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Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

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Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#191

Post by noirscape »

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-...

Adobes cancellation practices are literally illegal in the Netherlands by the way. The deceptive trick of "pay monthly for a full year" and then hitting you with the cancellation fee is against local law. (It's called de wet van Dam for the curious.)

You have to threaten their customer support with legal complaints to make them comply with it, it's super frustrating to deal with. They do fold immediately when you do this though, so they know it's illegal but hope the frustration of getting through customer support will deter people (and avoids the legal problems).

And yes I know you can just switch subscriptions and use the early cancellation period there to avoid the hit back fee from cancelling. It's the principle that's scummy.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#192

Post by chicken3pointer »

raiyu wrote: post #149

Anyone else think this has nothing to do with the regulatory agencies but instead the market has dramatically shifted in the past 15 months in terms of valuations and this is a nice cover to cancel the deal? Figma still gets $1B "investment" without giving up any equity or control and Adobe gets to walk away from a massive $20B fee. Adobe makes $17B a year in revenue, they would need some pretty strong growth out of…

Nah, I think this is truly a case of regulatory agencies shutting the deal down. Adobe knows Figma is best-in-class in their category, and even in the current market downturn, $20b still feels like a good bet to own the winner in and up and coming category for the next 5-10 years

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#193

Post by madeofpalk »

sokoloff wrote: post #111
madeofpalk wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Right :)

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#194

Post by bomewish »

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-...

Totally agree. I resent the fact that they’d try cash out that way. At least ipo or something. More fragmentation is good for preventing monopoly.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#195

Post by uxp8u61q »

scarface_74 wrote: post #17
hallway_monitor wrote: post #7

It looks like regulators are actually doing their job. I would love to see more of this, along with breaking up companies that have gotten too big for their britches.

The entire purpose of starting a company is to get acquired. Of the literally hundreds of companies that YC has invested in, only 5 have gone public. The VC market will dry up even more if they see their chances of an exit diminishing because of an overzealous government.

> The entire purpose of starting a company is to get acquired.

I imagine this claim is satire, given how outlandish it is. But if I were to take it at face value for a second... Acquired by whom? Other companies... Who were started to... Get acquired themselves? Where did these other companies get the money to begin with? Etc. This is just a stupendously ridiculous take, I just cannot consider it was made in good faith.

> Of the literally hundreds of companies that YC has invested in, only 5 have gone public.

YC is a droplet in the ocean of the economy. Even if we just look at the US, about five million businesses were started in 2022 alone. https://www.census.gov/econ/bfs/index.html

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#196

Post by sowbug »

codeptualize wrote: post #126

That is wild. It's a good thing as it means Adobe won't ruin Figma like they did with so many great software products before, but just imagine founders, investors and employees, thinking they had a really good exit.. That must hurt, I hope they can stay motivated. If Adobe can't buy them, what other exit options do they have? Go public?

What's wrong with selling goods and services for more than they cost?

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#197

Post by graphe »

jen20 wrote: post #172
brendoelfrendo wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your only goal in founding a company is to get acquired, you haven't made a company; you've made a product, and probably not a profitable one. We should be encouraging way more medium-sized companies, that operate sustainable business models, make money for their founders and employees, and aren't subsidized by cheap money. I think if startups actually had to sustain themselves we'd see a lot less grift and waste…

I don’t disagree with the notion that there should be more medium sized, self sustaining (“lifestyle?”) companies, but such statements are rarely if ever followed up with _why_ this is a desirable outcome for everyone involved.

Or no lifestyle companies. What would be the harm without them?

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#198

Post by jen20 »

kozikow wrote: post #37
scarface_74 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The entire purpose of starting a company is to get acquired. Of the literally hundreds of companies that YC has invested in, only 5 have gone public. The VC market will dry up even more if they see their chances of an exit diminishing because of an overzealous government.

There's also always a private equity market that is often a middle ground between IPO and acquisition. And in my feeling, I've seen PE getting more active in tech last year (maybe just because valuations went down).

PE universally has the worst possible outcomes for all sides of a deal besides the PE firm themselves.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#199

Post by monkey_monkey »

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.

Tech acquisitions haven't been outlawed. And this particular situation is applicable to perhaps 2 or 3 a year (all of which are multi-billion dollar values).

I doubt very much if this will stop funding of new companies except perhaps at the level of Uber/WeWork.

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