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Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

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Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#111

Post by sokoloff »

madeofpalk wrote: post #77
sokoloff wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do companies like YouTube and Instagram get started and funded less frequently if the climate evolves to “it’s impossible to have large mergers approved”? It’s a bit like asking in 2009 if the secondary mortgage market is a valuable market worth having. It provides significant good (IMO) to support real estate transactions.

I'm not sure. But, I don't think that YouTube or Instagram are an inherent moral requirement for society, so I don't think it's the end of the world if they never existed.

Extremely few companies meet an “inherently moral requirement for society” standard.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#112

Post by max_ »

This really makes me sad as an aspiring entrepreneur.

What would be the use of starting a business if the government can arbitrarily block it from being acquired?

I understand this happening in Europe but not America.

I think America is going to lag behind in tech entrepreneurship just like Europe and I wonder what the next potential tech entrepreneurship hub will be.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#113

Post by matthewowen »

airstrike wrote: post #92
robertlagrant wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is so far from outlawing It's not that far. A bureaucrat will decide if you can exit the way you want to. Still want to fund this venture? > And we are soooooo far from having a shortage of tech startups. Because there hasn't been a fear of them blocking exits.

> A bureaucrat will decide if you can exit the way you want to. It's not up to the bureaucrat but to the courts. The FTC doesn't "approve" or "reject" deals--it can just take legal action to try to stop a deal, but that still gets adjudicated either in a federal court or in an FTC administrative law court to a judge which is appointed independently. https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/merger-review https://www.ftc.gov/le…

True in the US, not true in the UK or EU.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#114

Post by Drakim »

robertlagrant wrote: post #28
kwertyoowiyop wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is so far from outlawing. And we are soooooo far from having a shortage of tech startups.

> This is so far from outlawing It's not that far. A bureaucrat will decide if you can exit the way you want to. Still want to fund this venture? > And we are soooooo far from having a shortage of tech startups. Because there hasn't been a fear of them blocking exits.

A bureaucrat also decides the amount of lead you can put in your product and sell.

In fact, there are all kinds of things you can't arbitrarily do because it hurts consumers, both physically and financially. This includes strengthening industry monopolies which has time and time again demonstrated that it causes incredible harm to entire segments of society.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#115

Post by graphe »

ssgodderidge wrote: post #36
nolongerthere wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which I think is overall good for the consumer, many of the companies are only merging to lessen competition, not provide any extra value to us.

While I agree that this deal was ultimately bad for consumers, weaker M&A markets, in the long run, may hurt consumers equally as bad. A lot of “copycat” companies get created when they see a particular company doing well. While sheer profitability is the major factor in this, M&A, and the likelihood of a liquidity event play a large role here too. Hopefully future us won’t look back at this deal as the beginning of…

"May". Less small business and more corporate control isn't making the world good enough to say we need more M&A.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#116

Post by bayindirh »

dkyc wrote: post #13
madeofpalk wrote: post #6

Excellent news. I think there should be more products, more companies, and more competition. Adobe just buying up it's competition will only ever directly hurt consumers. See also, "Adobe says the FTC is looking into its subscription cancellation practices." https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/15/24003532/adobe-says-the-...

Except outlawing acquisitions by larger tech companies will absolutely reduce funding and incentives to start companies, and result in less products, less companies, and less competition.

I think it's the opposite. Because many companies start with the dream of an exit with a high price tag, and what they end up developing is a missing feature from a bigger software suite, which is already enshittified by a big software house to the core.

Instead, smaller companies can start and slowly get bigger while getting bigger. Affinity suite is a great example. While their photo tool is not my cup of tea, designer is great, IMHO.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#117

Post by [deleted] »

dkyc wrote: post #13
madeofpalk wrote: post #6

Excellent news. I think there should be more products, more companies, and more competition. Adobe just buying up it's competition will only ever directly hurt consumers. See also, "Adobe says the FTC is looking into its subscription cancellation practices." https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/15/24003532/adobe-says-the-...

Except outlawing acquisitions by larger tech companies will absolutely reduce funding and incentives to start companies, and result in less products, less companies, and less competition.

[deleted]

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#118

Post by 34679 »

dkyc wrote: post #13
madeofpalk wrote: post #6

Excellent news. I think there should be more products, more companies, and more competition. Adobe just buying up it's competition will only ever directly hurt consumers. See also, "Adobe says the FTC is looking into its subscription cancellation practices." https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/15/24003532/adobe-says-the-...

Except outlawing acquisitions by larger tech companies will absolutely reduce funding and incentives to start companies, and result in less products, less companies, and less competition.

I doubt that is true.

Let's say you're pitching your startup to a potential investor. Would you pitch it as "the next Adobe" or "something Adobe might want to buy"? Which one would you be more likely to invest in?

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#119

Post by pier25 »

zukzuk wrote: post #79
WillAdams wrote: post #46

Given how Adobe's last purchase of a drawing program (buying Macromedia ten years after being told to wait a decade after buying Aldus and it being split off to be acquired by Macromedia and then off-shoring Freehand/MX to India and then burying it), good.

I still mourn the end of Freehand. Illustrator’s UI never matched Freehand.

And Fireworks

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#120

Post by ivanjermakov »

max_ wrote: post #112

This really makes me sad as an aspiring entrepreneur. What would be the use of starting a business if the government can arbitrarily block it from being acquired? I understand this happening in Europe but not America. I think America is going to lag behind in tech entrepreneurship just like Europe and I wonder what the next potential tech entrepreneurship hub will be.

Why would you start a business with the end goal of selling it?
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