If the former Canva CFO were giving a TED Talk, it would be called ‘Building Organisations That Outlast Their Founders.’ Here’s what that actually means in practice.
There is a well-worn version of the startup story that ends with an exit: the company is acquired, or goes public, and the founders move on to the next thing. Damien Singh is interested in the less fashionable version — the one where the organisation keeps creating value long after the people who built it have moved on.
“Too many organisations are built around short-term incentives or individual personalities,” Singh says. “The most meaningful impact often comes from institutions that continue creating value long after the people who started them have moved on.”
That perspective is shaped by experience. Singh spent eight years as CFO of Canva, during which the company grew from roughly US$10 million in annual revenue to more than US$2 billion, while maintaining free cash flow profitability throughout. He helped guide the company’s valuation from US$100 million when he joined to US$26 billion following a US$1 billion-plus capital raise in 2023. He oversaw the operational and financial infrastructure of a business scaling from 50 to more than 4,000 employees across multiple international markets.
What Endurance Actually Requires
The organisations that endure, in Singh’s analysis, share a set of characteristics that have less to do with product brilliance than with the discipline of how they are built.
The first is financial sustainability. Companies that grow without the financial foundations to support that growth become dependent on external capital and fragile in the face of market shifts. Canva’s unusual commitment to free cash flow profitability during a period of aggressive expansion was not simply a financial choice — it was a structural decision that gave the company resilience that purely growth-focused peers often lacked.
The second is culture. “The best teams are built by hiring people who combine strong capability with humility, curiosity and a willingness to continually learn,” Singh says. Organisations that build around individual performance rather than collective culture tend to become unstable when key people leave.
The third is governance. The structures, processes, and decision-making frameworks that a company puts in place during its growth phase will determine whether it can continue to operate effectively as it scales. Building those systems early, even when they feel premature, tends to pay dividends later.
Non-Negotiables
Singh is direct about what he won’t compromise on. Integrity, intellectual honesty, and long-term thinking are his non-negotiables — in the people he works with, the investments he makes, and the advisory relationships he takes on.
“I’m interested in working with people who are willing to challenge ideas, admit when they’re wrong and focus on building something meaningful rather than chasing short-term outcomes,” he says. “Building companies is difficult and unpredictable, and the people who tend to succeed over the long term are those who remain open to learning and improving.”
Applying the Philosophy Now
Today, Singh is applying this philosophy through early-stage investing and advisory work, supporting founders building ambitious technology companies at the pre-seed and seed stage. He has also taken ownership of Gwalia United FC, bringing the same long-term financial thinking to women’s professional football.
His mission statement is straightforward: “To build and support organisations that create enduring value for the people and communities they serve.”
What makes that more than a slogan is the experience behind it. Singh has seen what it looks like when organisations are built for endurance rather than optics — and what it looks like when they aren’t. The difference, in his experience, tends to compound over time.