Figma files for proposed IPO • Hacker News Board

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#241

Post by trinix912 » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 7:58 PM UTC

1zael wrote: post #16

btown wrote: post #10

They don't link to the Form S-1 prospectus from their announcement, but it's publicly available at https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1579878/000162828025... Their highlighted metrics page: $821M LTM revenue, 46% YoY revenue growth, 18% non-GAAP operating margin, 91% gross margin. It's an incredible success story, and the engineering they did upfront (primarily led by co-founder Evan Wallace) that set the stage…

Evan Wallace basically said screw it, I'm writing a custom WebGL renderer and multiplayer protocol, when everyone else was slapping together existing libraries. Most of us would have built a janky Electron app and called it a day. Instead they went nuclear on performance because that WAS their product differentiation.

It's incredibly snappy. It works fine on subpar hardware like a late 2013 11" MacBook Air. Truly amazing.

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#242

Post by dang » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 7:59 PM UTC

btown wrote: post #10

They don't link to the Form S-1 prospectus from their announcement, but it's publicly available at https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1579878/000162828025... Their highlighted metrics page: $821M LTM revenue, 46% YoY revenue growth, 18% non-GAAP operating margin, 91% gross margin. It's an incredible success story, and the engineering they did upfront (primarily led by co-founder Evan Wallace) that set the stage…

We've added that link to the text at the top. Thanks!

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#243

Post by newcommiedeal » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 8:06 PM UTC

[flagged]

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#244

Post by trinix912 » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 8:06 PM UTC

andrecarini wrote: post #230

spooky_action wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious what the missing features are in Figma from a designers perspective. You've mentioned the paywalled variables, what else? (I haven't been a product engineer in years, and have barely touched Figma in the last ~5 years)

- Clunky component and variable system; inadequate for more complex stuff with lots of parameters. - Can't set connectors on Design files (used for documenting the navigation flow between different pages of an app). - You can set connectors on FigJam files, but if you want to bring your components from Design files then you can't keep the instances synchronised to the component definition. And you can't attach the co…

Adding:

- Poor typography support: can't embed fonts in files, can't tweak type enough (can't do faux italics for example)

- Subpar file/project management: can't do things like nested folders which gets overwhelming with large projects/teams

- Clunky version control: browsing long file histories is inefficient, the entire VCS UI is forced into a narrow sidebar

Also just off the top of my mind. There's also lots more if you're coming from a print design world and are thus used to Adobe Illustrator.

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#245

Post by andrecarini » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 8:49 PM UTC

trinix912 wrote: post #244

andrecarini wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- Clunky component and variable system; inadequate for more complex stuff with lots of parameters. - Can't set connectors on Design files (used for documenting the navigation flow between different pages of an app). - You can set connectors on FigJam files, but if you want to bring your components from Design files then you can't keep the instances synchronised to the component definition. And you can't attach the co…

Adding: - Poor typography support: can't embed fonts in files, can't tweak type enough (can't do faux italics for example) - Subpar file/project management: can't do things like nested folders which gets overwhelming with large projects/teams - Clunky version control: browsing long file histories is inefficient, the entire VCS UI is forced into a narrow sidebar Also just off the top of my mind. There's also lots more…

> There's also lots more if you're coming from a print design world

Ah, there's another one you just reminded me:

- Poor paragraph justification algorithm; there's no hyphenation system.

This one is table stakes for professional print design.

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#246

Post by rjkaplan » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 5:00 AM UTC

snickerdoodle12 wrote: post #21

btown wrote: post #10

They don't link to the Form S-1 prospectus from their announcement, but it's publicly available at https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1579878/000162828025... Their highlighted metrics page: $821M LTM revenue, 46% YoY revenue growth, 18% non-GAAP operating margin, 91% gross margin. It's an incredible success story, and the engineering they did upfront (primarily led by co-founder Evan Wallace) that set the stage…

> The rendering engine handles curve rendering, images, blurs, masking, blending, and opacity groups, and optimizes for high visual fidelity. And thats how you get designers whining that their design looks great in figma but not in a real webpage

True... this was a conscious trade-off at Figma since it needs to support designs for web, iOS, Android, etc. That unfortunately means it doesn't map 1:1 to any of them.

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#247

Post by chrisweekly » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 2:54 PM UTC

gaws wrote: post #232

chrisweekly wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See https://every-layout.dev for a mind-blowingly well-thought-out approach to CSS that builds from first principles and leverages sane primitives and a typographic scale to compose dynamic layouts... it's boxes, and it's beautiful.

> See https://every-layout.dev for a mind-blowingly well-thought-out approach to CSS Is the book that good?

Yes. But it's not just a book, it's a code generator, documentation, examples, and prod-ready implementation. Lots of it is free.

This thread started about "boxes", I probably should've linked directly to this page: https://every-layout.dev/rudiments/boxes/

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#248

Post by The5thElephant » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 2:55 PM UTC

andrewmcwatters wrote: post #238

The5thElephant wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually have the opposite problem with Figma. It is way too basic and simple, targeting every kind of design and the average designer skill level. I work in complex SAAS product design. Basic things I can do in CSS I can't do in Figma. Things like a table? Yeah it is entirely faked and awful in Figma. Don't even get me started on anything more complicated than flex rows and columns. Half the debate over designer/d…

That sounds awful and after your comment, I'm glad I've stuck with Sketch.

Sketch has the same issue with handoff. Sketch does not use CSS for rendering either.

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#249

Post by chrisweekly » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 2:58 PM UTC

chrisweekly wrote: post #247

gaws wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> See https://every-layout.dev for a mind-blowingly well-thought-out approach to CSS Is the book that good?

Yes. But it's not just a book, it's a code generator, documentation, examples, and prod-ready implementation. Lots of it is free. This thread started about "boxes", I probably should've linked directly to this page: https://every-layout.dev/rudiments/boxes/

PS This page on "axioms" is a must-read: https://every-layout.dev/rudiments/axioms/

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#250

Post by The5thElephant » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 2:59 PM UTC

asoneth wrote: post #239

The5thElephant wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually have the opposite problem with Figma. It is way too basic and simple, targeting every kind of design and the average designer skill level. I work in complex SAAS product design. Basic things I can do in CSS I can't do in Figma. Things like a table? Yeah it is entirely faked and awful in Figma. Don't even get me started on anything more complicated than flex rows and columns. Half the debate over designer/d…

I agree with many of your statements but draw the opposite conclusion. HTML and CSS are expressive, have a vast selection of libraries and tools, and can actually result in shippable code. Designers and front-end devs should learn and use it. But I don't see the point in creating a design tool unless it's meaningfully simpler than HTML/CSS. I reach for Figma when I need to quickly mock up a dozen iterations using our…

Because I can do way more meaningful design exploration and iteration if I am not constantly running into a tool's limitations. I work at a fast paced startup where my prototyping rapidly iterates into production and the vast majority of developers I have ever worked with don't really know CSS. If I want to implement something actually complex in layout it would be SO MUCH FASTER if I could show the devs how to do it in CSS correctly in the design tool. AND it would let me better test and explore how the complex layout interacts with real data and real users. Figma prototypes are terrible.

Figma is a great tool for 90% of basic and boring design. A lot of product design is not just basic and boring, and a lot of stuff I need simply cannot be reproduced in Figma. So yes I do just write the code directly, but that doesn't let me explore those complicated layouts and iterate on them visually the same way I could if it was HTML/CSS in a Figma-like design canvas.