Jim’s advice to aspiring founders
41:57 - How the £25m exit to Britvic happened

How do you distil something as complex as marketing into something simple?

In this special episode of Uncensored Renegades, Kory delivers a powerful seven-minute poem (originally written as a pattern-disrupting acceptance speech) that captures the emotional weight, pressure, and responsibility of modern marketing leadership.

Born from a flash of inspiration at an AC/DC concert, the poem explores the trials of being a CMO, the burden of accountability, and the mental fortitude required to lead.

After the performance, Jon reacts candidly, unpacking the themes of ownership, bravery, and the uncomfortable truth that in leadership, pretty much everything is down to you.

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/uncensored-renegades/id1868870960
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7qnkqq0XSpgif9A5ZNgSpX?si=f181c3a0e9af480c

Timestamps

00:00 - Start
00:28 - Why marketing is poetry to Kory
02:25 - Where did Kory’s love for poetry start?
03:58 - How poetry makes complex things simple
04:56 - Why Kory wrote a poem and not an acceptance speech
12:29 - Kory Marchisotto’s marketing poem
19:43 - Jon reacts to Kory’s poem
21:04 - The power of mental fortitude
24:34 - Pretty much everything is down to you, and you alone
26:45 - You don’t have to have all the answers
28:05 - Seek out what you don’t know

Thomas Barta is one of the world’s leading experts on marketing leadership. A former McKinsey partner, CEO of the Marketing Leadership Institute, and co-author of The 12 Powers of a Marketing Leader, Thomas has studied what makes CMOs successful through the largest global research project of its kind, over 68,000 leadership assessments.

In this episode, we explore what CEOs really expect from CMOs, why so few marketers make it to the boardroom, and what needs to change if marketing is to lead growth again. Thomas shares practical tactics for building stronger CFO relationships, acting with more bravery, and avoiding the “safe” behaviours that quietly kill careers. A must-listen for any marketer serious about leadership.

Sign up to our live event, The Calling, on April 21st here:
https://event.uncensoredcmo.com/events/uncensoredcmo/2044861

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
00:43 - How Thomas Barta got into marketing
02:24 - The surprising thing about marketing at the board level
03:52 - What is the CEO looking for a CMO to deliver
04:41 - Why are there so few marketers in the boardroom
08:38 - What tactics should marketers use to make sure they are delivering growth
11:20 - How can CMOs build the relationship with their CFO
12:53 - CMO Tenure - is it going up or down?
18:59 - What do CMOs need to change?
21:13 - Fitting in is the safest way to fail
28:11 - The bravery formula
29:48 - Why you need to act quickly
31:07 - Confessions of a CMO

With Cannes Lions deadlines looming, Jon and Kory dive into what it really takes to pitch, and win, at Cannes.

We recorded this episode on the final day of Cannes 2025, with Kory in the thick of e.l.f’s "So Many D*cks" campaign submission for both a Glass and Titanium Lion. With the experience fresh in her mind, she breaks down the realities of the process.

Jon brings a different perspective, reflecting on his own Bronze and Silver Lion wins from years past, and the hard-earned lessons that came with them.

This is an episode of the Uncensored Renegades podcast. We'll only be posting a few more episodes of Renegades on this feed. To hear episodes of this new show, subscribe in your podcast app of choice:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/uncensored-renegades/id1868870960
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7qnkqq0XSpgif9A5ZNgSpX?si=f181c3a0e9af480c

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro

00:49 - The pitching process for a Cannes Lion

03:14 - The pitch process for a Glass Lion

06:51 - The power of the Pratfall Effect

08:39 - Pitching for a Titanium Lion

10:41 - Jon’s tips from winning his Silver and Bronze Lions

12:17 - Audience before content

14:14 - How to make your campaign interesting (and not dull)

16:25 - How e.l.f. makes their campaigns interesting

18:58 - How to hack your campaign; babies or animals