figmaSep 14, 2022

A New Collaboration with Adobe | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma announced in September 2022 that Adobe would acquire it, presenting the deal as a way to accelerate Figma’s mission of making design and development more collaborative and accessible. Figma said it would remain operationally autonomous, with Dylan Field continuing as CEO and the product, culture, pricing, and education offerings largely unchanged. However, the proposed acquisition was ultimately abandoned in December 2023 after the companies concluded they could not obtain regulatory approval. ## Strategic Opportunity - Adobe’s technology, expertise, and resources were expected to accelerate Figma’s growth and innovation. - Figma highlighted potential access to Adobe capabilities in: - Imaging and photography - Illustration and video - 3D tools - Font technology - The companies also planned to explore new creative tools built on Figma’s collaborative technology. ## Figma’s Continued Autonomy - Adobe committed to keeping Figma operationally independent. - Dylan Field would remain CEO and report to Adobe executive David Wadhwani. - The entire Figma team would continue reporting through Field. - Figma said it would keep prioritizing its community, culture, and existing business practices. ## Product and Community Plans - Figma intended to continue improving: - Figma Design - FigJam - The Figma community platform - The company planned to expand into new areas while considering whether new capabilities should become separate products or be integrated into existing tools. - The Friends of Figma program would continue supporting local communities. - Figma said it had no plans to change pricing in the near term. - Figma’s education offering would remain free, with Adobe supporting efforts to grow the global population of designers, developers, and creatives. ## Broader Responsibility - Field described the acquisition as an opportunity to help build the next generation of creative tools. - He connected that responsibility to the rise of AI-generated content and growing questions about the role of human creativity. - He also reflected on Adobe’s influence in his own creative development and expressed optimism about working with the company. ## Final Outcome - The announcement was subject to regulatory, shareholder, and other closing conditions. - On December 18, 2023, Figma and Adobe ended the proposed acquisition because they no longer saw a viable path toward regulatory approval.

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figmaMay 3, 2017

New faces at the Figma helm | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma is entering a new phase as demand for design and collaborative tools grows across the technology industry. To support that growth, CEO Dylan Field announces Eric Wittman as the company’s first COO and Kris Rasmussen as Vice President of Engineering. Their experience scaling collaboration-focused businesses will help Figma expand its operations, revenue, technology, and team. ## Figma’s Growth Opportunity - Companies increasingly view design as central to creating products customers value. - Large organizations such as IBM and GE are expanding their design teams, while Facebook has pursued a high designer-to-engineer ratio. - Figma argues that the tools available to designers have not kept pace with this demand. - Improving collaboration remains the company’s guiding priority. ## Eric Wittman: Operations, Strategy, and Revenue - Wittman joins after leading Atlassian’s Developer Tools business, including Bitbucket. - As COO, he will focus on: - Recruiting and finance processes - Go-to-market strategy - Revenue and business operations - Company strategy and values - His career spans: - Customer support and product management at Macromedia, where he eventually led Flash product management - CEO of music player company Songbird - General manager of Developer Tools at Atlassian - Figma highlights his unusual combination of operational expertise and strong product enthusiasm. - Before the announcement, he had already helped Figma launch its pricing model and refine its strategic direction. ## Kris Rasmussen: Engineering Leadership - Rasmussen initially joined Figma as a part-time contractor but quickly became an influential, informal leader. - He is appointed Vice President of Engineering and will oversee major engineering initiatives and technical-team development. - His background includes: - Leading engineering at Asana during its early growth - Scaling engineering at Aptana, a web-application developer-tools company - Building personal projects involving 3D graphics - Figma values his ability to resolve disagreements, identify necessary actions, and combine technical skill with leadership. - His primary mission will be building a world-class engineering organization and infrastructure for collaborative design tools. ## Continued Hiring - Figma says it is still early in its development and expects significant opportunities and challenges ahead. - The company invites engineers, designers, writers, and product managers who are passionate about design to apply for open roles. Figma’s leadership changes are intended to turn growing demand for collaborative design software into scalable business and technical execution. Wittman will strengthen operations and commercial strategy, while Rasmussen will lead the engineering organization needed for Figma’s next stage.

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